Kyrgyzstan national football team
The Kyrgyzstan national football team ( ("Qyrğyz Respublikasynyn uluttuq qurama komandasy"); ("Sbornaya Kirgizskoi Respubliki po Futbolu")), officially recognised by FIFA and AFC as Kyrgyz Republic, represents Kyrgyzstan in international football and is controlled by the Kyrgyz Football Union, a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and Central Asian Football Association. History. 1992 to 2010: Rough unfolding. After the breakup of the Soviet Union and declaration of its independence, Kyrgyzstan became a fully recognized FIFA and AFC member. They played their first match away in Tashkent, against Uzbekistan on 23 August 1992 in the Central Asia Tournament , losing 3–0. In June 1993, Kyrgyz Republic travelled to Tehran, Iran for the 1993 ECO Cup. They lost 3–2 on 6 June to Azerbaijan and then drew 1–1 two days later against Tajikistan. In April 1994, Kyrgyzstan played other Central Asian teams in a tournament in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. On 13 April they lost 5–1 to Turkmenistan, then on 15 April 1–0 to Tajikistan. On 17 April they drew 0–0 against Kazakhstan before losing 3–0 to the hosts two days later. Kyrgyzstan continues to struggle, due to little interest in developing football in the Republic. In a span of 20 years , the national team had got no more than 38 matches, with a win rate 26,3%. Lack of basic developments when comparing to its Central Asian neighbors made Kyrgyzstan remain backward behind Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Despite this, Kyrgyzstan still managed to achieve some significant results, such as winning bronze in the 2006 AFC Challenge Cup. Since 2010s: The dawn. With the arrival of Sergey Dvoryankov, the team had witnessed a surge. Dvoryankov made change calling and naturalizing a number of foreign players into the national team of Kyrgyzstan such as Ghana's David Tetteh, Elijah Ari and Daniel Tagoe ; Cameroon's Claude Maka Kum; Germany's Viktor Maier, Vitalij Lux, Viktor Kelm and Edgar Bernhardt; as well as calling more Kyrgyz-born Russian and German players to play for the team. As for the result, Kyrgyzstan's football dramatically improved. The "White Falcons" had made up significantly good result during the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification, when Kyrgyzstan managed to defeat its long time neighbor-rival, Tajikistan, or defeating Jordan, which team had also beaten Australia before, as well as managed to play well against Asian champions Australia despite losing both matches. Under another Russian manager, Aleksandr Krestinin, Kyrgyzstan  is heading to qualify for its first ever AFC Asian Cup since independence, when they placed themselves against India, Myanmar and Macau. On 22 March 2018, after thrashing Myanmar 5–1, Kyrgyzstan had finally qualified for their first ever AFC Asian Cup in the history. 2019 AFC Asian Cup. Kyrgyzstan was grouped with South Korea, China and the Philippines, all have better head-to-head records against theirs. The underdog's performance: losing to China and South Korea both by just one goal margin, before cruising against the Philippines 3–1 to progress as one of the best third-place team in  their maiden debut. In the knockout stage, despite facing the host UAE, Kyrgyzstan played with full fighting spirit only to lose 2–3 after 120'. Rivalries. The principal rival of the Kyrgyzstan national football team is the culturally, as well as the northern geographical neighbor of Kyrgyzstan — Kazakhstan national football team. The matches between these two teams are of great importance for the fans of both teams, and the matches with the participation of these teams turn into a full house among the fans. Also, the matches with the Tajikistan national football team — with the southern neighbor of Kyrgyzstan, as well  as with other Central Asian teams (national teams of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan) have some principle. Results and fixtures. The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled. Players. Current squad. The following players were called up for the friendly matches against Uzbekistan on 25 March 2022 and an as yet unknown team on 29 March 2022. "Caps and goals correct as of 16 November 2021, after the match against Bahrain". Recent call ups. Withdrew from the squad due to an injury. Competitive record. 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. <nowiki>*</nowiki>Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.