Kazakhstan national football team explained

Kazakhstan
Nickname:Қаршығалар / Qarşyğalar (The Hawks)
Badge:Kazakhstan Football Federation logo.svg
Badge Size:195px
Association:Kazakhstan Football Federation (KFF)
Confederation:
UEFA (Europe): 2002–present
Coach:Stanislav Cherchesov
Captain:Askhat Tagybergen
Most Caps:Samat Smakov (76)
Top Scorer:Bakhtiyar Zaynutdinov (14)
Home Stadium:Astana Arena
Fifa Trigramme:KAZ
Fifa Max:83
Fifa Max Date:September 2016
Fifa Min:166
Fifa Min Date:May 1996
Elo Max:70
Elo Max Date:18 October 1997
Elo Min:136
Elo Min Date:September 2005
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First Game: 1–0
(Almaty, Kazakhstan; 1 June 1992)
Largest Win: 0–7
(Lahore, Pakistan; 11 June 1997)
Largest Loss: 8–0
(Paris, France; 13 November 2021)
3Rdregional Name:WAFF Championship
3Rdregional Cup Apps:1
3Rdregional Cup First:2000
3Rdregional Cup Best:Group stage (2000)

The Kazakhstan national football team (Kazakh: Қазақстан Ұлттық футбол құрамасы, Qazaqstan Ūlttyq Futbol qūramasy, in Kazakh pronounced as /qɑzɑqsˈtʰɑn o̙ɫˈtːɯq fʊtˈboɫ qo̙rɑmɑˈsɯ/) represents Kazakhstan in men's international football and it is governed by the Kazakhstan Football Federation. They split from the Soviet Union national team after independence in 1991 and joined the Asian Football Confederation's Central Asian Football Federation. After failing to qualify for the 1998 and 2002 FIFA World Cups, they joined UEFA, but are yet to qualify for a FIFA World Cup or a UEFA European Championship.

History

AFC member (1992–2002)

The country of Kazakhstan declared independence from the Soviet Union on 16 December 1991. Its national team then split from the Soviet Union national team (a UEFA member) and joined the Asian Football Confederation. At the time, they were one of strongest teams in Central Asia, and one of the most improving teams in Asia.

The team played their first match against another former-Soviet debutant, Turkmenistan, on 1 June 1992, as part of a Central Asian tournament. Kazakhstan won 1–0. The tournament also saw the footballing debuts of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. After beating Libya in a friendly in North Korea on 3 July, Kazakhstan played the remainder of its Central Asian fixtures and avoided defeat in all of them. They beat Uzbekistan 1–0 at home on 16 July, then drew 1–1 away in Turkmenistan on 14 September, in Kyrgyzstan on 26 September and Uzbekistan on 14 October. The final match was a 2–0 home victory over Kyrgyzstan on 25 October.[1]

Kazakhstan entered qualification for the first time in the attempt to reach the 1998 FIFA World Cup. In the first round they were placed in Group 9 alongside Pakistan and Iraq. Kazakhstan's first qualifying match was won 3–0 at home in Almaty on 11 May 1997, against Pakistan. On 6 June they travelled to Baghdad to face Iraq and won 2–1, then five days later won an away match against Pakistan, 7–0 in Lahore. The result remains Kazakhstan's biggest-ever international win. They retained their 100% start to World Cup football by beating Iraq at home 3–1 on 29 June.

In the second and final round of qualification, Kazakhstan came last in the group. Their only victory was on 18 October 1997, when they beat the United Arab Emirates 3–0 at home. Kazakhstan drew three other games – all at home (versus Uzbekistan, Japan and South Korea).

In the first round of Asian qualifying, Kazakhstan were placed in Group 6 alongside Iraq, Nepal and Macau. All games in the group were to be held in Almaty, Kazakhstan, after Nepal failed to organise matches in Kathmandu in March 2001. After an Iraqi protest, the first three games for each team were moved to Baghdad, Iraq.

Kazakhstan started off well in Baghdad by beating Nepal 6–0 with two goals by Oleg Litvinenko on 12 April, and Macau 3–0 two days later. On 16 April they held Iraq to a 1–1 draw in front of 50,000 spectators. Ruslan Baltiev put the Kazakhs in front in the 6th minute and Abdul-Wahab Abu Al-Hail equalised with a penalty in the 31st.

In Almaty Central Stadium, Kazakhstan beat Nepal 3–0 with two goals by Maksim Igorevich Shevchenko on 21 April. Two days later they beat Macau 5–0, Dmitriy Byakov and Igor Avdeyev each scored twice after a goalless first half. The final game on 25 April saw a 1–1 draw against Iraq in front of a 25,000-strong crowd. Litvinenko put Kazakhstan ahead in the 32nd minute but Iraq equalised ten minutes later. Despite being level on points, Iraq advanced on goal difference mainly due to a 9–1 victory over Nepal.

UEFA member (2002–present)

Being a transcontinental country, Kazakhstan joined UEFA in 2002. They had to wait until the 2002 FIFA World Cup finished on 30 June before making the switch, as they had entered the tournament as an AFC member. Kazakhstan therefore could not enter qualification for UEFA Euro 2004, as the draw had been made on 25 January 2002. Since joining UEFA, Kazakhstan has been a relative minnow within the continent, with most of their qualifications being unsuccessful and often finish near dead last or bottom.

In the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification, now as members of UEFA, Kazakhstan was placed in the last drawing pot with Andorra and Luxembourg,[2] being placed in Group 2 alongside Turkey, Denmark, future UEFA Euro 2004 winners Greece, Ukraine, Georgia and Albania.[3]

Their first official UEFA match was on 8 September 2004 and ended in a home defeat by 2–1 against Ukraine. Kazakhstan lost their next 9 matches, including a 6–0 home defeat against Turkey, their tied-biggest defeat up to 2018 and conceding a home defeat to Greece into four minutes of the stoppage time. Their sole point of the qualifying came in the next match, on 8 October 2005, in a 0–0 away draw against Georgia played behind closed doors, before losing the last match at home against Denmark.[4]

For the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying, Kazakhstan was once again placed in the last drawing pot. Their campaign started with two away draws against Belgium (0–0) and Azerbaijan (1–1). They lost the next three matches before getting their first official win as UEFA members in a 2–1 home triumph against Serbia with goals from Kairat Ashirbekov and Nurbol Zhumaskaliyev. After a home loss against Armenia, Kazakhstan got their sixth and seventh points after drawing again with Azerbaijan (1–1) and Belgium (2–2), both at home. Losses against Poland and Portugal were followed by their second win, this time away from home, with Sergei Ostapenko scoring the winning goal against Armenia. Their last match was a delayed game against Serbia, ending in defeat. In the end, Kazakhstan finished with 10 points and placed 6th out of the 8 Group A teams.[5]

The 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification had Kazakhstan in the 5th of 6 drawing pots, drawn in Group 6 with Croatia, England, Ukraine, Belarus and Andorra.[6] They started the campaign with a 3–0 home win against Andorra on 20 August 2008.[7] However, that was the only opponent they managed to get points from, after they won the reverse fixture 3–1 on 9 September 2009 and lost all the other group matches. Kazakhstan finished 5th, ahead only of Andorra, who lost all of their matches.[8]

Kazakhstan was drawn in the Group A of the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying and lost the first five matches without managing to score a single goal before defeating Azerbaijan on 3 June 2011 by 2–1 with two goals from Sergey Gridin. They lost their next three games before ending the qualifying with a goalless home draw against Austria. They ended in the last place with 4 points, three behind Azerbaijan.[9]

Following recent unimpressive qualifying campaigns, Kazakhstan was once again in the last drawing pot for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification. Their campaign in Group C started with two defeats before getting their first point in a goalless home draw against Austria on 12 October 2012. Losses to Austria and twice to Germany were followed by their first and only win of the qualification by 2–1 against Faroe Islands on 6 September 2013. They still got a fifth point in a 1–1 away drawn against the same opponents. Kazakhstan finished in 5th place, ahead only of the Faroese.

The UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying had Kazakhstan once more in the last drawing pot. Their first match was a home 0–0 draw against Latvia on 9 September 2014, followed by six consecutive losses before another goalless draw, away from home, against Iceland. After their seventh defeat of the qualifying, Kazakhstan ended the campaign with a 1–0 away win against Latvia on 13 October 2015. The goal scored by Islambek Kuat got the Kazakhs the 5th place, tied in points with the Latvians, but with a better head-to-head record.[10]

Once again in the last drawing pot, Kazakhstan had an unimpressive 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign, failing to win a single match. After two home draws against Poland and Romania in their first three matches, Kazakhstan lost their following six matches, ending the qualifying with a 1–1 home draw against Armenia and finishing last in Group E.[11]

For the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League, Kazakhstan was in Pot 3 of League D, the fourth and lowest division of the UEFA Nations League. Drawn in Group 1 with Georgia, Latvia and Andorra, their campaign started with a 2–0 home loss against group winners Georgia. Away draws against Andorra and Latvia had Georgia with 9 points after the three first matches, with all the other teams tied with 2 points. Kazakhstan defeated Andorra by 4–0 on 16 October, but the Georgia win against Latvia got the Georgians promoted to League C with two matches still to be played. Their sixth and last point came in a 1–1 home draw against Latvia, before being defeated by Georgia in the last group match and finishing in the second place of the group.[12]

The UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying for Kazakhstan was unsuccessful again. However, Kazakhstan won ten points in the qualification, its best performance to date in Euro qualifying, including a shock 3–0 home win over Scotland,[13] and a 1–1 away draw over Cyprus, though they still finished fifth at the end.[14]

Kazakhstan played the opening match of the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying at home against Slovenia, which they lost 2–1.[15] In their next game against Denmark, Kazakhstan came from 2–0 down to win 3–2 in the last minutes of the match. Kazakhstan won a late victory away at Northern Ireland on 19 June 2023, with Abat Aimbetov scoring in the 88th minute from a breakaway goal.[16] Kazakhstan remained in contention for an automatic qualification berth throughout the campaign, only losing out on the final round due to a 2–1 away defeat to Slovenia. Regardless, Kazakhstan had their best qualifying campaign to date as a UEFA member by progressing into the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying play-offs. However, their most successful campaign ended with a 5–0 defeat against Greece in the play-offs semi-finals.[17]

Kits

Kit suppliers

PeriodKit Provider
1994–1996 Adidas
1996–1998 Puma
1998–1999 Grand Sport
1999–2000 Adidas
2000–2002 Nike
2002–2003 Umbro
2003–2004 Nike
2004–2005 Puma
2005–2008 Diadora
2008–2012 Umbro
2012–2023 Adidas
2023– Erreà

Source: FootballShirtsVoltage.com[18]

Rivalries

Though currently an UEFA member, Kazakhstan's best rivalries are mostly with AFC members from Central Asia, namely Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan. The Hawks' two biggest rivals are Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, which dates back from early USSR rule. These rivalries are still of great importance for many Kazakhs, since Kazakhstan does not have any real rivalry with any UEFA national team.

Results and fixtures

See main article: Kazakhstan 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

Coaches

+Technical Staff[19]
PositionName
Head Coach Stanislav Cherchesov
Assistant Head Coach Yevgeniy Kostrub
Assistant Coach Ruslan Baltiyev
Goalkeeping Coach Valeriy Sitalo
Physical Trainer Yerlan Ibraiym
Alman Syzdykov
Analyst Elshad Hinizov

Coaching history

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying matches.[20]

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the Kazakhstan's squad in the last 12 months.DQ Banned from football for several months/years.
PRE Preliminary squad.
INJ Injured after call up squad.
SUS Suspended for the next match.
WD Player was withdrawn from the roster for non-injury related reasons.
RET Retired from the national team.

Player records

[21]

Players in bold are still active with Kazakhstan.

Most appearances

width=30pxRankNamewidth=50pxCapswidth=50pxGoalsPeriod
1Samat Smakov7622000–2017
2Ruslan Baltiev73131997–2009
3Serhiy Malyi6712014–present
4Islambek Kuat6262015–present
5Yuriy Logvinenko5852008–2022
Nurbol Zhumaskaliyev5872001–2014
7Andrei Karpovich5532001–2014
8Sergey Khizhnichenko5282009–2020
9Askhat Tagybergen5122014–present
10Bauyrzhan Islamkhan5032012–present

Top goalscorers

width=30pxRankNamewidth=50pxGoalswidth=50pxCapswidth=50pxRatioPeriod
1Baktiyar Zaynutdinov14362018–present
2Ruslan Baltiev13731997–2009
3Viktor Zubarev12181997–2002
4Abat Aymbetov9372019–present
5 Dmitriy Byakov8332000–2008
Sergey Khizhnichenko8522009–2020
7Nurbol Zhumaskaliyev7582001–2014
8Igor Avdeyev6271996–2005
Oleg Litvinenko6281996–2006
Sergei Ostapenko6422007–2014
Islambek Kuat6622015–present

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup recordwidth=1% rowspan=15Qualification record
YearRoundPositionSquad
1930 to 1990Part of Part of
1994Not a FIFA memberNot a FIFA member
1998Did not qualify125342221
20026420202
2006120111629
2010102081129
201410127621
201810037626
20228035520
2026To be determinedTo be determined
2030
2034
Total-6812144276148

UEFA European Championship

UEFA European Championship recordQualification record
YearResultPosition
1960 to 1992Part of Part of
1996Not a UEFA memberNot a UEFA member
2000 to 2004Candidate member of UEFA[22] Candidate member of UEFA
2008Did not qualify142481121
201210118624
201610127718
2020103161317
2024116051617
To be determinedTo be determined
2032
Total0/1700000055138345397

UEFA Nations League

UEFA Nations League record
SeasonDivisionGroupRoundwidth=28width=28width=28width=28width=28width=28width=28width=28width=28
2018–19D1Group stage2nd 6 1 3 2 8 7 47th
2020–21C4Group stage4th 8 2 1 5 7 11 45th
2022–23C3Group stage1st 6 4 1 1 8 6 36th
2024–25B3colspan=10
TotalGroup stage3/320758232436th

AFC Asian Cup

AFC Asian Cup recordQualification record
YearResultPldWD*LGFGAPldWD*LGFGA
1956 to 1992Part of Part of
Did not qualify410316
2000430183
2004 to presentNot an AFC memberNot an AFC member
Total- - - - - - -840499

Asian Games

Asian Games record
YearResultMWDLGFGA
1951 to 1990Part of
1994Did not enter
199810th place521286
2002 to presentSee national under-23 team
Total1/13521286

WAFF West Asian Championship

WAFF Championship record
YearResultPldWD*LGFGA
2000Group stage310239
2002 to presentNot a WAFF member
Total1/1310239

Record versus other countries

OpponentsPlayedWonDrawn*LostGFGAGD% Won
4 0 1 3 2 6 −4
4 3 1 0 11 2 +9
7 1 2 4 6 12 −6
4 0 2 2 0 6 −6
11 5 3 3 15 12 +3
2 2 0 0 3 0 +3
7 1 2 4 6 16 −10
6 0 2 4 3 13 −10
2 0 1 1 2 4 -2
2 0 0 2 2 4 −2
1 0 1 0 0 0 0
3 1 0 2 2 5 −3
2 0 0 2 1 5 −4
4 0 1 3 4 8 −4
2 0 0 2 3 6 −3
6 1 0 5 7 17 −10
2 0 0 2 1 9 −8
3 1 2 0 3 1 +2
2 0 0 2 0 10 −10
4 1 1 2 6 7 −1
7 1 1 5 3 9 −6
6 1 2 3 4 7 −3
4 0 0 4 1 14 −13
4 0 0 4 2 12 −10
2 1 0 1 3 5 −2
2 0 1 1 0 3 −3
2 0 0 2 0 5 −5
4 2 2 0 7 4 +3
3 0 1 2 2 10 −8
2 1 0 1 1 2 −1
1 0 1 0 0 0 0
8 5 2 1 18 6 +12
1 1 0 0 5 0 +5
7 1 4 2 5 7 −2
2 0 0 2 1 5 −4
1 1 0 0 1 0 1
3 1 1 1 4 3 1
1 0 0 1 1 2 -1
2 2 0 0 8 0 +8
2 0 1 1 3 4 –1
7 3 1 3 7 6 +1
4 0 1 3 0 11 −11
2 2 0 0 10 0 +10
2 0 0 2 2 5 −3
2 2 0 0 2 0 +2
1 0 1 0 0 0 0
1 0 0 1 0 4 -4
1 1 0 0 3 1 +2
3 3 0 0 14 0 +14
2 2 0 0 5 2 +3
5 0 1 4 3 12 −9
3 0 0 3 1 6 −5
4 2 0 2 4 6 −2
2 0 0 2 2 5 −3
2 0 1 1 1 3 −2
4 0 1 3 0 11 −11
2 0 0 2 0 4 −4
4 4 0 0 13 2 +11
2 1 0 1 4 3 +1
2 1 0 1 2 2 0
1 0 1 0 0 0 0
2 0 0 2 2 4 −2
2 2 0 0 3 1 +2
2 0 1 1 1 4 −3
2 0 0 2 0 3 −3
4 0 1 3 1 8 −7
5 4 1 0 9 3 +6
2 0 2 0 3 3 0
6 0 0 6 2 19 −17
3 1 2 0 2 1 +1
6 0 2 4 6 12 −6
4 1 0 3 6 11 −5
6 1 3 3 4 10 −6
1 0 0 1 1 2 −1
Total 243 62 54 127 257 405 −148

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Kazakhstan – List of International Matches. 27 August 2018. 27 November 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221127012618/https://www.rsssf.org/tablesk/kaz-intres.html. live.
  2. Web site: European Zone Draw for the Preliminary Competition. https://web.archive.org/web/20050407120638/http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/releases/uefa_draw_procedure_en.pdf. dead. 7 April 2005. 7 April 2005. 20 March 2021.
  3. Web site: 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany ™ – Qualifiers – Europe. https://web.archive.org/web/20150926125055/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/germany2006/matches/preliminaries/europe/index.html. dead. 26 September 2015. FIFA.com. FIFA.com.
  4. Web site: World Cup 2006 Qualifying. RSSSF. 2 February 2023. 20 July 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220720114857/https://www.rsssf.org/tables/2006q.html. live.
  5. Web site: UEFA EURO 2008 – History – Standings. uefa.com. UEFA.com. 3 January 2019. 20 December 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191220190735/https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/season=2008/standings/round=2241/group=2630/index.html. live.
  6. Web site: TheFA.com – Qualifying fixtures agreed. https://archive.today/20080513083117/http://www.thefa.com/England/SeniorTeam/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2008/01/WCQ_fixturesagreed.htm. dead. 13 May 2008. 13 May 2008. archive.vn.
  7. Web site: 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa – Matches – Kazakhstan-Andorra. https://web.archive.org/web/20151223014913/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/round=250471/match=300040546/report.html. dead. 23 December 2015. FIFA.com. FIFA.com.
  8. Web site: 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa – Qualifiers – Europe. https://web.archive.org/web/20161015155711/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/southafrica2010/matches/preliminaries/europe/index.html. dead. 15 October 2016. FIFA.com. FIFA.com.
  9. [UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying Group A]
  10. Web site: UEFA EURO 2016 – History – Standings. uefa.com. UEFA.com. 3 January 2019. 3 January 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190103214851/https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/season=2016/standings/round=2000446/group=2002428/index.html. live.
  11. Web site: 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia – Qualifiers – Europe. https://web.archive.org/web/20071120193625/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/europe/index.html. dead. 20 November 2007. FIFA.com. FIFA.com.
  12. Web site: UEFA Nations League – Standings. UEFA.com. UEFA.com. 28 March 2019. 10 June 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210610173844/https://www.uefa.com/uefanationsleague/standings/. live.
  13. News: Kazakhstan 3-0 Scotland: Alex McLeish's side humiliated in Euro 2020 opener. BBC Sport . 21 March 2019. 18 November 2019. 19 April 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190419145107/https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47564455. live.
  14. Web site: UEFA.tv. www.uefa.tv. 18 November 2019. 23 December 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191223084318/https://www.uefa.tv/video/vod/91395/. live.
  15. Web site: UEFA.com . Kazakhstan-Slovenia European Qualifiers 2024 . 24 March 2023 . UEFA.com . en . 23 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230323170134/https://www.uefa.com/european-qualifiers/match/2036304--kazakhstan-vs-slovenia/ . live .
  16. News: NI suffer sorry, late defeat at home to Kazakhstan . en-GB . BBC Sport . 19 June 2023 . 19 June 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230619205612/https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/65874633 . live .
  17. Web site: Greece thump Kazakhstan 5-0 to reach Euro playoff final . . 5 April 2024.
  18. Web site: FootballShirtsVoltage.com. Kazakhstan National Football Team Kit. 27 August 2018. 13 August 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160813165027/http://football-uniform.seesaa.net/archives/20080717-1.html. dead.
  19. Web site: National Team Coaches. Kazakhstan Football Federation. kff.kz. 5 March 2024. en.
  20. News: FINAL SQUAD FOR THE MATCH AGAINST GREECE . 14 March 2024 . Kazakhstan Football Federation. 5 March 2024.
  21. Web site: Mamrud . Roberto . Kazakhstan - Record International Players . RSSSF . 2 February 2023 . 5 December 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221205022621/https://www.rsssf.org/miscellaneous/kaz-recintlp.html . live .
  22. In 2000, the Football Federation of Kazakhstan became a candidate member of UEFA and obtained its full membership a couple of years later.