The Turkmenistan national football team tied 1:1 with the Kyrgyzstan team at the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) Nations Cup that has just started.
Before the game at the CAFA Nations Cup 2025 tournament, the national teams of Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan met each other four times. In three matches, the Turkmen team celebrated victory (in 1992 – 4:0, in 1994 – 5:1, in 2010 – 1:0), and only in one friendly match in 2016, success accompanied the Kyrgyz team – 1:0.
The fifth face-to-face match, which took place at the Jar stadium, the opponents began cautiously, at a low tempo. The first essentially dangerous moment arose in the 35th minute, when the Kyrgyz national team striker Joel Kojo hit the crossbar. Three minutes later, the best footballer of Kyrgyzstan in 2018 and 2023 Kairat Zhyrgalbek uulu could have opened the scoring, but goalkeeper Rasul Charyev parried his shot with his feet.
Yet, before the break, the ball found its way into both goals. First, in the 44th minute, Vepa Dzhumayev scored with a header after a corner. It is noteworthy that this goal was the debut for the defender of the Belarusian Vitebsk in the national team of Turkmenistan. A minute later, Joel Kojo restored parity, throwing the ball over the goalkeeper from the penalty area line. The ball after his cross hit the crossbar and went down behind the goal line.
In the second half, the Turkmen footballers had two great chances to take the lead. In the 62nd minute, Didar Durdyev sent the ball into the goal with his heel from close range after a cross from the right, but the goalkeeper managed to react to the shot. And in the 77th minute, after a free kick, Rovshan Meredov’s charges attacked the opponent’s goal twice. But in the first episode, the goalkeeper parried Abdy Byashimov’s header, and in the second, Guychmurad Annakuliev shot point-blank from three meters on the rebound, but hit a defender standing on the goal line.
Having tied, the national teams of Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan earned one point each. The teams of Uzbekistan and Oman, who also tied with each other – 1:1, earned the same number of points in Group A. The goal of Omani Nasser Al Rawahia in the 4th minute was answered by the Uzbeks in the 55th minute with an accurate strike by Khojimat Erkinov.
In Group B, after the first round, the national teams of Iran and India took the lead with 3 points.
In the opening match, the Iranians won against the representatives of Afghanistan – 3:1. The winners’ goals were scored by Majid Aliyari (26th and 64th minutes) and Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh (36th). Omid Mousavi (21st) scored the losers’ goal of consolation.
In addition, the Indian footballers got the better of one of the tournament’s hosts – their opponents from Tajikistan – 2:1. The goals for the Indian team were scored by Anwar Ali (5th minute) and Sandesh Jhingan (13th). For the Tajiks, Shahrom Samiev reduced the gap in the score in the 23rd minute. In the second half, the Tajik footballers could have avoided defeat, having received the right to a penalty. However, Rustam Soirov failed to convert an 11-meter penalty kick in the 73rd minute, hitting the goalkeeper’s feet.
In the second round, Oman will play Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan will play Uzbekistan in Group A on September 2 today, while India will play Iran and Afghanistan will play Tajikistan in Group B the day before.
For the Turkmen footballers, the CAFA Nations Cup 2025 tournament is considered one of the stages of preparation for the autumn matches of the 2027 Asian Cup qualification against Sri Lanka (October 9 and November 14) and Chinese Taipei (November 18).
