Uzbekistan holds the highest competitive results among teams fromCentral Asia. At the2011 Asian Cup, Uzbekistan reached the semi-finals of the tournament for the first time. At other competitions such as theAsian Games, Uzbekistan won the gold medal in1994 inJapan, while finishing as the runners-up at theAfro-Asian Cup of Nations in 1995. They qualified for theFIFA World Cup for the first time in2026.[3][4]
In 1928, the Uzbekistan national football team was created, taking place in theSpartakiade, which included representatives of some European countries. In this tournament, the national team of Uzbekistan Soviet Socialist Republic held its first international match againstSwitzerland and won 8–4.
Until mid-1991, Uzbekistan was part of the USSR and had its own national team as well as the rest of the Union republics, which mostly played matches within teams of the USSR, in particular in football tournaments of theSpartakiad of Peoples of the USSR. The Uzbekistan SSR national team participated in all draws of the Spartakiad of Peoples of the USSR football tournaments, and in 1986 reached the final, losing to theUkrainian SSR (modern Ukraine) team 1–0, winning the silver medal. Throughout the history of the Soviet Union, Uzbekistan SSR was one of the six main centers of football development in the country, alongsideRussia SFSR,Ukraine SSR,Belarus SSR,Georgia SSR andArmenia. The most powerful football clubs, as well as semi-professional and professional clubs were in the USSR Football League (Higher League,First League,Second League andSecond League B) andUSSR Cup. Nonprofessional clubs of the Uzbekistan SSR participated in theUzbekistan SSR Championship and theUzbekistan SSR Cup.
After thedissolution of the Soviet Union, Uzbekistan gained independence, and a new Uzbekistan national team was organized. The national team held its first match in 1992, a game againstTajikistan, in the framework of the1992 Central Asian Cup (the tournament was held once, initiated byFIFA). In 1992, Uzbekistan was also a member of theCIS national football team, which existed for one year and replaced theUSSR national football team and instead participated inEuro 1992. The Uzbekistan national team did not play the following year.
1994 Asian Games Final starting lineup on 16 October 1994, inHiroshima (Japan)
In the1994 Asian Games, Uzbekistan were grouped with powerhouseSaudi Arabia,Thailand andMalaysia, alongsideHong Kong. After a 4–1 victory over the Saudis, Uzbekistan followed up with a 5–0 victory over Malaysia and a 1–0 win over Hong Kong before winning the group with a 5–4 win against Thailand. In the quarter-finals, Uzbekistan defeatedTurkmenistan 3–0 to advance to the semi-finals where they facedSouth Korea. The Korean side included nine players that had already participated in the1994 FIFA World Cup; despite this, Uzbekistan shocked South Korea with a 1–0 victory to advance to the final, its first ever final since gaining independence from the Soviet Union.In their final game againstChina, Uzbekistan defeated the Chinese 4–2 to capture its first and only Asian honor two years after its creation.[5]
In the1996 AFC Asian Cup, Uzbekistan was grouped with Japan, China andSyria, and were eliminated in the group stage. Uzbekistan's first-ever attempt to qualify for the World Cup was in1998. Grouped withYemen,Cambodia andIndonesia in the first stage, Uzbekistan won every match except for the away fixture against Indonesia. Shortly after, the Uzbeks playedSouth Korea,Japan and theUAE, and failed to qualify for the tournament.[citation needed]
The2000 AFC Asian Cup saw the Uzbeks with Japan, Saudi Arabia andQatar, gaining only a point against the latter with a draw. Uzbekistan participated in thefirst round in order to qualify for the2002 FIFA World Cup in Japan and South Korea, and eventually made thesecond round. The group containedChina, theUAE,Oman andQatar, and the Uzbeks were unable to make any major breakthrough in the second round, losing twice to the UAE, and suffering two away defeats to China and Oman. An away draw to Qatar confirmed Uzbekistan's failure to qualify, despite a late win over already qualified China in the final match.[citation needed]
Uzbekistan failed to make further impact on the continental stage until they reached the last eight of the2004 Asian Cup, topping their group after winning all matches, where they were beaten byBahrain after apenalty shoot-out.[citation needed] The country would eventually defeatIraq in thesecond qualifying round for the2006 World Cup inGermany, with goals fromMaksim Shatskikh andAlexander Geynrikh sending them through to the last eight. They were knocked out in thefinal stage of theAsian qualification to the 2006 World Cup after losing on theaway goals rule toBahrain. The result was subject to controversy as three games were played; the first, a 1–0 win for Uzbekistan was wiped out after FIFA declared the result void after a mistake byToshimitsu Yoshida, a Japanese referee.[6] The replay ended 1–1, and after the return finished 0–0, Uzbekistan were eliminated.
Uzbekistan national team supporters during a qualification match for the2010 World Cup against Japan atPakhtakor Stadium in Tashkent
After having three foreign coaches (GermanHans-Jürgen Gede, EnglishmanBob Houghton and RussianValeri Nepomniachi) in three years, the country turned to former Uzbekistan Olympic team coachRauf Inileev. Duringqualification for the2010 World Cup, Uzbekistan advanced to thefourth round of theAsian qualifiers after winning their first four matches, but finished last inGroup A of the final round behind favorites Australia, Japan, Bahrain and Qatar, with four points from eight matches.
In the2011 Asian Cup, Uzbekistan ended in fourth place, their all-time best result in the tournament. After getting past thegroup stage andquarter-finals, the Uzbek team lost their first opportunity to reach the Asian Cup final whenAustralia thrashed them 6–0 in thesemi-final game. Several days later, they were defeated again bySouth Korea in thethird place match 3–2.[7]
Inqualification for the2014 World Cup, Uzbekistan advanced to Asia'sfourth round after winning their group in thethird round over Japan. Uzbekistan finished with 16 points (five wins and one draw), more than any other team in the third round, including an impressive 1–0 away win against Japan. In the fourth round, Uzbekistan finished third inGroup A behindIran and South Korea, and lost to South Korea (14 points) on goal difference, and would eventually playJordan in thefifth round to determine the AFC participant in theintercontinental play-off. On 10 September 2013, with the two teams drawn at the end of the second leg, Jordan eventually progressed to the intercontinental play-off after winning 9–8 onpenalties.
Uzbekistan continued their quest to head to the World Cup during2018 World Cup qualification, but their campaign had been shattered with a 4–2 defeat toNorth Korea. However, the Uzbeks soon bounced back and won the last remaining matches to top the group and qualified to the2019 AFC Asian Cup as well as the last round. Once again, Uzbekistan in the last round, missed an opportunity when they finished fourth, behind Iran, South Korea andSyria, when Uzbekistan could only manage a 0–0 draw to the South Koreans in the last match.[8]
Uzbekistan started their2019 Asian Cup campaign with a 2–1 victory over Oman and continued with a 4–0 win over Turkmenistan, which guaranteed Uzbekistan to progress from the group stage for the fifth consecutive time, despite ending with a 1–2 defeat to Japan in the last match. Facing Australia, defending Asian champions, Uzbekistan drew 0–0 after 120 minutes. In the penalty shootout, Australia prevailed with a 4–2 win.
In thesecond qualifying round for the 2022 World Cup, Uzbekistan suffered another disappointment by failing to qualify for thefinal round. TheWhite Wolves accumulated five wins and three defeats. Moreover, Uzbekistan's failure was also compounded by the fact thatNorth Korea, originally in Group H of the same round, surprisingly withdrew due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, in which FIFA and the AFC then ruled North Korea's results as null and void. This causedLebanon to qualify ahead of Uzbekistan, since Lebanon's original results against North Korea were a draw and a loss.[9][10][11]
Uzbekistan took part in thethird qualifying round for the 2023 Asian Cup. Designated as the host country of Group C (due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in Asia), the Central Asians won all three games and finished top of their group without conceding a goal, confirming their qualification for thetournament. Uzbekistan was placed in Group B with Australia, Syria andIndia. Prior to the tournament, Uzbek all-time top goalscorer Eldor Shomurodov sustained a leg injury, ruling him out of the squad. Uzbekistan drew 0–0 in their opening game againstSyria and won against India 3–0. In their last match against Australia, Uzbekistan drew 1–1 to seal a place in the round of 16 as the second-placed team in their group. They faced Thailand, whom they managed to beat 2–1. In the quarter-finals, they faced hosts Qatar. With the match drawn 1–1 after extra time, Uzbekistan lost 3–2 in the penalty shoot-out.[12]
Uzbekistan vs. Bahrain at Pakhtakor Central Stadium in 2009
The Uzbekistan national team has received several nicknames by supporters and media. The most common one used is "The White Wolves" (Uzbek:Oq boʻrilar/Оқ бўрилар),[17][18][19][20] while also being called "Asian Italy"[21] (Uzbek:Osiyo Italiyasi/Осиё Италияси) due to the similarity of colors (white and blue) ofItaly and Uzbekistan, as well as similar tactics (defensive football) of these teams.[22]
From its formation in 1992 until the end of 2012, the main home stadium of the Uzbekistan national football team was thePakhtakor Central Stadium inTashkent, built and opened in 1956. This stadium is also the venue forPakhtakor Football Club. During the Soviet Union, this stadium was home for the Uzbekistan SSR national team. It was reconstructed in 1996, 2008 and 2012 and currently holds 35,000 spectators, previously at 55,000 spectators. The team also usesMilliy Stadium (formerly known as Bunyodkor Stadium), built in 2012 and accommodating 34,000 spectators. This stadium is also a home for theBunyodkor Football Club.
The following players were called up for thefriendly matches againstKuwait andUruguay on 9 and 13 October 2025, respectively.[31] Caps and goals correct as of 13 October 2025 after the match againstUruguay.
U23 Included in the U-23 national team. PRE Preliminary squad standby. 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.
^Бартольд В. В. Работы по истории и филологии тюркских и монгольских народов / В. В. Бартольд; — Перепеч. с изд. 1968 г. — М. —ISBN9785020183391 (в пер.)
