Uzbekistan – World Cup preview

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Hooligan Soccer

·9 juin 2026

Uzbekistan – World Cup preview

How they qualified

Uzbekistan finished narrowly behind group winners Iran in both the second and third round of qualifying. Their only defeat in 16 games came away to Qatar. This means they still would’ve reached their first World Cup even if it hadn’t been expanded to 48 teams.

They were unbeaten throughout the whole second round of qualifying, winning four matches and drawing two. In the third round they qualified for the World Cup for the first time in their history with one game to spare after an away goalless draw with the UAE.

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This makes them the first Central Asian nation and the third former Soviet Republic after Russia and Ukraine to make it to the grandest stage of them all.

Key players

Abdukodir Khusanov

It’s hard to ignore the first ever player from Uzbekistan to play in the Premier League. Manchester City signed the centre-back from from Lens in 2025 for around £40 million and he’s still only 22 years old.

Market stalls around the whole of Uzbekistan have shirts featuring his name and number for sale, with “Khusa” becoming the most famous sports star to come out of Central Asia. He already has 26 caps for his country and will be a key player in the heart of defence.

Eldor Shomurodov

Striker and captain, Shomurodov is the all-time top goal scorer for his country with 43 goals. After playing for four clubs in Serie A, the Uzbek powerhouse seems to have found his calling in Turkey.

Originally on loan to Istanbul Basaksehir from Roma, the Turkish club made the signing permanent, as the 30 year-old enjoyed his most prolific season of his career, scoring 22 goals in 34 appearances.

Potential breakout player: Abbosbek Fayzullaev

Playing club football with his captain for Istanbul Basaksehir, the 22-year-old winger was voted Asia’s best young player in 2023.

His playing style has been compared to PSG’s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, high praise indeed considering the Georgian has just won back-to-back Champions League titles. Fayzullaev scored four goals during World Cup qualifying and two goals for his club side after signing from CSKA Moscow in 2025.

World Cup history

No appearances.
The 2026 tournament marks Uzbekistan’s first ever World Cup appearance.

They’ve had near misses in 2006, 2014 and 2018. As a result they’ve been harshly labelled Asia’s ‘chokers’ by many critics.

The fine lines in football can be so cruel. In 2014 they missed out on an automatic spot by a goal difference of one and four years later they failed to get the home win over South Korea needed to qualify. They didn’t even make it to the final rounds of qualifying for Qatar 2022.

Coach profile: Fabio Cannavaro

The Italian legend returns to the World Cup as a coach 20 years after lifting the trophy as captain. The Azzurri may not be present for a third World Cup in a row, but the former Juventus centre-back is relishing the challenge.

Cannavaro has spent a lot of time coaching in Asia and when he took this job last October, he admitted the World Cup was “the decisive reason”.

Country fun facts

The White Wolves are currently investing into the infrastructure of their football system. As a result their young talent have won Asian Cups at under-17 and under-20 levels. They beat England to reach the under-17 World Cup quarter-finals in 2023.
Uzbekistan is the first double-landlocked country to qualify for the World Cup.
In 2022 they sent tomato seeds to space to study how cosmic radiation and microgravity affect crop resilience. They hoped to create plants that can thrive in its hot climate. Now they’ll be hoping their players can cope with the hot conditions in America.
It has a population of more than 38.2 million people.
The Muruntau Mine in the Kyzylkum Desert is the world’s largest open-pit gold mine by area and volume. They will be dreaming they can bring some gold home that will be much more precious than that come mid-July!