Indonesia's FIFA Ranking Soars 21 Places Since Shin Tae-yong's Debut

Shin Tae-yong's impact on Indonesia's FIFA ranking is quite evident. Since his debut as coach of the Merah Putih team, he has led Indonesia to a 21-rank jump in the FIFA rankings.

The All Indonesia Football Association (PSSI) signed Shin Tae-yong as the Indonesian national team coach for four years, starting December 28, 2019. This means 2023 is the South Korean coach's final year with the Indonesian national football team.

However, Shin Tae-yong's debut in an official match with the Indonesian national team only occurred on June 3, 2021. This was due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, which caused FIFA to reschedule all international matches.

Before Shin Tae-yong led the Merah Putih team for the first time against Thailand in the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers, Indonesia's ranking was quite low. Indonesia was consistently ranked 173rd in the FIFA rankings with 964 points from February 20, 2020, to May 27, 2021—a week before STY's debut.

After Shin Tae-yong took over, Indonesia's FIFA ranking temporarily dropped to 174th and 175th in August and September 2021, with scores of 957.05 points. In November 2021, the ranking dropped again after a one-position increase the previous month.

Then, in December 2021, Indonesia's ranking began to steadily rise. This upward trend continued gradually, coinciding with Indonesia's performance in several tournaments, such as the 2020 AFF Cup and the 2023 Asian Cup Qualifiers.

The latest FIFA report on December 22, 2022, shows Garuda's FIFA ranking reached 151st with 1,033.9 points. This indicates an improvement in Indonesia's football team performance since Shin Tae-yong's debut.

However, Indonesia's position remains significantly below other ASEAN countries. Vietnam is ranked 96th (1,228.63 points), Thailand 111th (1,173.4 points), the Philippines 134th (1,113.15 points), and Malaysia 145th (1,066.6 points).