Debutants. 2026 in Canada, Mexico and the USA is Uzbekistan's FIRST World Cup — and the first by any Central Asian nation. Qualification was sealed on 5 June 2025 with a goalless draw away to the UAE.
The creative heartbeat (b. 2003) — CSKA Moscow graduate, set-piece taker and qualifying-goal contributor. If Uzbekistan spring a surprise, the first pass will likely be his.
Twice Asian Footballer of the Year (2008, 2011) and the country's most-decorated individual
Overtook Maksim Shatskikh to become the all-time record scorer; captains the 2026 side
⚠ The most-used eleven in recent matches under Fabio Cannavaro (June 2026) — a snapshot of recent form, never a forecast.
| PLAYER | POS | ERA | CAPS | GLS | FILE NOTE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Server Djeparov #14 | AM | 2002–2017 | 128 | 25 | The metronome. Twice Asian Footballer of the Year — no other Uzbek has won it once. |
| Maksim Shatskikh #9 | FW | 1999–2014 | 61 | 34 | Dynamo Kyiv's poacher and the first Asian to score in the Champions League. Held the goals record for a generation. |
| Timur Kapadze #8 | DM | 2002–2015 | 118 | 12 | The unbreakable engine-room. Came full circle as the caretaker boss who steered the side to the 2026 finals. |
| Odil Ahmedov #5 | MF | 2007–2021 | 108 | 22 | A decade in Russia's top flight and a thumping long-range habit. Uzbekistan's most-travelled midfield enforcer. |
| Alexander Geynrikh #11 | FW | 2002–2017 | 97 | 31 | Pace and a poacher's nose; 31 goals that flew under the radar of all but the Uzbek faithful. |
| Mirjalol Qosimov #10 | FW | 1992–2005 | 62 | 31 | The independent era's first great No. 10, later national-team coach. A founding father in boots. |
| Igor Shkvyrin #9 | FW | 1992–1998 | 27 | 19 | Top scorer of the gold-medal 1994 Asian Games — the man who announced an independent Uzbekistan to Asia. |
| Marat Bikmaev #7 | FW | 2004–2019 | 58 | 22 | Loyal Lokomotiv Tashkent talisman who soldiered through years of agonising qualifying heartbreak. |
| Abdukodir Khusanov #2 | DF | 2023– | 27 | 0 | The €40m Manchester City defender and first Uzbek in the Premier League — the new face of a rising nation. |
| Eldor Shomurodov #14 | FW | 2017– | 92 | 44 | Record scorer, Conference League winner with Roma, and the captain who finally led the wolves to the world stage. |
For three decades the White Wolves were Asia's great nearly-men — gold medallists in 1994, then a parade of qualifiers lost by a goal, a penalty, or a referee's whim. The 2026 ticket is the reward for outlasting the heartbreak: a granite back three, a record-scoring captain, a Manchester City defender, and a 2006 World Cup-winning Italian to organise it all. A debutant, yes — but not a tourist.