On June 5 Uzbekistan's men's national football team qualified for the 2026 World Cup after a draw with the UAE. It is the country's first World Cup since independence in 1991. Uzbekistan is also the first Central Asian nation and the third former Soviet state to reach the tournament. The team are known as the White Wolves. In earlier campaigns, near misses in 2006, 2014 and 2018 ended in defeats that stopped them from qualifying.
Before this success, youth sides had strong results: the U-23 team played at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, and the youth teams won the 2023 U-20 Asian Cup and the 2025 U-17 Asian Cup. Reforms that began in 2019 aimed to improve football and included popularising the game, installing VAR, building more academies and creating scouting systems. Officials say the wins show planning, not luck. On June 10 the president met the team and gave awards.
Difficult words
- qualify — reach a competition by getting the required resultqualified
- independence — when a country becomes free and self-governing
- draw — a match that ends with equal scores
- tournament — a series of sports matches to find winner
- reform — planned changes to improve a system or organisationReforms
- academy — a school for training young playersacademies
- official — people with authority in an organisation or teamOfficials
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- What changes from the article do you think helped Uzbekistan most?
- How would you feel if your national team reached a major tournament for the first time?
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