Turkmenistan national football team

Turkmenistan match against North Korea in June 2008.

They qualified for the 2004 Asian Cup by winning the 2004 AFC Asian Cup qualification, where they were placed in group G, alongside the United Arab Emirates, Syria and Sri Lanka. In the autumn of 2003, in the first leg of the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC), they defeated Afghanistan 11–0 in Ashgabat. Begench Kuliyev and Rejepmyrat Agabaýew each scored a hat-trick, while Guvanchmuhammet Ovekov scored twice. Other players on the scoresheet that day were Nazar Bayramov, Omar Berdiyev and Didarklych Urazov. In the second leg the team won 0–2, with both goals scored by Begench Kuliyev. In December 2003, the national team of Turkmenistan reached the top 100 in the FIFA rankings for the first time in its history, reaching the 99th position, thanks to the successes in the 2004 Asian Cup and the 2006 World Cup qualifiers. In the 2004 Asian Cup that took place in China, Turkmmenistan was placed in group C, with neighbours Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia and Iraq. They were knocked out in the group stages following two defeats and a draw against Saudi Arabia.

In February 2010, Turkmenistan's national football team was headed by Ýazguly Hojageldyýew, who was working for HTTU Aşgabat.[8] Under his leadership the team went to Sri Lanka to participate in the 2010 AFC Challenge Cup. For the first time, they made it to the final, only to see them lose against North Korea in the penalty shootout. In the same year, the Football Association of Turkmenistan invited a native Turkmen, the head coach of FC Rubin Kazan, Kurban Berdyev to resume leadership.[9][10]

In March 2011, Turkmenistan successfully entered the final round of the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup, beating Pakistan, Taiwan, and played in a draw with India in the qualifying competition in Kuala Lumpur. In the summer of 2011, in the race for a spot at the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals in Brazil, they faced Indonesia in the second round. After managing a 1–1 draw in the first leg in Ashghabat, they were eventually defeated 4–3 in the second leg, 5–4 on aggregate, thus were knocked out of the contention for Brazil 2014.

In winter 2012 the team gathered for a training camp in Turkey. In preparation for the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup, Ýazguly Hojageldyýew arranged a friendly match with Romania, which saw them lost 4–0.

In March 2012, the team went to Kathmandu to participate in the final tournament of the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup. They beat the hosts Nepal 3–0 and Maldives 3–1, while the final group stage match with Palestine ended in a goalless draw. In the semifinals, Turkmenistan defeated the Philippines 2–1. However, as in the previous edition, they lost the final match to North Korea with a scoreline of 1–2.

In October 2012, Turkmenistan's team took second place at the 2012 VFF Cup, beating the teams of Vietnam and Laos, only to lose in the final match against the South Korean University Selection team 0–4.

On 23 March 2013 Turkmenistan defeated Cambodia 7–0 in Manila, on the qualifying round of the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup. In the second round, Turkmenistan was to meet Brunei, but the team did not arrive at the tournament, thus Turkmenistan was awarded a default 3–0 victory.[11] In the last round, Turkmenistan lost to Philippines 1–0, but managed to qualify for the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup finals as the best second placed team alongside Laos.[12]

In January 2014 Rahym Kurbanmämmedow was again in charge of the national team. They held three training camps in May and participated in the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup, where they were eliminated in the group stage, thereby losing the chance to qualify for the 2015 Asian Cup.[13][14][15] In June 2014, as a result of their poor performance at the AFC Challenge Cup, the entire coaching staff was dismissed, including the head coach.[16]

2018 World Cup qualification game with Iran in Tehran

In the spring of 2015, Amangylyç Koçumow was appointed as the new head coach of the national team to prepare the team for participation in 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification. The team started off badly, losing to one of the weakest team in Asia - Guam national football team 0–1. On 16 June 2015, for the first time, the Turkmenistan national team held a match outside Ashgabat, at the Spot toplumy Stadium in Dashoguz in the presence of 10,000 spectators, the Turkmenistan team played a draw with Iran (1–1). Then, the team lost Oman 1:3. In the home games that took place at the Kopetdag Stadium in October 2016, Turkmenistan beat India 2–1 and Guam 1–0. In November, the Turkmenistan held a friendly match with the UAE, which ended in a 1–5 defeat and an official match with Iran, in which the team lost 1–3. On 17 November 2016, the national team of Turkmenistan in the home game sensationally beat the national team of Oman 2–1. In the final stage, the Turkmenistan national team defeated India 2–1. The Turkmenistan team took the 3rd place in Group D, which did not allow the team to go to the next stage of the qualifying games for the 2018 World Cup, but gave the opportunity to fight for getting into the 2019 Asian Cup.

2019 AFC Asian Cup

Turkmenistan had finally qualified to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup for the second time in history, having finished second after Bahrain. In the tournament, Turkmenistan was grouped with Japan, neighbor Uzbekistan and Oman. The Turkmen side played pretty well in their first match against Asian powerhouse Japan and even took a lead until the end of the first half, but eventually fell to Japan 2–3. The next match against Uzbekistan was a complete disaster when Turkmenistan decided to play duel with more experienced Uzbekistan, leaving the team defeated 0–4, all four goals were scored in the first half. Turkmenistan then tried to make a fight against Oman, but lost 1–3 with two Omani goals scored in final minutes, thus the team was eliminated without scoring any point. Ýazguly Hojageldyýew resigned aftermath.

In March 2019, the Football Federation of Turkmenistan named Ante Miše as the head coach of the Turkmenistan national football team, signing a one-year contract.[17] Croatian specialist Sandro Tomić will help to train the national team of Turkmenistan. Croatian coaches are set to develop the overall football in Turkmenistan, not just the national team. His first game, 3 month later, was a 0–0 draw at friendly match with Uganda.[18]

  Win   Draw   Loss

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

Squad for 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Second Round against  North Korea[20] and  Sri Lanka.[25]

• Caps and goals correct as of: 5 October 2019 after match against Kuwait.

The final squad was announced on 6 November 2019.[26]

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Mammet Orazmuhammedow	(1986-12-20)20 December 1986 (aged 32)	17	0	Altyn Asyr
16	1GK	Batyr Babaýew	(1991-08-21)21 August 1991 (aged 27)	0	0	Ahal
22	1GK	Rahat Japarow	(1996-01-22)22 January 1996 (aged 22)	0	0	FC Abdysh-Ata Kant
4	2DF	Mekan Saparow	(1994-04-22)22 April 1994 (aged 24)	18	1	Altyn Asyr
2	2DF	Zafar Babajanow	(1987-02-09)9 February 1987 (aged 31)	6	0	Altyn Asyr
3	2DF	Şöhrat Söýünow	(1992-03-08)8 March 1992 (aged 27)	32	0	PDRM FA
15	2DF	Abdy Bäşimow	(1995-12-12)12 December 1995 (aged 23)	4	1	free agent
24	2DF	Güýçmyrat Annagulyýew	(1996-06-10)10 June 1996 (aged 22)	0	0	Ahal
20	2DF	Gurbanguly Aşyrow			0	Ahal
12	2DF	Serdar Annaorazow	(1990-06-29)29 June 1990 (aged 28)	29	0	Ahal
6	2DF	Mekan Aşyrow			0	Altyn Asyr
17	2DF	Amir Gurbani	(1987-10-24)24 October 1987 (aged 31)	2	0	Ahal
18	3MF	Serdar Geldiýew	(1987-10-01)1 October 1987 (aged 31)	20	0	PDRM FA
5	3MF	Wezirgeldi Ylýasow	(1992-01-18)18 January 1992 (aged 26)	5	0	free agent
20	3MF	Yhlas Magtymow		3	0	Şagadam
13	3MF	Ruslan Mingazow	(1991-11-23)23 November 1991 (aged 27)	26	4	FC Shakhter Karagandy
21	3MF	Resul Hojaýew	(1997-01-07)7 January 1997 (aged 21)	1	1	Altyn Asyr
7	3MF	Arslanmyrat Amanow (captain)	(1990-03-28)28 March 1990 (aged 28)	44	13	AGMK
19	3MF	Döwletmyrat Seýitmuhammedow		1	0	Kopetdag
14	3MF	Altymyrat Annadurdyýew	(1993-04-13)13 April 1993 (aged 25)	11	3	Altyn Asyr
9	4FW	Wahyt Orazsähedow	(1992-01-26)26 January 1992 (aged 26)	4	2	Istiklol
23	4FW	Didar Durdyýew	(1993-07-16)16 July 1993 (aged 25)	9	2	free agent
11	4FW	Myrat Ýagşyýew	(1992-01-12)12 January 1992 (aged 26)	5	2	Ahal
10	4FW	Mihail Titow	(1997-10-18)18 October 1997 (aged 21)	5	0	Altyn Asyr