Tajikistan national football team

The Tajikistan national football team represents Tajikistan in international football and is controlled by the Tajikistan Football Federation, the governing body for football in Tajikistan. Tajikistan's home ground is the Pamir Stadium in Dushanbe.

History
Tajikistan played its first official game on 11 April 1994 in Tashkent as part of a regional tournament. It lost that game against Kazakhstan 0–1. The first official competition the team entered was the qualifiers for the 1996 AFC Asian Cup, when it was seeded in the 3-team Group 8 with Uzbekistan and Bahrain. Bahrain later withdrew, leaving Tajikistan to a play-off against their Middle Asian neighbors. Tajikistan won the first game 4–0, and were beaten in the away game 0–5 after extra time. It did not enter a World Cup qualifying tournament until the 1998 FIFA World Cup edition, recording 4 victories in its preliminary group stage including a 5–0 triumph over Turkmenistan, and losing only to China, which placed it second behind its eastern neighbors, and out of the tournament.

Following Tajikistan's 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, coach Mubin Ergashev and his staff were relieved of their duties.

Tajikistan were drawn into a 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification group with the Philippines, Yemen and Nepal. Following defeat to the Philippines on 27 March 2018, confirming Tajikistan's failure to qualify for the Asian Cup, manager Khakim Fuzailov resigned.

After failing to have a direct spot for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup, Tajikistan hired Croatian manager Petar Šegrt, and Tajikistan took part in the third round of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification, joining with Myanmar, Kyrgyzstan, and Singapore. Due to COVID-19 pandemic, the third round was played in a single round-robin group format with a centralised host, which Tajikistan's group saw its neighbour Kyrgyzstan hosting it. Tajikistan defeated Myanmar (4–0) and Singapore (1–0), before holding neighbour Kyrgyzstan to a goalless draw, topping the group and, after failing in 5 previous attempts, Tajikistan was able to qualify to its first-ever AFC Asian Cup and a major tournament in 2023. Tajikistan was invited to the 2022 King's Cup in Thailand held in September 2022 where Tajikistan defeated Trinidad and Tobago 2–1 and sees them advanced to the final defeating Malaysia in the penalty shootout winning their second international trophy.

In the 2023 AFC Asian Cup, Tajikistan reached the quarter-finals for the first time in their history after losing 1-0 to the eventual runner-up Jordan due to a 66th minute own goal from Vahdat Hanonov.

Kit
In September 2017, Tajikistan's kit was supplied by Chinese sporting apparel company Li-Ning.

Coaching history

 * Caretaker managers are listed in italics.


 * 🇹🇯 Sharif Nazarov (1992–1994)
 * 🇹🇯 Vladimir Ghulamhaydarov (1994–1995)
 * 🇹🇯 Abdulla Muradov (1996)
 * 🇹🇯 Zair Babayev (1997–1998)
 * 🇹🇯 Sharif Nazarov (1999)
 * 🇹🇯 Salahiddin Ghafurov (2000–2002)
 * 🇹🇯 Sharif Nazarov (2003)
 * 🇹🇯 Zair Babayev (2004)
 * 🇹🇯 Sharif Nazarov (2004–2006)
 * 🇹🇯 Mahmadjan Habibullayev (2007)
 * 🇹🇯 Pulad Qadirov (2008–2011)
 * 🇹🇯 Alimjan Rafiqov (2011–2012)
 * 🇧🇦 Kemal Alispahić (2012)
 * 🇷🇸 Nikola Kavazović (2012–2013)
 * 🇹🇯 Mubin Ergashev (2013)
 * 🇷🇺🇹🇯 Muhsin Muhammadiyev (2013–2015)
 * 🇹🇯 Mubin Ergashev (2015–2016)
 * 🇹🇯 Hakim Fuzaylov (2016–2018)
 * 🇹🇯 Alisher Tuhtayev (2018)
 * 🇺🇿 Usmon Toshev (2018–2021)
 * 🇹🇯 Mubin Ergashev (2021)
 * 🇭🇷 Petar Šegrt (2022–2024)
 * Gela Shekiladze (2024–present)

Current squad
The following 23 players were called for Tajikistan's 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against 🇯🇴 jordan and 🇵🇰 pakistan on 6 & 11 June.''

Caps and goals updated as of 11 June 2024, after the match against 🇵🇰 pakistan.

Recent call ups
The following players have been called up during the past 12 months.

INJ Withdrew due to injury

RET Retired

WTH Withdrawn

Records

 * Players in bold are still active with Tajikistan.

Asian Games

 * Football at the Asian Games has been an under-23 tournament since 2002.

RCD Cup/ECO Cup

 * 1993: Third place

Other tournaments

 * 1997 West Asian Games: Fourth Place
 * 2005 Islamic Solidarity Games: Group Stage
 * 2019 Intercontinental Cup (India): Runners-up
 * 2022 King's Cup: Champions
 * 2023 Merdeka Tournament: Champions