Indonesia U-19 team qualified for the 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship in Japan. It was Indonesia's first FIFA tournament appearance since its independence in 1945, having played under colonial Dutch East Indies name in the 1938 senior World Cup. Indonesia was drawn to Group B, with favorites Argentina, Poland, and Yugoslavia. Included in the Argentina squad was future senior World Cup-winning captain Diego Maradona. Its senior team had won the senior World Cup a year earlier.