Kyrgyzstan national football team

History

Early years

Until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Kyrgyz football players played for the USSR national football team. After Kyrgyzstan gained independence on August 31, 1991, the national team was created. Kyrgyzstan played its first match on August 23, 1992, in the against Uzbekistan in Tashkent. The match ended in a 3-0 victory for Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan eventually finished in fourth place. The team was scheduled to play against Turkmenistan on July 16, 1992, but the match was cancelled due to the absence of the Turkmenistan team. In 1993, Kyrgyzstan participated in the 1993 ECO Cup in Iran, but failed to advance past the group stage.

In 1994, the Football Federation of Kyrgyzstan was admitted as a full member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and FIFA. The team participated in the Uzbekistan Independence Cup, finishing in last place. The team did not play any matches in 1995, and in 1996, they participated in the 1996 AFC Asian Cup qualification, finishing in second place in their group and failing to advance. In 1997, Kyrgyzstan participated in 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification, but was eliminated in the first round after finishing second in their group.

In 1999, Kyrgyzstan played in 2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification, but finished in last place in their group. The team participated in the 2000 WAFF Championship, but again finished in last place. In 2001, Kyrgyzstan participated in the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification, but was eliminated in the first round after finishing third in their group.

In 2002, the team did not play any matches, and in 2003, they participated in the 2004 AFC Asian Cup qualification, finishing in second place in their group and failing to advance. That same year, they also participated in the first round of the qualifying tournament for the 2006 World Cup, advancing to the next round after defeating Pakistan in both matches. In 2004, Kyrgyzstan participated in the second stage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification, but finished in fourth place in their group.

AFC Asian Cup debut

In the years since, Kyrgyzstan has seen some success, participating in the 2010, 2014, and 2018 editions of the AFC Challenge Cup, finishing in third place in 2010 and as runners-up in 2014 . During the third round of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification, Kyrgyzstan was grouped with India, Myanmar and Macau in which they got 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 lost seeing Kyrgyzstan qualified to their first-ever major tournament in the 2019 edition of the AFC Asian Cup. In the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, Kyrgyzstan was drawn in Group C alongside China, Philippines and heavyweights South Korea. The team lost back to back to China and South Korea needing a desperate win against the Philippines in the last match to at least qualified to the knockout stage which Vitalij Lux scored a hat-trick gaining Kyrgyzstan their first ever win in their history of the tournament seeing them through to the Round of 16 facing United Arab Emirates. Throughout the match, UAE was leading at 2–1 where in the 90' minute stoppage time, Tursunali Rustamov scored a header from a corner kick to equalised the match at 2–2 sending it into extra time however their luck ran out as Ahmed Khalil scored a penalty seeing Kyrgyzstan out from the tournament. In the same year, Kyrgyzstan reached their highest-ever FIFA ranking of 75th.

In the 2023 Asian Cup qualification, Kyrgyzstan hosted all of the Group F matches being grouped with neighbours, Tajikistan and two Southeast Asia countries, Myanmar and Singapore. In the first match, the team bounced back from 1–0 down as Valery Kichin converted a penalty to level the score in the 77' minute in which Viktor Maier scored the winner in the 82' minute to secure the three points for Kyrgyzstan. In the next fixture, Viktor Maier scored a brace against Myanmar securing another three points for Kyrgyzstan before facing Tajikistan in a goalless draw in the final fixture seeing both team advancing to the 2023 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar.

In 2023, Kyrgyzstan alongside Uzbekistan hosted the inaugural 2023 CAFA Nations Cup.

Stadium

Home matches are played at the Dolen Omurzakov Stadium in Bishkek, which has a capacity of 23,000.

Results and fixtures

Main article: Kyrgyzstan national football team results (2020–present), Kyrgyzstan national football team results

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

2024

• Kojo
• Taremi
• Hardani
• Azmoun

2025

• Alijonov
• Kichin
• Mishchenko
• Shukurov
• Mendes
• Pak Kwang-hun
• Ri Jo-guk
• Alykulov
• Kim Sung-hye
• Merk
• Abdalla
• Kojo
• Jumaýew
• Al Sabhi
• Kozubayev
• Mozgovoy
• Shukurov
• Sergeev
• Turgunboev

Coaching staff

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC third round matches against Uzbekistan and Qatar on 20 and 25 March 2025, respectively.

Caps and goals correct as of 19 November 2024, after the match against Iran.

Recent call-ups

;Notes PRE Preliminary squad standby.

Player records

Top goalscorers

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

AFC Asian Cup

Main article: Kyrgyzstan at the AFC Asian Cup

AFC Challenge Cup

CAFA Nations Cup

West Asian Championship

ELF Cup

In 2006, Kyrgyzstan took part in the inaugural ELF Cup in Northern Cyprus. This competition was originally intended to be for teams that were not members of FIFA; however, the organisers extended invitations to both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, who were both represented by their national futsal teams.

*Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

Head-to-head record

Main article: Kyrgyzstan national football team results

Honours

Friendly

• Aceh World Solidarity Cup (1): 2017
• Three Nations Cup (1): 2021

References

References

1. Hyung-Jin, Yoon. (30 April 2006). "Kyrgyzstan International Matches".
2. "Come on referee, you weren't supposed to see this!".
3. link. [[Football Federation of the Kyrgyz Republic]]. (6 January 2019)
4. (3 April 2023). "ЧОҢ РАХМАТ, АЛЕКСАНДР СЕРГЕЕВИЧ!". Kyrgyz Football Union Twitter.
5. (24 April 2023). "ШТЕФАН ТАРКОВИЧ - НОВЫЙ ГЛАВНЫЙ ТРЕНЕР НАЦИОНАЛЬНОЙ СБОРНОЙ КЫРГЫЗСТАНА". Kyrgyz Football Union Twitter.
6. (12 March 2025). "РАСШИРЕННЫЙ СОСТАВ НАЦИОНАЛЬНОЙ СБОРНОЙ НА ОТБОРОЧНЫЕ МАТЧИ ЧЕМПИОНАТА МИРА-2026". Кыргызский футбольный союз.
7. "Kyrgyzstan".
8. "Kyrgyzstan National Team Team's statistics (1992–2011)".