CAFA Nations Cup

This article is about the men's association football tournament. For the women's tournament, see CAFA Women's Championship.
CAFA Nations Cup
Organising bodyCAFA
Founded2023
RegionCentral Asia
Number of teams7 (2023)
Current champions Iran (1st title)
Most successful team(s) Iran (1 title)
WebsiteOfficial website
2023 CAFA Nations Cup

The CAFA Nations Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA), the governing body of football in Central Asia.[1][2][3][4]

History

The inaugural edition of the senior men's tournament was initially planned to be hosted by Tashkent in October 2018.[1][2][3][4] It was not played out though.

In March 2023, it was announced the inaugural edition of the senior men's tournament would commence in June 2023 in Tashkent and Bishkek for the six member associations, along with the addition of two invited guest teams: Russia and an unconfirmed Asian team.[5][6][7] However, the start of the inaugural edition of the tournament was put in doubt again after it was reported in early April 2023 that Iran, Uzbekistan, Russia, and Iraq would instead take part in a four-nation tournament in June 2023.[8]

On 15 April, it was reported that Russia was set to shun the inaugural CAFA Championship, while organizers insisted they were still in talks with them over their participation.[9] On 18 April, it was reported that Iran would take part in the inaugural CAFA Championship along with the member associations of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Afghanistan, as well as invited guests Russia and one other Asian country, with the tournament being hosted in Tashkent and Bishkek in June.[10] On 19 April, it was reported that Russia had withdrawn from the tournament.[11][12] On 24 April, Oman was reported to be an invited guest team after Thailand reportedly turned down an invitation.[13][14][15]

Results

Edition Year Hosts Champions Score Runners-up Third place Score Fourth place No. of Teams
1 2023  Kyrgyzstan
 Uzbekistan
Iran 		1–0
Uzbekistan
Oman 		1–0
Kyrgyzstan 		7
2 2025 N/A TBD

Performance by nation

Teams reaching the top four
Team Titles Runners-up Third place Fourth place Total
 Iran 1 (2023) 1
 Uzbekistan 1 (2023) 1
 Oman 1 (2023) 1
 Kyrgyzstan 1 (2023) 1
  • Italic: hosts

Participating nations

Legend
Team Kyrgyzstan
Uzbekistan
2023
(7) 		Total
 Afghanistan GS 1
 Iran 1st 1
 Kyrgyzstan 4th 1
 Tajikistan GS 1
 Turkmenistan GS 1
 Uzbekistan 2nd 1
Invitee nations
 Oman 3rd 1

Summary

As of the 2023 edition
Rank Team Part Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Best result
1  Iran 1 3 3 0 0 12 2 +10 9 Champions (2023)
2  Uzbekistan 1 4 3 0 1 10 2 +8 9 Runners-up (2023)
3  Oman 1 4 2 1 1 4 4 0 7 Third place (2023)
4  Kyrgyzstan 1 3 1 0 2 4 6 –2 3 Fourth place (2023)
5  Tajikistan 1 3 0 2 1 3 7 –4 2 Group stage (2023)
6  Turkmenistan 1 3 0 1 2 1 5 –4 1 Group stage (2023)
7  Afghanistan 1 2 0 0 2 1 9 –8 0 Group stage (2023)

Awards

Year Winning coaches Most valuable player Top goalscorers Best goalkeeper Fair play award
2023 Iran Amir Ghalenoei
 Iran 		Mehdi Taremi
 Iran 		Mehdi Taremi (6)
 Iran 		Ibrahim Al-Mukhaini
 Oman 		 Uzbekistan

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "اتحادیه فوتبال آسیای مرکزی ایجاد شد" (in Persian). BBC. 22 February 2015. Archived from the original on 23 February 2015. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  2. ^ a b "'Central Zone' gets thumbs up from Tajikistan". The AFC. 10 June 2014. Archived from the original on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  3. ^ a b "AFC adds a fifth zone as Extraordinary Congress approves amendments to AFC Statutes". The AFC. 12 January 2015. Archived from the original on 30 August 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  4. ^ a b "Central Asians meet Sheikh Salman to create CAFA". aff.org.af. 17 May 2014. Archived from the original on 29 October 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  5. ^ "Russia invited to play in Central Asian soccer tournament". Reuters. 14 March 2023. Archived from the original on 2023-03-14. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
  6. ^ "Iran to participate in first senior men's CAFA tournament in June 2023 – PersianFootball.com". Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  7. ^ Lowe, Martin [@Martin_Lowe_] (13 March 2023). "Bishkek 🇰🇬 & Tashkent 🇺🇿 will host the group stage; 2 x four teams, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan + two guests. The two invited guests are Russia & Thailand, yet China is also interested. Tashkent will host the final & third place playoff" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 13 March 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2023 – via Twitter.
  8. ^ "Iran to participate in four-nation football tournament [Report] – PersianFootball.com". Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  9. ^ "Doubts over Russia participation as CAFA Championship set to reveal line-up". 15 April 2023. Archived from the original on 19 April 2023. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  10. ^ "Iran natl. football team to play in CAFA along with Russia". PersianLeague.Com (Iran Football League) (in Latin). 18 April 2023. Archived from the original on 19 April 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  11. ^ "Russia Withdraws from 2023 CAFA - Sports news - Tasnim News Agency". Archived from the original on 2023-04-21. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  12. ^ Lowe, Martin [@Martin_Lowe_] (19 April 2023). "Russia confirm they will not participate in this year's upcoming CAFA Championship. "The decision was due to the timing of the tournament, coinciding with domestic competitions, including the final of the Russian Football Cup." - RFU spokesman https://t.co/XN6GUR4TFS" (Tweet). Retrieved 6 May 2023 – via Twitter.
  13. ^ Lowe, Martin [@Martin_Lowe_] (24 April 2023). "June's CAFA Nations Cup 2023, will be drawn on Wednesday. Pot 1 - Iran & Uzbekistan (Group A host) Pot 2 - Kyrgyzstan (Group B host) & Tajikistan Pot 3 - Turkmenistan & Afghanistan Pot 4 - Oman Hopes of an 8th team were dashed after Russia declined the invitation" (Tweet). Retrieved 6 May 2023 – via Twitter.
  14. ^ Lowe, Martin [@Martin_Lowe_] (28 March 2023). "Thailand have turned down their invitation to join June's CAFA Championship. Oman now look in pole position to complete the tournament's line-up. Participation deadline is 31 March" (Tweet). Retrieved 6 May 2023 – via Twitter.
  15. ^ "Central Asian Football Association on Instagram: "It's our great pleasure to announce about upcoming first ever CAFA Senior Championship in history of Central Asian Football Association 🤩 CAFA Nations Cup 2023⚽️ Participating teams: 🇦🇫 Afghanistan 🇮🇷 I.R. Iran 🇰🇬 Kyrgyz Republic 🇹🇯 Tajikistan 🇹🇲 Turkmenistan 🇺🇿Uzbekistan 🇴🇲Oman Draw Ceremony for the competition will be held as follows : 📆 Wednesday, 26 April 2023 ⏰14:00 (Dushanbe local time, GMT+5) 📺 CAFA YouTube Channel Teams drawn in group B will play their matches on 10,13 and 16 of June, while group a matches will be played on 11, 14, and 17 June accordingly. Final match and match for the third place will be played on 20th of June in capital city of 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan. We will keep update you with further information 🔜 #CafaNationsCup"". Archived from the original on 24 April 2023. Retrieved 24 April 2023.


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