Indonesia: 2031 Asian Cup Host Bid Confirmed

KOMPAS.com – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) officially announced Indonesia as one of the countries on the list of candidate hosts for the prestigious 2031 Asian Cup.

This confirmation was obtained after AFC completed the process of verifying offers from various Member Associations who had submitted their interest since last year.

In the struggle for implementation rights, Indonesia must be prepared to face fierce competition from a number of powerful countries in the Asian region.

Apart from Indonesia, other candidates that have been officially registered are Australia, India, South Korea and Kuwait.

AFC released the list on Wednesday (4/2/2026) afternoon, which shows that there are six bid proposals from eight countries.

Also read: Indonesia vs Hong Kong 2-1 in the Asian Team Championship: Pearl Quality

Apart from single bids, there were also joint bids submitted by Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Previously, the United Arab Emirates was included in the candidacy market, but the AFC confirmed that the country had withdrawn from the bidding process.

AFC President, Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, said that the election mechanism would be finalized at a high-level meeting of the federation.

“The 35th AFC Congress is to explore the possibility of submitting a host option for the 2031 and 2035 editions of the AFC Asian Cup,” said the AFC’s official statement in its release.

“AFC has completed the process of accepting offers from interested Member Associations (MA) for the 2035 AFC Asian Cup,” continued AFC.

PSSI’s Seriousness and Single Host Offer

On the other hand, PSSI under the leadership of Erick Thohir has shown concrete steps in this bidding process.

Also read: Indonesia vs Hong Kong 1-1 in the Asian Team Championship: Ana/Trias Lit

Indonesia volunteered as the sole host, different from the 2007 edition when it was joint host with Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

The application documents have also been submitted directly to the AFC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

Erick Thohir emphasized Indonesia’s optimism based on its successful experience in holding previous international events, such as the 2023 U17 World Cup.

Infrastructure readiness is the main selling point offered.