The Indonesian Football Federation (PSSI) is rushing to complete naturalization procedures for young striker Mauro Zijlstra to strengthen the national team in the fourth qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia.
PSSI Chairman - Mr. Erick Thohir confirmed this information on July 2. He said the process is being rapidly promoted through ministries and branches and hoped to receive support from the Indonesian President.
Mauro Zijlstra, 20 years old, 1.88 m tall, currently playing for FC Volendam (Netherlands), a team that just won the right to play in the national championship in the 2025-2026 season. Last season, the Indonesian-born player scored 17 goals and had 4 assists after 21 matches, mostly at the youth team level.
Born in the Netherlands but with family background from Bandung city, Zijlstra agreed to become an Indonesian citizen to qualify to compete for the national team.
PSSI expects Zijlstra to be on the list of players in the fourth qualifying round taking place from October 8 to 14. In this round, Indonesia will be in the group of 6 teams competing for 2 official tickets to the 2026 World Cup with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iraq and Oman.
The six teams will be drawn on July 17, divided into 2 groups, each group has 3 teams. Each group will compete in a round-robin to score points at a concentrated location. The top team in the two groups will win the remaining 2 official tickets of the Asian region to the final round. The 2 second-placed teams in the 2 groups will play the play-off, the winning team will qualify for the intercontinental play-off round to compete for extra tickets.
Notably, Mauro Zijlstra is not the only naturalization case. According to Indonesian media, PSSI also plans to naturalize 3 more female players of Dutch origin for the national women's team. Meanwhile, the men's team's attack also has the presence of many naturalized players, but not everyone meets expectations about form or does not have a club in charge.
