Latest Sports Stories

Football News

Packed streets of Amman and Tashkent will be lively with Asia’s debutants determined they are not just here to make up the numbersBefore eagerly awaited meetings with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo comes slightly less glamorous but hugely important first ever World Cup games for Asia’s debutants. Jordan take on Austria on Wednesday before meeting Algeria and Argentina, while Uzbekistan kick off against Colombia, then Portugal and DR Congo.Jordan v Austria has been used as an example of a game that will challenge Fifa’s dynamic pricing system but regardless of how full the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium is, the cafes in Amman’s Prince Muhammad Street and all around the country will be packed. They were a year ago, as fans watched Portugal beat Spain in the Uuefa Nations League final, just three days after the World Cup spot had been secured with the city still buzzing with the thought of Al-Nashama (The Chivalrous Ones) taking on the superstars of the world and … here they are.But while Jordan may be more about team spirit, organisation and counterattacking, they have stars of their own. In the days after qualification, the faces of the big three forwards featured on billboards everywhere you looked, though they have had differing fortunes since.The talismanic striker Yazan al-Naimat is out after a cruciate ligament injury in December and while Ali Olwan, who scored all three in a win over Oman that sealed the World Cup spot, has not played competitively since February, he should be fit to start. Musa al-Taamari, a softly-spoken baker’s son from Amman, is the main man and is used to that role as a rare Jordanian export to Europe, where the fast and hard-working winger has had a fine second season for Rennes. Odeh Fakhoury should start in attack in the absence of Naimat, the 20-year-old scoring his first international goal on 31 May against Switzerland.That was, however, in a 4-1 defeat and was followed by a 2-0 loss to Colombia in San Diego, so there is some concern. The head coach, Jamal Sellami, a firm proponent of 3-4-3, said it was all part of the learning process and the former international goalkeeper Amer Shafi agrees with the taciturn tactician from Morocco.“There is no cause for concern,” said Shafi, who made 179 international appearances for Jordan. “One of the best things about them is losing in order to learn from mistakes and go into the competitive games with sufficient knowledge of the team’s strengths and weaknesses.” Shafi added that he expects Jordan to reach the knockout stage.Jordan are ready for a physical battle and would not have minded taking on their Alpine opponents in hotter and more humid conditions than Silicon Valley can offer. Football is played hard in the country which does not have the riches of some of the neighbours. This team dug deep to get to the final of the 2023 Asian Cup, outclassing South Korea in the semi-final. A repeat of that performance and the cafes of Amman will have a bumper day.And the plov restaurants of Tashkent could enjoy something similar even if it will be breakfast time when Uzbekistan take on Colombia in Mexico City. Asia’s other debutants brought in Fabio Cannavaro as manager soon after sealing their spot. His coaching career is not anything to write back to Naples about, but he did captain his nation to the 2006 World Cup win before returning in 2010 with a dismal first-round exit. Nobody in Central Asia expects the former but a good start and fears of the latter will recede.Like Jordan, Uzbekistan rarely face non-Asian opposition but do have a squad with European experience. Much attention will be on the Manchester City defender Abdukodir Khusanov but there is talent in Abbosbek Fayzullaev, a winger who fought homesickness to go to CSKA Moscow as a teenager before the lack of international football on offer brought a move to Turkey. A good tournament this time could see the 22-year-old move farther west.Since qualifying behind Iran, Uzbekistan have lost 2-1 to Uruguay but defeated Gabon and Egypt before final warm-up defeats to Canada and the Netherlands. The latter came thanks to two penalties from Cody Gakpo with the Liverpool forward scoring the winner in the 99th minute, not long after Uzbekistan had equalised to achieve what they thought was going to be a morale-boosting result. It was an important lesson about concentration and focus.Underestimating the White Wolves would, however, be a mistake. “Uzbeks are tough: people who fight, who never give up,” Cannavaro says. “Playing against them is a pain in the arse. We played Uruguay: we had nine injured players, they weren’t at their best, but my players are tough. It’s not easy to play against them and we only lost 2-1.”The veteran midfielder Jaloliddin Masharipov has a back problem but excitement and optimism remain high. More than Jordan, perhaps, there is a confidence that whatever happens in the next few weeks, this is just the beginning for the former Soviet republic. The rise of Uzbekistan in Asia after independence in 1991 has been fascinating, if little noticed outside. Repeated near misses at the World Cup brought a label of Asia’s chokers but also resulted in investment. Trophies at youth level are translating into senior success.“[It] has not come overnight, and we have produced consistent results over a number of years to emerge as one of the leading Asian football nations,” Otabek Umarov, the first vice-president of Uzbekistan’s Olympic committee, says. “People abroad might not realise, but as the first country from central Asia to qualify for the World Cup, this will be a moment where the entire nation stops to cheer on our heroes.”As it is in Tashkent, so it will be in Amman.

Football News

Uzbekistan fans will watch their team at a World Cup finals tournament for the first time. Photograph: Stéphane Mahé/ReutersWith a World Cup winner at the helm in Fabio Cannavaro, the White Wolves make their tournament debutThis article is part of the Guardian’s 2026 World Cup Experts’ Network, a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 48 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from three countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 11 June.It has been quite a journey. When Srecko Katanec took charge of Uzbekistan in 2021 he introduced an effective 3-4-3 system and his successors, Timur Kapadze and now Fabio Cannavaro, have stuck with it.The first round of qualification was straightforward. In a four-team group they saw off Turkmenistan and Hong Kong and held Iran to two draws. The second round was favourable, too. Uzbekistan avoided being drawn against giants such as Japan, South Korea and Australia, and their away games were relatively nearby. Their away fixture against North Korea was played in Laos, with the Uzbekistan team arriving by chartered flight. Across both rounds of qualification, the White Wolves lost just one of their 16 games, a 3-2 defeat in Qatar. All four games against Iran, one of Asia’s heavyweights, ended in draws. Utkir Yusupov, Uzbekistan’s No 1 goalkeeper, made a particularly significant contribution to the side’s historic qualification, saving penalties in the two matches against North Korea.The deterioration of Katanec’s health during the qualifiers came as a surprise to everyone. The Slovenian was unable to fly to Tashkent for some of the matches as a result. “If I leave the national team for the third time due to health reasons, I will never return,” Katanec said in the summer of 2024. He resigned in January 2025 and was replaced by Kapadze, who led the Uzbekistan Olympic team to Paris 2024 for the first time. Katanec said his successor “finished the meal I started to prepare”.After securing a place at the World Cup, the Uzbekistan football association planned to bring in a foreign coach. Cannavaro was selected from several candidates and signed an initial two-year contract. “I’m happy to be given this opportunity, it is a great honour. I came here not to change everything, but to continue the work that has been started,” the 2006 World Cup-winning captain said on the day he arrived last year, a few months after qualification had been assured.Fabio Cannavaro played a total of 18 matches at the 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010 World Cups, lifting the trophy in Germany in 2006. He is second only to Gianluigi Buffon’s 176 caps for Italy. However, he has not achieved great results as a coach. In four years in charge of Guangzhou Evergrande he won one Chinese Super League title, while his reign as China’s head coach lasted just two games. Then there were more short spells at Benevento, Udinese and Dinamo Zagreb. “I have played many games on the field where I thought I had given everything,” he has said. “But after hanging up my boots and starting my coaching career, I realised that 90 minutes on the field can never be compared to the life of a coach.”Abdukodir Khusanov is by far the most recognisable face in the Uzbekistan side – the country’s first player to appear in the Champions League, Premier League or Ligue 1. His father, Khikmat Khoshimov, also played as a central defender. At 17, Khusanov went to play for Energetik-BGU Minsk in Belarus but could only train, with foreign players not allowed to play competitively until the age of 18. “In Belarus, I suffered away from my parents – often there were training sessions three times a day. If there was heavy snow in winter, we would clear the field ourselves and then train,” he says. During a whirlwind 2023, when Khusanov won the Under-20 Asian Cup with Uzbekistan and earned his first senior cap, Lens came calling. Within 18 months the shy youngster was at Manchester City. “He is a top signing,” Pep Guardiola said. “He is so coachable. He is always training good and gives 100%.” The 22-year-old has won the FA Cup and League Cup this season.Born in 2007 in the Namangan region, Behruz Karimov has always been impatient to progress. “I’ve been playing football since I was six years old. When I was in high school, I was rejected by the under-19 team of Navbahor because I was too young. After that I started trying to prove that age is just a number.” In March last year, the teenage right-back made his debut for Surkhan in the Uzbek top flight. In October, he scored his first goal. And last January, at the age of 18, he participated in the Under-23 Asian Cup, scoring against South Korea, and soon earned his first senior call-up. After breaking his toe playing for Surkhan in April he underwent surgery but recovered in time for the World Cup. A year ago, he would not have dreamed of this. “After the injury I was very depressed, but everyone around me supported me. This also helped me get back on my feet faster.”Dostonbek Khamdamov played for Uzbekistan at every youth level right through his teenage years, from winning the Under-16 Asian Cup in 2012 to repeating the feat at the under-23 tournament in 2018. After his brilliant performances for Bunyodkor, Khamdamov – named the best young player in Asia in 2015 – moved to Anzhi Makhachkala in Russia in 2018 but played only nine games. Back home with Pakhtakor, the winger has won five league titles and three Uzbek Cups across two spells. Having had a spell in the cold with the national team, Khamadov has found himself back in favour under Cannavaro.Uzbek supporters travelled to a global football tournament for the first time in 2024, descending on Paris for the Olympics. No matter which country they go to, they leave behind only good memories. Their most famous song is: “The Temurids have come, the Baburids have come” – the descendants of Timur and Babur – two empire builders in Central Asia – have arrived, meaning business.The presidents of Uzbekistan and the US have met several times in recent years and relations are warm. “Shavkat Mirziyoyev is my friend,” Trump said when they were together at the Board of Peace in Washington in February 2026. “He’s got one of the most difficult names in history, but that’s OK, it doesn’t matter. Your country is doing great. You’re doing great and just no problems. Every time I see him, nope, we’re doing good, no problems.” In November last year Mirziyoyev told Trump: “In Uzbekistan, we call you the president of the world.”Written by Narzulla Saydullaev for Championat Asia.