David Nascimento Appointed as the New Head Coach of Indonesia U17 National Team, Replacing Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto.

The Indonesia U17 squad has entered a new era after PSSI appointed David Nascimento as head coach to replace Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto. This change was implemented following Garuda Muda's failure to qualify for the 2026 U17 World Cup.

Confirmation of the coaching replacement was delivered by Sumardji, Chairman of the National Teams Board (BTN). Nascimento has been entrusted to lead the Indonesia U17 National Team development program, with a target to rebuild the squad's competitiveness at the Asian level.

Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto's tenure was concluded after Indonesia U17 failed to meet performance targets at the 2026 U17 Asian Cup. In this tournament which also acted as the 2026 U17 World Cup qualification stage, Indonesia finished at the very bottom of their group and failed to secure a spot in the final tournament.

David Nascimento will not work alone in building the new foundation for the Indonesia U17 squad. He will be accompanied by former Indonesia National Team midfielder Ahmad Bustomi, who has been assigned the role of assistant coach.

Additionally, Simon Tahamata who previously served as PSSI Head of Talent Scouting has also joined the coaching staff as an assistant.

PSSI completed the full coaching structure by appointing Muhamad Alimudin as fitness coach, Taufik Nur Hidayat as video analyst, and Arief Priyandhi as goalkeeping coach.

This new coaching team has immediately been faced with a packed agenda. They have already commenced their duties and will lead Indonesia U17 for two friendly matches against Malaysia U17 at Manahan Stadium, Solo.

The first fixture is scheduled for Saturday 4 July at 20.00 WIB, while the second match will be held three days later on Tuesday 7 July at the exact same time and venue.

Sumardji confirmed that these matches against Malaysia will be David Nascimento's official debut as Indonesia U17 National Team head coach.

"Yes, these matches against Malaysia U17 will be the first for coach David [Nascimento]," Sumardji stated while in the SCBD district, South Jakarta.

These friendly fixtures will also act as the first performance benchmark for the Indonesia U17 rebuilding efforts following the squad's failure at the 2026 U17 Asian Cup.