Liga Nusantara
Liga Nusantara, officially known as PNM Liga Nusantara for sponsorship reasons, is the third-tier of the football competition system in Indonesia, organized by the Football Association of Indonesia. The competition started in 2014 after PSSI merged the previous competitions, Liga Indonesia Second Division and Liga Indonesia Third Division. The competition was previously organized in two phases, with the provincial phase operated by PSSI Provincial Associations, where each province held its own regional competition, followed by the national phase operated by PSSI, where the top teams from each province competed at the national level.
Starting from the 2024–25 season, the competition is organized on a national level with teams divided into several groups based on geographical factors and is now operated by the I-League.
History
The competition was established after Liga Indonesia Second Division and Liga Indonesia Third Division merged in 2014. Starting in 2015, the Liga Indonesia First Division was also merged with Liga Nusantara to become the third-tier level in Indonesian football system. Persatu Tuban won the competition's first season.In 2017, Liga Nusantara was renamed to Liga 3, along with Indonesian Super League and Indonesian Premier Division which were renamed to Liga 1 and Liga 2, respectively.
In 2024, Liga 3 was renamed back to the Liga Nusantara, along with the establishment of Liga 4 as fourth-tier level. Liga Nusantara was elevated to a semi-professional level after previously being at the amateur level.
Format
Old format
Provincial phase
Each province held a provincial phase, they were followed by amateur clubs without a limit of participants with different competition formats, the difference in the format was due to the different number of participants in each province. Furthermore, the teams that qualified from the provincial phase competed in national phase.National phase
A total of 80 teams entered this phase.- First round: 80 teams were divided into sixteen groups of 5. Each group was played on a home tournament basis. Winner and runner-up of each group advanced to the second round.
- Second round: 32 teams which were the winners and runners-up from each group of the first round. They were divided into eight groups of 4 and each winner and runner-up advanced to the third round.
- Third round: 16 teams were divided into two groups. Each group was played on a home tournament basis. Same as previous round, the winner and runner-up of each group advanced to the fourth round.
- Fourth round: 8 teams were divided into two groups. The three best teams of each group were promoted to the Liga 2. The winner of each group also advanced to the final.
- Final: The 2 group winners from the fourth round played in the final match. The final was played as a single match.
New format
2024–25 season
The league format was announced on 7 November 2024. There was no provincial or national phase. Instead, there were four rounds:- Regular round: 16 teams were divided into two group of eight, with the round being played in a centralized format of double round-robin matches. The top three teams of each group qualified for the championship round, while the remaining teams qualified for the relegation play-offs.
- Relegation play-offs: 10 teams were divided into two groups of five teams, with the round being played in a centralized format of single round-robin matches. The bottom three teams of each group were relegated to the 2025–26 Liga 4.
- Championship round: 6 teams were divided into two groups of three teams, with the round being played in home-and-away round-robin matches. The group winners advanced to the final and promoted to the 2025–26 Liga 2. The group runners-up entered to the promotion play-off.
- Promotion play-off & Final: The play-off and final were played as a single match. If tied after regulation time, it went to extra time and a penalty shoot-out to decide the winning team if necessary. The winner of the play-off match was promoted to the 2025–26 Liga 2, while the winner of the final match was crowned as champions.
2025–26 season
- Competition
The first-placed team from each group will advance to the knockout stage, while teams ranked 2–5 will remain in the Nusantara League for the next season.
The sixth-placed team from each group will be directly relegated to Liga 4.
- Knockout Stage
The winner of the semifinals will advance to the final. In this stage, clubs will compete in two-legged home-and-away matches to determine the winner. The losing teams in the semifinals will face off in a promotion playoff for an additional promotion spot.
Teams
Maps
Current participating teams
The following 24 clubs will compete in the Liga Nusantara during 2025–26 season.| Team | Location | 2024–25 position | Year joined | Seasons in LN | First season in D3 | Seasons in D3 | Current spell in D3 | Last spell in CH | Former names | Other leagues |
| Batavia | South Jakarta | 3rd in NP R4 Group B | 2017 | 8 | 2017 | 8 | 2025– | — | — | — |
| Dejan | Depok | 3rd in RL Group I | 2022–23 | 3 | 2022–23 | 3 | 2025– | 2024–2025 | — | — |
| Gresik United | Gresik | 4th in RL Group J | 2006 | 4 | 2019 | 4 | 2025– | 2022–2025 | — | — |
| Nusantara Lampung | Bandar Lampung | 3rd in RL Group H | 2021 | 2 | 2021–22 | 2 | 2025– | 2022–2025 | — | |
| Pekanbaru | Pekanbaru | 2nd in NP R4 Group B | 2024–25 | 1 | 2025–26 | 1 | 2025– | — | — | — |
| Persebata | Lembata | 2nd in NP R4 Group A | 1999 | 8 | 2017 | 8 | 2025– | — | — | — |
| Perseden | Denpasar | 3rd in NP R4 Group A | 1994–95 | 8 | 2013 | 12 | 2025– | — | — | |
| Persekabpas | Pasuruan | 3rd in CH Group X | 1994–95 | 9 | 2009–10 | 16 | 2017– | 2008–2009 | — | |
| Perserang | Serang | 2nd in RL Group K | 1994–95 | 2 | 2011–12 | 6 | 2024– | 2015–2024 | — | |
| Persewar | Waropen | 5th in RL Group J | 2005 | 3 | 2011–12 | 8 | 2025– | 2019–2025 | — | |
| Persiba Bantul | Bantul | 1st in RL Group J | 1994–95 | 8 | 2018 | 8 | 2018– | 2015–2017 | — | — |
| Persibo | Bojonegoro | Relegation play-off loser | 2002 | 8 | 2017 | 8 | 2025– | 2024–2025 | — | — |
| Persika Karanganyar | Karanganyar | NP Runner-up | 2006 | 4 | 2021–22 | 4 | 2025– | — | — | — |
| Persikabo 1973 | Bogor | 4th in RL Group I | 2016 | 1 | 2025–26 | 1 | 2025– | 2024–2025 | — | |
| Persikota | Tangerang | 4th in RL Group H | 1994–95 | 8 | 2014 | 11 | 2025– | 2024–2025 | — | |
| Persikutim United | East Kutai | 3rd in CH Group Y | 2018 | 8 | 2018 | 8 | 2018– | — | — | |
| Persinab Sang Maestro | Nabire | 4th in NP R4 Group B | 2018 | 7 | 2018 | 7 | 2025– | — | — | |
| Persipa | Pati | 4th in RL Group K | 1994–95 | 6 | 2010 | 12 | 2025– | 2022–2025 | — | |
| Persitara | North Jakarta | 4th in NP R4 Group A | 1994–95 | 8 | 2015 | 10 | 2025– | 2010–2014 | — | — |
| PSDS | Deli Serdang | 2nd in RL Group J | 1994–95 | 7 | 2011–12 | 12 | 2024– | 2022–2024 | — | — |
| PSGC | Ciamis | Promotion play-off loser | 1994–95 | 7 | 2011–12 | 9 | 2020– | 2019 | — | |
| RANS Nusantara | Batu | 5th in RL Group K | 2013 | 2 | 2014 | 2 | 2025– | 2024–2025 | — | |
| Tri Brata Rafflesia | Bengkulu | NP Champions | 2021—22 | 4 | 2021–22 | 4 | 2025– | — | — | — |
| Waanal Brothers | Mimika | 1st in RL Group K | 2022–23 | 4 | 2022–23 | 4 | 2022– | — | — | — |
| Recently relegated from Championship | |
| Recently promoted from Liga 4 |
;Former names
;Breakaway league:
;Unofficial league
Former teams
The following clubs competed in the Liga Nusantara since 2024–25 season, but are not competing in the 2025–26 season.| Team | Location | Year joined | Seasons in LN | First season in D3 | Seasons in D3 | Last spell in D3 | Current league | Former names |
| 757 Kepri Jaya | Batam | 2008–09 | 7 | 2013 | 7 | 2018–2025 | Liga 4 | |
| Kalteng Putra | Palangka Raya | 2001 | 1 | 2008–09 | 4 | 2024–2025 | — | — |
| Kendal Tornado | Kendal | 2018 | 7 | 2018 | 7 | 2018–2025 | Championship | |
| Persiba Balikpapan | Balikpapan | 1994–95 | 1 | 2024–25 | 1 | 2024–2025 | Championship | — |
| Persikab | Bandung | 1994–95 | 6 | 2016 | 8 | 2024–2025 | Liga 4 | — |
| Persikad | Depok | 2019 | 4 | 2019 | 4 | 2024–2025 | Championship | |
| Persipani | Paniai | 1994–95 | 8 | 2011–12 | 13 | 2011–2025 | Liga 4 | — |
| Persipasi | Bekasi | 2017 | 8 | 2017 | 8 | 2017–2025 | Liga 4 | |
| PSCS | Cilacap | 1994–95 | 2 | 2009–10 | 3 | 2024–2025 | Liga 4 | — |
| PSM Madiun | Madiun | 1994–95 | 7 | 2018 | 7 | 2018–2025 | Liga 4 | — |
| Sulut United | Manado | 2017 | 2 | 2018 | 2 | 2024–2025 | — |
| Recently promoted to Championship | |
| Recently relegated to Liga 4 |
;Former names