# 2023 CAFA Nations Cup

The 2023 CAFA Nations Cup was the first edition of the CAFA Nations Cup, the biennial international men's football championship of Central Asia organized by the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA). The event was held in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan from June 10 to 20.

## Background

The inaugural edition of the senior men's tournament was initially planned to be hosted by Tashkent in October 2018. It was not played out though.
In March 2023, it was announced the inaugural edition of the senior men's tournament would commence in June 2023 in Tashkent and Bishkek for the six member associations, along with the addition of two invited guest teams: Russia and an unconfirmed Asian team. However, the start of the inaugural edition of the tournament was put in doubt again after it was reported in early April 2023 that Iran, Uzbekistan, Russia, and Iraq would instead take part in a four-nation tournament in June 2023.
On 15 April, it was reported that Russia was set to shun the inaugural CAFA Championship, while organizers insisted they were still in talks with them over their participation. On 18 April, it was reported that Iran would take part in the inaugural CAFA Championship along with the member associations of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Afghanistan, as well as invited guests Russia and one other Asian country, with the tournament being hosted in Tashkent and Bishkek in June. On 19 April, it was reported that Russia had withdrawn from the tournament. On 24 April, Oman was reported to be an invited guest team after Thailand reportedly turned down an invitation.

## Participating nations

| Country | Appearance | FIFA ranking 6 April 2023 |
| Afghanistan | 1st | 155 |
| Iran | 1st | 20 |
| Kyrgyzstan (co-hosts) | 1st | 96 |
| Oman (invitee) | 1st | 73 |
| Tajikistan | 1st | 109 |
| Turkmenistan | 1st | 137 |
| Uzbekistan (co-hosts) | 1st | 74 |

### Seeding

The following 7 teams were divided based on their FIFA Ranking of April 2023.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
| Iran (20) Uzbekistan (74) (co-hosts) | Kyrgyzstan (96) (co-hosts) Tajikistan (109) | Turkmenistan (137) Afghanistan (155) | Oman (73) (invited) |

### Draw results

The draw was held in Dushanbe on 26 April 2023 at 14:00 Tajikistan Time (UTC+5). The draw resulted in the following groups:
Group A :
| Group A PosTeam A1 Uzbekistan A2 Tajikistan A3 Turkmenistan A4 Oman | Group B PosTeam B1 Kyrgyzstan B2 Iran B3 Afghanistan |

## Venues

Kyrgyzstan :
| Bishkek | Bishkek | Bishkek | Bishkek |
| Bishkek ||
| Bishkek ||
| Uzbekistan ||||
| Tashkent | Tashkent | Tashkent | Tashkent |
| Pakhtakor Central Stadium | Milliy Stadium | | Tashkent |
| Capacity: 35,000 | Capacity: 34,000 | | Tashkent |

## Sponsors

1xBet

## Broadcasting rights

The following channels have been given broadcasting rights to broadcast the tournament.
| Territory | Rights holder(s) |
| Uzbekistan | UzNTRC Sport |
| Kyrgyzstan | Kyrgyz Sport TV |
| Tajikistan | TV Futbol |
| Iran | IRIB TV3 |

## Group stage

All times are local, Uzbekistan Time (UTC+5) & Kyrgyzstan Time (UTC+6).

### Tiebreakers

Teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tie-breaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings.
* Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
* Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
* Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
* If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
* Goal difference in all group matches;
* Goals scored in all group matches;
* Penalty shoot-out if only two teams were tied and they met in the last round of the group;
* Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points);
* Drawing of lots.

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Uzbekistan (H) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | +9 | 9 | Advance to final |
| 2 | Oman | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 4 | Advance to third place match |
| 3 | Tajikistan | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 2 | |
| 4 | Turkmenistan | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 1 | |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Iran | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 2 | +9 | 6 | Advance to final |
| 2 | Kyrgyzstan (H) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 3 | Advance to third place match |
| 3 | Afghanistan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 9 | −8 | 0 | |
The match was abandoned in the 97th minute with Kyrgyzstan leading 1–0 after Afghanistan walked off and refused to continue. The match was awarded 3–0 to Kyrgyzstan.

## Goalscorers

There were 33 goals scored in 11 matches, for an average of 3 goals per match.
6 goals
* Mehdi Taremi
4 goals
* Sardar Azmoun
3 goals
* Eldor Shomurodov
2 goals
* Jaloliddin Masharipov
1 goal
* Farshad Noor
* Reza Asadi
* Alireza Jahanbakhsh
* Ernist Batyrkanov
* Mirlan Murzayev
* Arshad Al-Alawi
* Abdulrahman Al-Mushaifri
* Issam Al-Sabhi
* Salaah Al-Yahyaei
* Nuriddin Khamrokulov
* Vakhdat Khanonov
* Parvizdzhon Umarbayev
* Myrat Annaýew
* Khojiakbar Alijonov
* Khojimat Erkinov
* Abbosbek Fayzullaev
* Oston Urunov
* Jasurbek Yakhshiboev

## Awards

The following awards were presented at the end of the tournament:

### Best Player

* Mehdi Taremi

### Top Goalscorer

* Mehdi Taremi

### Best Goalkeeper

* Ibrahim Al-Muhkaini

### Fair Play Award

* Uzbekistan