Uzbekistan national football team

Uzbekistan

Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)	Oq boʻrilar (White Wolves)
Association	Uzbekistan Football Federation (UFF)
Confederation	AFC (Asia)
Sub-confederation	CAFA (Central Asia)
Head coach	Samvel Babayan
Captain	Odil Ahmedov
Most caps	Server Djeparov (121)
Top scorer	Maksim Shatskikh (34)
Home stadium	Bunyodkor Stadium, Pakhtakor Markaziy Stadium
FIFA code	UZB
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	62 14 (24 November 2016)
Highest	45 (November 2006–January 2007)
Lowest	119 (November 1996)
First international
Tajikistan 2–2 Uzbekistan (Dushanbe, Tajikistan; 17 June 1992)
Biggest win
Uzbekistan 15–0 Mongolia (Chiang Mai, Thailand; December 5, 1998)
Biggest defeat
Japan 8–1 Uzbekistan (Sidon, Lebanon; October 17, 2000)
Asian Cup
Appearances	7 (first in 1996)
Best result	Fourth place, 2011

The Uzbekistan national football team represents Uzbekistan in association football and is controlled by the Uzbekistan Football Federation, the governing body for football in Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan's home ground is Bunyodkor Stadium in Tashkent and their current head coach is Samvel Babayan. Uzbekistan have never qualified to the final stages of the World Cup, but they had been in AFC Asian Cup since the independence.

History

After the split from the Soviet Union, they played their first match against Tajikistan on June 17, 1992. Uzbekistan have consistently been the strongest team out of the new Central Asian nations (Kazakhstan (but they joined UEFA in 2006), Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan). Some media outlets, especially from Russia, Croatia and the Balkans, refer to them as the "Croatia of Asia" due to their high levels of talent, similar to that of the Croatian national football team.

1994 Asian Games

Sheykin Tikhonov Davletov Magametov Fyodorov Ruzimov Qosimov Durmonov Shkvyrin Abduraimov Lebedev

1994 Asian Games Final starting lineup on October 16, 1994, in Hiroshima, Japan).

Uzbekistan won the 1994 Asian Games tournament as debutants.

2004 AFC Asian Cup

Uzbekistan failed to make further impact on the continental stage until they reached the last eight of the 2004 AFC Asian Cup, where they were beaten by Bahrain after a penalty shoot-out.

2006 FIFA World Cup qualification

That performance was followed by victory over Iraq in the second qualifying round for World Cup 2006 in Germany, with goals from Maksim Shatskikh and Alexander Geynrikh sending them through to the last eight.

They were knocked out in the final stage of Asian qualification to the 2006 FIFA World Cup after losing on the away goals rule to Bahrain. The result was subject to controversy as actually three games were played; the first, a 1–0 win for Uzbekistan, was wiped out after FIFA declared the result void after a mistake by Toshimitsu Yoshida, a Japanese referee. The replay ended 1–1, and after the return finished 0–0, Uzbekistan were eliminated.

2007 AFC Asian Cup

In the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, Uzbekistan was able to get past the group stage by beating Malaysia 5–1 and China PR 4–0. However, Uzbekistan was knocked out of the tournament in the quarterfinals stage by losing to Saudi Arabia 2–1.

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

Supporters of national team during qualification match for the 2010 FIFA World Cup against Japan, at Pakhtakor Stadium, in Tashkent

After having three foreign coaches (German Hans-Jürgen Gede, Englishman Bob Houghton and Russian Valeri Nepomniachi) in three years, Uzbekistan turned to former Uzbekistan Olympic team coach Rauf Inileev. In the qualifying series for the 2010 FIFA World Cup Uzbekistan advanced to the fourth round of Asian qualifying after winning their first four matches, but in the final round of qualifying finished last in Group A behind favorites Australia, Japan, Bahrain and Qatar, with four points from eight matches.

2011 AFC Asian Cup

Uzbekistan national football team in 2011.

Four years later, in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup Uzbekistan ended in fourth place, their best result in the tournament so far. After getting past the group stage and quarterfinals, the Uzbek team lost what it might have been their first Asian Cup final when Australia thrashed the team 0–6 their semifinal game. Some days later they were defeated again by South Korea in the third place playoff.

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification

In the qualifying series for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Uzbekistan advanced to the fourth round of Asian qualifying after winning their group in the third round over perennial favorites Japan. Uzbekistan finished with 16 points (5 wins and 1 draw), which was more than any other team in the third round, including an impressive 1–0 away win against Japan.

In the fourth round of qualifying, Uzbekistan finished third in Group A behind Iran and South Korea. Uzbekistan had the same amount of points as South Korea (14 points), who had a better goal difference by one goal.

The two teams who finished third in the fourth round groups (Jordan and Uzbekistan) played each other to determine the AFC participant in the intercontinental play-off. The games took place on 6 and 10 September 2013. With the two teams still evenly matched at full-time in the second leg, Jordan eventually progressed to the intercontinental playoff after winning 9–8 on penalties.

2015 AFC Asian Cup

Uzbekistan advanced to the quarterfinals stage after finishing as runners-up in the tough Group B, which was won by China while Saudi Arabia and North Korea were eliminated. However, the team was knocked out of the tournament in the quarterfinals stage after losing 2–0 in extra time to South Korea.

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup record

World Cup Finals
Year	Result	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1930 to 1990	Was part of USSR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1994	Did not enter	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1998 to 2014	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2018	To be determined
Total	-	0/0	-	-	-	-	-	-

AFC Asian Cup record

AFC Asian Cup Record
Hosts / Year	Result	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1996	Group Stage	10th	3	1	0	2	3	6
2000	Group Stage	12th	3	0	1	2	2	14
2004	Quarter-Finals	6th	4	3	1	0	5	2
2007	Quarter-Finals	7th	4	2	0	2	10	4
2011	Fourth Place	4th	6	3	1	2	10	13
2015	Quarter-Finals	8th	4	2	0	2	5	5
2019	Qualified	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total	7/7	4	24	11	3	10	35	44

Asian Games record

Year	Result
1951	was part of USSR
1994	Champions
1998	Quarter-final

FIFA ranking

Last updated 24 November 2016

Key to FIFA World Rankings table
Highest position
Lowest position

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
2016	73	71	74	66	66	66	56	55	49	48	62

Uzbekistan all-time record against other nations

Main article: Uzbekistan national football team all-time record

Against	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	GF	GA	GD
Albania	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1
Armenia	2	0	0	2	1	5	−4
Australia	3	0	0	3	0	9	−9
Azerbaijan	9	2	3	4	10	11	−1
Bahrain	8	2	4	2	10	8	+2
Bangladesh	3	3	0	0	15	0	+15
Belarus	3	1	1	1	5	4	+1
Bosnia and Herzegovina	2	1	1	0	2	1	+1
Cambodia	2	2	0	0	10	1	+9
Canada	1	0	0	1	1	2	−1
China	7	4	1	2	12	9	+3
Chinese Taipei	7	7	0	0	30	1	+29
Hong Kong	5	3	2	0	8	3	+5
India	5	4	1	0	11	3	+8
Indonesia	2	1	1	0	4	1	+3
Iran	6	1	1	4	2	8	−6
Iraq	5	4	1	0	8	2	+6
Israel	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2
Japan	9	1	2	6	8	27	−19
Jordan	10	4	5	1	16	11	+5
Kazakhstan	4	2	2	0	7	2	+5
North Korea	6	3	2	1	10	6	+4
South Korea	13	1	3	9	13	28	−15
Kuwait	4	2	1	1	9	8	+1
Kyrgyzstan	2	2	0	0	9	0	+9
Latvia	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3
Lebanon	4	3	1	0	6	1	+5
Malaysia	5	5	0	0	19	2	+17
Mongolia	2	2	0	0	23	1	+22
Montenegro	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1
New Zealand	1	1	0	0	3	1	+2
Nigeria	2	0	0	2	2	4	−2
Oman	3	1	0	2	7	6	+1
Philippines	1	1	0	0	5	1	+4
Palestine	2	2	0	0	6	0	+6
Qatar	10	6	2	2	20	10	+10
Saudi Arabia	8	2	1	5	13	20	−7
Slovakia	1	0	0	1	1	2	−1
Syria	1	0	0	1	1	2	−1
Tajikistan	5	2	2	1	10	6	+4
Thailand	7	2	0	5	13	18	−5
Turkmenistan	7	7	0	0	18	2	+16
Ukraine	2	0	0	2	1	4	−1
United Arab Emirates	12	2	4	7	13	21	−8
Vietnam	2	2	0	0	6	1	+5
Yemen	3	3	0	0	7	1	+6

Recent results and upcoming fixtures

Main article: Uzbekistan national football team results

Uzbekistan v Yemen

3 September 2015 World Cup 2018 Q	Uzbekistan	1–0	Yemen	Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Second Round. Group H	Alexander Geynrikh 51'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)		Stadium: Pakhtakor Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Lee Min-hu

Philippines v Uzbekistan

8 September 2015 World Cup 2018 Q	Philippines	1–5	Uzbekistan	Bocaue, Philippine
Second Round. Group H	Stephan Schröck 68'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Odil Ahmedov 1' Sardor Rashidov 14', 80' Igor Sergeev 43', 65'	Stadium: Philippine Sports Stadium Attendance: 7,500 Referee: Peter Green

Bahrain v Uzbekistan

8 October 2015 World Cup 2018 Q	Bahrain	0–4	Uzbekistan	Riffa, Bahrain
Second Round. Group H		Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Igor Sergeev 52' Odil Ahmedov 56' Sardor Rashidov 66' Eldor Shomurodov 90+5'	Stadium: Bahrain National Stadium Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Minoru Tōjō

Uzbekistan v North Korea

12 November 2015 World Cup 2018 Q	Uzbekistan	3–1	North Korea	Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Second Round. Group H	Igor Sergeev 23' Alexander Geynrikh 65' Odil Ahmedov 87'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Ri Hyok-chol 2'	Stadium: Pakhtakor Attendance: 27,135 Referee: Alireza Faghani

Yemen v Uzbekistan

17 November 2015 World Cup 2018 Q	Yemen	1–3	Uzbekistan	Doha, Qatar
Second Round. Group H	Ahmed Abdulhakim Al-Sarori 90+2'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Azizbek Haydarov 7' Server Djeparov 31' Stanislav Andreev 50'	Stadium: Grand Hamad Stadium Attendance: 350 Referee: Abdullah Al Hilali

Uzbekistan v Lebanon

14 February 2016 Friendly	Uzbekistan	2–0	Lebanon	Dubai, UAE
	Eldor Shomurodov 5' Server Djeparov 45' (pen.)	Report

Uzbekistan v Philippines

24 March 2016 (2016-03-24) World Cup 2018 Q	Uzbekistan	1–0	Philippines	Bunyodkor Stadium, Tashkent
18:00 UTC+5	Ismailov 59'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)		Attendance: 34,000 Referee: Ryuji Sato (Japan)

Uzbekistan v Bahrain

Canada v Uzbekistan

7 June 2016 Friendly	Canada	2–1	Uzbekistan	Bad Waltersdorf, Austria
	Edgar 20' Komilov 81' (o.g.)	Report	Shomurodov 62'	Stadium: Thermenstadion Bad Waltersdorf

Uzbekistan v Iraq

24 July 2016 Friendly	Uzbekistan	2–1	Iraq	Tashkent, Uzbekistan
	Bikmaev 7' Shomurodov 31'	Report	Bayar Abubakir 90+2'	Stadium: Bunyodkor Stadium

Uzbekistan v Burkina Faso

24 August 2016 Friendly	Uzbekistan	1–0	Burkina Faso	Tashkent, Uzbekistan
20:00 UTC+5	Krimets 42'	Report		Stadium: Pakhtakor Stadium

Uzbekistan v Syria

1 September 2016 World Cup 2018 Q	Uzbekistan	1–0	Syria	Bunyodkor Stadium, Tashkent
20:00 UTC+5	Geynrikh 74'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)		Attendance: 29,100 Referee: Ryuji Sato (Japan)

Qatar v Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan v Iran

Uzbekistan v China

Uzbekistan v Jordan

10 November 2016 Friendly	Uzbekistan	1–0	Jordan	Tashkent, Uzbekistan
	Igor Sergeev 45'			Stadium: Pakhtakor Stadium Referee: Sherzod Qosimov (Uzbekistan)

South Korea v Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan v Armenia

12 February 2017 Friendly	Uzbekistan	v	Armenia	Antalya, Turkey
		Report

Syria v Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan v Qatar

Iran v Uzbekistan

China v Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan v South Korea

Players

Current squad

• The following 23 players were called up for the Friendly match and 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers:
• Match date: 10 and 15 November 2016
• Opposition: Jordan and South Korea
• Caps and goals correct as of: 15 November 2016, after the match against South Korea.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Eldorbek Suyunov	(1991-04-12) 12 April 1991	11	0	Nasaf Qarshi
12	1GK	Ignatiy Nesterov	(1983-06-20) 20 June 1983	94	0	Lokomotiv Tashkent
21	1GK	Aleksandr Lobanov	(1986-01-04) 4 January 1986	16	0	Pakhtakor Tashkent
2	2DF	Egor Krimets	(1992-01-27) 27 January 1992	24	3	Beijing Guoan
5	2DF	Anzur Ismailov	(1985-04-21) 21 April 1985	81	2	Changchun Yatai
13	2DF	Davron Khashimov	(1992-11-24) 24 November 1992	13	0	Pakhtakor Tashkent
16	3MF	Stanislav Andreev	(1988-05-06) 6 May 1988	36	2	Pakhtakor Tashkent
19	2DF	Vitaliy Denisov	(1987-02-24) 24 February 1987	69	1	Lokomotiv Moscow
20	2DF	Islom Tukhtakhodjaev	(1989-10-30) 30 October 1989	52	1	Lokomotiv Tashkent
3	3MF	Salamat Kutiboev	(1986-05-21) 21 May 1986	0	0	Bukhoro
6	3MF	Jaloliddin Masharipov	(1993-09-01) 1 September 1993	3	0	Pakhtakor Tashkent
7	3MF	Jamshid Boltaboev	(1996-10-03) 3 October 1996	0	0	Pakhtakor Tashkent
8	3MF	Server Djeparov	(1982-10-03) 3 October 1982	121	25	Lokomotiv Tashkent
9	3MF	Odil Ahmedov	(1987-11-25) 25 November 1987	82	15	Krasnodar
10	3MF	Sardor Rashidov	(1991-06-14) 14 June 1991	37	11	El-Jaish
14	3MF	Javokhir Sokhibov	(1995-03-01) 1 March 1995	13	0	Pakhtakor Tashkent
18	3MF	Otabek Shukurov	(1996-06-22) 22 June 1996	10	1	Bunyodkor
17	3MF	Vadim Afonin	(1987-09-29) 29 September 1987	2	0	Orenburg
22	3MF	Jamshid Iskanderov	(1993-10-16) 16 October 1993	19	1	Pakhtakor Tashkent
4	4FW	Marat Bikmaev	(1986-01-01) 1 January 1986	38	5	Lokomotiv Tashkent
11	4FW	Igor Sergeev	(1993-04-30) 30 April 1993	36	11	Beijing Guoan
15	4FW	Alexander Geynrikh	(1984-10-06) 6 October 1984	93	31	Ordabasy Shymkent
23	4FW	Eldor Shomurodov	(1995-06-29) 29 June 1995	14	4	Bunyodkor

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called for the last 12 months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Murod Zukhurov	(1983-02-23) 23 February 1983	2	0	Bunyodkor	v. Yemen, 17 November 2015
DF	Ruslan Melziddinov	(1985-03-26) 26 March 1985	4	0	Bukhoro	v. Burkina Faso, 24 August 2016
DF	Aleksandr Merzlyakov	(1986-10-30) 30 October 1986	5	0	Pakhtakor Tashkent	v. Burkina Faso, 24 August 2016
DF	Kamoliddin Tajiev	(1983-05-03) 3 May 1983	9	0	Pakhtakor Tashkent	v. Bahrain, 29 March 2016
DF	Oleg Zoteev	(1989-07-05) 5 July 1989	12	1	Lokomotiv Tashkent	v. Bahrain, 29 March 2016
DF	Akram Komilov	(1996-03-14) 14 March 1996	1	0	Bunyodkor	v. Philippines, 24 March 2016
DF	Shukhrat Mukhammadiev	(1989-06-29) 29 June 1989	14	0	Nasaf Qarshi	v. Philippines, 24 March 2016
MF	Azizbek Haydarov	(1985-07-08) 8 July 1985	79	1	Al-Shabab	v. Jordan, 10 November 2016
MF	Odiljon Khamrobekov	(1996-02-13) 13 February 1996	0	0	Nasaf	v. Jordan, 10 November 2016
MF	Sanzhar Tursunov	(1986-12-29) 29 December 1986	48	5	Vorskla Poltava	v. Iran, 6 October 2016
MF	Dostonbek Khamdamov	(1996-07-24) 24 July 1996	1	0	Bunyodkor	v. Qatar, 6 September 2016
MF	Shohruz Norkhonov	(1993-04-13) 13 April 1993	0	0	Obod	v. Burkina Faso, 24 August 2016
MF	Fozil Musaev	(1989-01-02) 2 January 1989	21	0	Sepahan	v. Bahrain, 29 March 2016
MF	Sardor Mirzayev	(1991-03-21) 21 March 1991	2	0	Lokomotiv Tashkent	v. Bahrain, 29 March 2016
DF	Zokhid Abdullaev	(1984-05-25) 25 May 1984	0	0	Metallurg Bekabad	v. Burkina Faso, 24 August 2016

Notes:

• ^SUS Player suspended
• ^INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury
• ^RET Retired from the national team
• ^WD Player withdrew from the squad for non-injury related reasons

Coaches

Name	Nat	Period	Matches	Wins	Draws	Losses	Win%
Rustam Akramov		June 1992– October 1994	18	13	3	2	72%
Alexander Ivankov		July 1995– November 1995	4	0	1	3	0%
Bakhodir Ibragimov		1996	8	2	0	6	25%
Rustam Mirsodiqov		May 1997– October 1997	12	5	3	4	42%
Ubirajara Veiga da Silva		October 1997– December 1998	11	5	4	2	45%
Makhmud Rakhimov		July 1999– November 1999	7	6	0	1	86%
Viktor Borisov		February 2000	1	1	0	0	100%
Pavel Sadyrin		April 2000– May 2000	1	0	0	1	0%
Yuriy Sarkisyan		July 2000– October 2000	6	1	1	4	17%
Vladimir Salkov		December 2000– October 2001	21	12	3	6	57%
Leonid Ostorushko		October 2001	1	1	0	1	100%
Ravshan Khaydarov		January 2002– November 2004 June–July 2005	25	13	6	6	52%
Hans-Jürgen Gede		February 2005– April 2005	3	0	1	2	0%
Bobby Houghton		July 2005– December 2005	4	2	2	0	50%
Valeri Nepomniachi		January 2006– December 2006	6	3	2	1	50%
Rauf Inileev		January 2007– September 2008	27	13	4	10	46%
Mirjalol Qosimov		September 2008– April 2010	15	4	3	8	27%
Vadim Abramov		April 2010– June 2012	28	11	5	12	39%
Mirjalol Qosimov		June 2012 – June 2015	40	19	9	12	48%
Samvel Babayan		June 2015–	17	14	0	3	82%

• Coach statistics. Last update: 15 November 2016

Individual all-time records

Most capped players

The list of the 10 players with the most caps for Uzbekistan.

Alexander Geynrikh

As of 15 November 2016

#	Player	Career	Caps	Goals
1	Server Djeparov	2002–present	121	25
2	Timur Kapadze	2002–present	119	10
3	Ignatiy Nesterov	2002–present	94	0
4	Alexander Geynrikh	2002–present	93	31
5	Odil Ahmedov	2007–present	82	15
6	Anzur Ismailov	2007–present	81	2
7	Azizbek Haydarov	2007–present	79	1
8	Vitaliy Denisov	2007–present	69	1
9	Mirjalol Qosimov	1992–2005	66	30
10	Andrey Fyodorov	1994–2006	65	7

Top goalscorers

Maksim Shatskikh

As of 15 November 2016, the fifteen highest scorers are:

#	Player	Career	Goals	Caps
1	Maksim Shatskikh	1999–2014	34	61
2	Alexander Geynrikh	2002–present	31	93
3	Mirjalol Qosimov	1992–2005	30	66
4	Server Djeparov	2002–present	25	121
5	Igor Shkvyrin	1992–2000	20	31
6	Odil Ahmedov	2007–present	15	82
	Jafar Irismetov	1997–2007	15	36
8	Ulugbek Bakayev	2001–2014	14	53
9	Nikolay Shirshov	1996–2005	13	64
10	Sardor Rashidov	2013–present	11	37
	Igor Sergeev	2013–present	11	36
	Shukhrat Maqsudov	1992–1997	11	21
	Azamat Abduraimov	1992–1997	11	22
	Vladimir Shishelov	2000–2012	11	28
11	Timur Kapadze	2002–present	10	119

See also

• Uzbekistan national football team results
• Uzbekistan national football team head to head
• Uzbekistan national under-17 football team
• Uzbekistan national under-20 football team
• Uzbekistan national under-23 football team
• Uzbekistan national futsal team
• Football in Uzbekistan
• Sport in Uzbekistan
• Former Soviet Republics competitive record

External links

• Uzbekistan Football Federation
• FIFA profile: Uzbekistan / Results / Fixtures
• AFC profile: Uzbekistan
• Uzbekistan International matches