2026 World Cup Team Notes: Uzbekistan, the First-Timer That Will Not Be Happy Just Looking Around

Some teams reach their first World Cup like fireworks.

Uzbekistan feel more like a stone that has rolled for years and finally crossed the line.

Their supporters waited too long for this. In 1994, Uzbekistan won Asian Games gold. At the time, it was easy to imagine that this new country emerging from the old Soviet football system would soon become one of Asia's powers. Then Asian football answered without politeness. Iran, South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Australia: doors behind doors. Uzbekistan kept getting close. Uzbekistan kept being stopped.

In qualifying for 2014, they came close to the playoff. In the 2018 cycle, close again. On those nights in Tashkent, the feeling must have repeated itself: the match over, the scoreboard still lit, people knowing the result and still not quite ready to leave the stadium.

So 2026 means more than participation.

It is the echo of a football country finally finding a main-stage wall to bounce against.

The interesting thing about this Uzbekistan side is the meeting of old and new.

Eldor Shomurodov is still the face. He is not a striker who crushes every opponent, but European football has taught him body position, back-to-goal work, box movement and the small geography of the penalty area. For a first-time World Cup team, having someone who can keep the ball in the front line is enormous. When nerves arrive, the most frightening thing is not always conceding. Sometimes it is the ball never leaving your half.

Among the younger players, Abbosbek Fayzullaev is the brightest name. He is not physically imposing, but his feet are quick and he dares to receive in the middle and turn. Uzbekistan have often been seen as hard-bodied and direct. Fayzullaev gives them another kind of light: a sudden flash inside a packed midfield, half a step found behind the opponent's holding midfielder.

Oston Urunov matters too. He can carry from wide areas and drive inside during transitions. Otabek Shukurov and Jaloliddin Masharipov form part of the experience line in midfield: one to hold contact, one to give the final third a little curve and variation.

At the back, Abdukodir Khusanov is a key figure. Young, powerful, already noticed in Europe. A World Cup is cruel to a young center back: you can do everything right for eighty minutes, then turn once a fraction late and lose the whole night. That is why his growth may decide Uzbekistan's ceiling.

How should they play?

I would not tell Uzbekistan to become a purely defensive team.

First-timers often make one mistake: they respect everyone so much that they make themselves smaller. Uzbekistan do have technique. Against elite teams, yes, they need a low block. They need to protect the box and survive first. But once the ball is won, they must dare to find Fayzullaev, dare to send the wide players running, dare to let Shomurodov fight the opposing center backs.

At a World Cup, the smaller team fears having no exit.

No exit, and the match becomes a beating. You can survive fifteen minutes of that on emotion. Sixty minutes turns it into arithmetic.

Uzbekistan's exit is the connection between those players in the middle and up front. The center back does not swing blindly. The holding midfielder takes one more look. Fayzullaev receives half-turned and is not afraid to lose the ball. Shomurodov wins the first duel. These sound like small things. For a first World Cup, small things are everything.

My read: Uzbekistan are not tourists.

They can take points in a group. They can even make one match memorable. Whether they qualify will depend on the draw and the first game. For a debutant, the first game is brutal. If they are cut open in the first twenty minutes, the tournament becomes very long. If they survive, maybe even score first, the players may suddenly believe: so this place can be played in after all.

Uzbek football waited too long.

Teams that wait too long usually arrive in one of two ways. Some are blinded by the lights. Others pack years of frustration into every challenge.

I hope they are the second kind.

The World Cup needs champions. It also needs teams that open the door for the first time with their eyes still bright.

Uzbekistan 2026 squad pool, by position

Note: This is a working squad pool as of April 2026, based on recent competitive matches, qualifiers and regular national-team call-ups. The final 26-man squad depends on the official list.

• Goalkeepers: Utkir Yusupov, Abduvohid Nematov, Vladimir Nazarov
• Defenders: Abdukodir Khusanov, Rustamjon Ashurmatov, Husniddin Aliqulov, Farrukh Sayfiyev, Sherzod Nasrullayev, Islom Tukhtakhujaev
• Midfielders: Otabek Shukurov, Jaloliddin Masharipov, Odiljon Hamrobekov, Abbosbek Fayzullaev, Khojimat Erkinov, Diyor Kholmatov
• Forwards: Eldor Shomurodov, Oston Urunov, Igor Sergeev, Eldor Shomurotov, Jasurbek Yakhshiboev

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