The team secured their berth in the marquee tournament for the first time. The numbers will show that a lifeless draw in Abu Dhabi ensured qualification for the team with a lot of effort and a lot of factors contributed to the campaign. The team is the first nation from Central Asia to get a berth in the competition.

Some of the big names in Uzbekistan football - Server Djeparov, Odil Ahmedov, Ignatiy Nesterov, Maxim Shatskikh failed to make Uzbekistan qualify for the FIFA World Cup. But, Timur Kapadze, the coach of the national side can boast the achievement of his team. The Uzbek side finally did what they were trying for years - to qualify for a World Cup.

Uzbekistan’s qualification campaigns in the past:

The team came close to qualification in 2006 and advanced into the third round as well. They topped their group in the second round with 16 points. Afterwards, the team faced Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and Kuwait, finishing third in the group with five points. They reached the playoffs and were within closing distance of the qualification but lost to Bahrain in the playoffs.

Although the team faltered in the first round in the 1998 World Cup qualifiers, they showed a strong performance in 2002 going past the first round. They played with China, the UAE, Qatar, and Oman in the Group B. They secured 10 points with three victories, one draw and four defeats. Uzbekistan finished in third place and missed out on a spot in the tournament.

They were knocked out in the 2010 World Cup Qualifiers but came close to entering the World Cup for the first time in the next two Qualifiers. In 2014, they were up against Jordan in the playoff and lost in a penalty shootout. Four years later, they played a 0-0 draw against South Korea and finished level on points with Syria (13), but the latter advanced on the basis of goal difference.

In 2022, they failed to progress beyond the second round.

Focus on Grassroots:

Their U-23 team played in the last edition of the Olympics. 2024 U-23 Asian Cup runners-up.

In an era where the discussion around the bringing in the players of origin of that specific country is growing strong, Uzbekistan have focused on developing the sport at the glassroot levels.

14 of the 25 players in the national squad play in their domestic league. Players like Abdukodir Khusanov (Manchester City), Eldor Shomurodov (AS Roma), Abbosbek Fayzullaev (CSKA Moscow) are playing outside the home country in the quality leagues as well.

The country with a 3.57 Crore population is building a youth team that is leaving its impact on the global stage with the performance. Recently, their Under-17 team beat England by 2-1 in the FIFA World Cup. Also, the youth team won the U-17 Asian Cup 2025 winning all of the six matches they played. Notably, they were semifinalists in the 2023 edition.

How the transformation took place:

Since 2018, the Uzbek government has established youth football academies in 14 administrative units of the country. These efforts bore fruit and the youth team is producing some impressive results.

The change started to take place from 2023, when they signed Guy Kiala as the Technical Director of the Uzbekistan Football Association. According to some reports, he handed over the control of football academies in the country to the Uzbekistan football association (Uzbekistan FA) and that changed the whole sport at the grassroot level.

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