Football inKazakhstan is governed by the national body theFootball Federation of Kazakhstan. The FFK organises themen's,women's andfutsal national teams.^[1] Football is the most popular sport in the country, followed by ice hockey.^[2][3] Approximately a quarter of the people in Kazakhstan are considered association football fans.^[4]

Kazakh football first appeared inSemey beforeWorld War I, whenBritish merchants brought the game to the area. Among the early players of the game was writerMukhtar Auezov who turned out for the 'Yarysh' club, the biggest of the time[1]Archived 2016-03-03 at theWayback Machine. Teams soon followed inPavlodar andDzhambul, before the first official appearance of aKazakh SSR representative team in 1928. By the 1930s Kazakh club sides were regularly participating in the lower ranks of Soviet football.

AfterWorld War II a regular league began in 1946 while acup competition, previously held sporadically was instituted full-time in 1948. A permanent Kazakh SSR Football Federation was established in 1959. Leading club sideFC Kairat Almaty went on to make history in 1960 by becoming the first Kazakh side to compete in theSoviet Top League and made further history in 1963 by reaching thesemi-finals of theSoviet Cup, the best performance by a Kazakh team in the competition. They would go on to record Kazakhstan's first triumph in theSoviet First League in 1976.

No Kazakh footballer had represented theUSSR until 1977 when FC Kairat defenderSeilda Baishakov made his debut in aFIFA World Cup qualifier againstHungary. Later, in 1986, his club would go on to add further to their honours by finishing seventh in the Top League, an all-time best finish for a Kazakh club. The country'sEugeny Yarovenko also added to the honours as a member of the victorious Soviet side at the1988 Summer Olympics.

After the fall of theSoviet Union, a Football Association of the Republic of Kazakhstan was set up in 1992 and soon accepted intoFIFA and theAsian Football Confederation. The national team debuted soon afterwards and individual Kazakh competitions were established. The renamed FFK went on to joinUEFA in 2002, ending their relationship with the AFC.^[2][5][6][7]

The main league competition in the country is theKazakhstan Premier League, formed in 1992 from Zone 8 of the Third Level of Soviet football with other higher placed Kazakh clubs co-opted. Afirst division was added in 1994 and this competition is now organised on a regional basis and is fed into by a further regionalised second division. TheKazakhstan Cup is also competed for, while successful clubs gain entry to the early rounds of theUEFA Champions League and theUEFA Europa League.^[8]

Although they participated in matches against otherRepublics of the Soviet Union, the Kazakhstan team did not make their official debut as an independent country until 1 June 1992, when they defeatedTurkmenistan 1–0. Based at theAlmaty Central Stadium, they are yet to qualify for a major tournament.

AKazakh SSR championship was founded in 1936 with no Kazakh clubs competing in theSoviet Top League. The winners of this competition were:

1936–81

1980–81. Zone 7, 3rd level of Soviet football, including Kazakhstan and otherCentral Asian teams

• 1980 –Traktor Pavlodar
• 1981 –Aktyubinets Aktobe

1982–91. Zone 8, 3rd level of Soviet football, including only Kazakhstan teams

• 1982 –Shakhter Karagandy
• 1983 –Shakhter Karagandy
• 1984 –Tselinnik Tselinograd
• 1985 –Meliorator Shymkent
• 1986 –Meliorator Shymkent
• 1987 –Meliorator Shymkent
• 1988 –Traktor Pavlodar
• 1989 –Traktor Pavlodar
• 1990 –Vostok Oskemen
• 1991 –Aktyubinets Aktobe^[9]

local and lower league organizations are not included.

• The articles initalic indicate the defunct leagues and the defunct cups.
• The figures inbold indicate the most times this competition has been won by a team.

• Sport in Kazakhstan

• Official Kazakhstan Football Federation websiteArchived 2010-04-06 at theWayback Machine

• Football in Kazakhstan

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Webarchive template wayback links