Fabio Cannavaro’s New Mission: Leading Uzbekistan to Glory

By Rasim Mövsümov

When the Soviet team won the world title, the captain was Mirjalol Qosimov from Uzbekistan. This refers to the 1987 FIFA U-16 World Championship held in Canada. Vasilios Hatzipanagis – known as “The Greek Maradona” and selected as Greece’s Golden Player (1954–2003) for the UEFA Jubilee Awards – was also born in Uzbekistan and began his football career there.

The best achievement of Uzbek football during the Soviet era can arguably be considered Pakhtakor Tashkent reaching the final of the Soviet Cup in 1968.

Until 1991, Uzbekistan was part of the Soviet Union, which participated in seven FIFA World Cups. Following the dissolution of the USSR, Uzbekistan became the third former Soviet republic to qualify for the World Cup as an independent nation, after Russia in 1994 and Ukraine in 2006.

Although Uzbekistan, which joined FIFA in 1994, has occasionally discussed the possibility of joining UEFA, the country remained in the AFC and is currently ranked fifth in Asia according to the FIFA rankings.

Uzbek football is also remembered for Rivaldo’s spell in the domestic league between 2008 and 2011. Bunyodkor, where he played, was coached by legends such as Brazilians Zico and Luiz Felipe Scolari. However, the club, now struggling without sponsors, has recently made headlines because parts of its infrastructure have reportedly been left without electricity and water.

Uzbekistan has increasingly drawn attention through sports achievements. At the Paris 2024 Olympics, they finished 13th overall with eight gold medals and were represented in the football tournament for the first time. In addition, Uzbekistan’s U-20 national team has participated in five FIFA U-20 World Cups, while the U-17 side has appeared at four FIFA U-17 World Cups.

Although the national team’s previous seven attempts at qualifying were unsuccessful, Uzbekistan has been represented by a referee at the World Cups. Ravshan Irmatov, now Senior Vice President of the Uzbekistan Football Association, holds the record for officiating the most World Cup matches, with 11 games between 2010 and 2018.

On their eighth attempt, Uzbekistan finally broke through the qualification barrier and secured a place at the FIFA World Cup for the first time in history. The achievement sparked huge celebrations across the country, and the players were rewarded with cars by the state.

The team achieved this success first under Srečko Katanec, who later stepped down due to health reasons, and then under local coach Timur Kapadze. In October 2025, however, the national federation appointed one of world football’s most recognizable figures, Fabio Cannavaro, as head coach in pursuit of even bigger ambitions.

The leading figure of the Uzbekistan is considered to be captain Eldor Shomurodov. He is the only player in the team’s history to surpass the 40-goal mark. Shomurodov won the UEFA Europa Conference League in 2021–22 with Roma. He describes his time at Roma as the period when he rebuilt himself, improved his discipline, and reached mental maturity.

After fulfilling his dream of playing in Europe and spending five seasons in Serie A, Shomurodov spent the 2025–26 season on loan at İstanbul Başakşehir. Impressed by his scoring productivity, the Turkish club recently completed his permanent transfer for €2.8 million.

According to Shomurodov, the team’s main goal is to progress from the group stage. He stated that although many consider Uzbekistan outsiders, the squad aims to positively surprise everyone.

Attention should also be paid to Shomurodov’s club teammate, 22-year-old winger Abbosbek Fayzullaev, who stands out for his dribbling ability and was named the Young Player of the Year in 2023 in Asia. He was Uzbekistan’s top scorer with four goals in the AFC third round of 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification, where the team secured qualification as group runners-up.

Centre-back Abdukodir Khusanov is currently regarded as one of the fastest footballers in the world. The 22-year-old joined Manchester City from Lens in 2025 for €40 million. He is making history as the first Uzbek player in the English Premier League. Due to his experience in the Premier League, the UEFA Champions League, and the FIFA Club World Cup, he is expected to be one of the national team’s most experienced players despite his age.

The World Cup debutants are not a collection of superstars – their main strengths are discipline and unity. According to head coach Fabio Cannavaro, the team’s technical preparation is already at a high level, and they are now working on improving the players’ psychological and tactical development.

Italian is highly skilled tactically and favors a dynamic 3-4-2-1 system. This formation has brought the Uzbeks excellent results in Asia even before him. They also use a more defensive 5-4-1 setup, but when opponents attack, they apply aggressive pressing to force mistakes.

Cannavaro says his main objective is to relieve the pressure created by the opening match. After that, he believes everything will become easier. Nevertheless, he acknowledges that the team has been drawn into a very difficult group and that even a single point could be considered a major achievement.

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Fabio Cannavaro etched his name into football history by captaining the Italian national team to victory at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and by becoming one of only three defenders to win the Ballon d’Or, alongside Franz Beckenbauer and Matthias Sammer. Cannavaro also was inducted into the Juventus FC Hall of Fame despite never officially winning a trophy with the club, as both of their Serie A titles were stripped due to the Calciopoli scandal.

The 52-year-old Cannavaro’s greatest achievement as a coach came in 2019, when he led Guangzhou Evergrande to the Chinese Super League title. That same year, he also briefly coached the Chinese national team in two friendly matches, losing the latter 0–1 to Uzbekistan. Curiously, six years later, he took over as head coach of the Uzbekistan national side.

In Europe, Cannavaro has coached Italy’s Benevento and Udinese, as well as Croatia’s Dinamo Zagreb, though he did not remain at any of those clubs for even half a season.

Cannavaro’s football philosophy is built on the idea that players must think quickly and stay active both with and without the ball. He once said: “I like Klopp’s mentality as well as Guardiola’s philosophy.”

As a coach, Cannavaro has shown himself to be tactically flexible. He places great importance on possession and territorial dominance, and also expects midfielders to attack open spaces on the pitch.

Having played 18 matches across four FIFA World Cups, Cannavaro believes that the tournament carries enormous pressure, especially for debutant teams. That is why he stresses the importance of his Uzbekistan squad taking the field with a “nothing to lose” mentality, seeing it as a crucial psychological factor.

For Cannavaro, the World Cup arriving 20 years after his triumph as a player could become the greatest opportunity to prove himself as a coach.