2023 CAFA Nations Cup

2023 CAFA Nations Cup
Tournament details
Host countries	Kyrgyzstan; Uzbekistan
Dates	10 – 20 June
Teams	7 (from 2 sub-confederations)
Venue(s)	3 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Iran (1st title)
Runners-up	Uzbekistan
Third place	Oman
Fourth place	Kyrgyzstan
Tournament statistics
Matches played	11
Goals scored	33 (3 per match)
Attendance	89,776 (8,161 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Mehdi Taremi; (6 goals)
Best player(s)	Mehdi Taremi
Best goalkeeper	Ibrahim Al-Mukhaini
Fair play award	Uzbekistan
	TBD →

The 2023 CAFA Nations Cup was the first edition of the CAFA Nations Cup, the biennial international men's football championship of Central Asia organized by the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA). The event was held in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan from June 10 to 20.^[1]

Background

The inaugural edition of the senior men's tournament was initially planned to be hosted by Tashkent in October 2018.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5] 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.^[6]^[7]^[8] 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.^[9]

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.^[10] 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with the tournament being hosted in Tashkent and Bishkek in June.^[11] On 19 April, it was reported that Russia had withdrawn from the tournament.^[12]^[13] On 24 April, Oman was reported to be an invited guest team after Thailand reportedly turned down an invitation.^[14]^[15]^[16]

Participating nations

Country	Appearance	FIFA ranking 6 April 2023
Afghanistan	1st	155
Iran	1st	20
Kyrgyzstan (co-hosts)	1st	96
Oman (invitee)	1st	73
Tajikistan	1st	109
Turkmenistan	1st	137
Uzbekistan (co-hosts)	1st	74

Seeding

The following 7 teams were divided based on their FIFA Ranking of April 2023.^[14]

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
Iran (20) Uzbekistan (74) (co-hosts)	Kyrgyzstan (96) (co-hosts) Tajikistan (109)	Turkmenistan (137) Afghanistan (155)	Oman (73) (invitee)

Draw results

The draw was held in Dushanbe on 26 April 2023 at 14:00 Tajikistan Time (UTC+5). The draw resulted in the following groups:

Group A
Pos	Team
A1	Uzbekistan
A2	Tajikistan
A3	Turkmenistan
A4	Oman

Group B
Pos	Team
B1	Kyrgyzstan
B2	Iran
B3	Afghanistan

Venues

Kyrgyzstan
Bishkek		Bishkek
Dolen Omurzakov Stadium
Capacity: 23,000

Uzbekistan
Tashkent		Tashkent
Pakhtakor Central Stadium	Milliy Stadium
Capacity: 35,000	Capacity: 34,000

Squads

Officials

Broadcasting rights

The following channels have been given broadcasting rights to broadcast the tournament.

Territory	Rights holder(s)
Uzbekistan	UzNTRC Sport
Kyrgyzstan	Kyrgyz Sport TV
Tajikistan	TV Futbol
Iran	IRIB TV3

Group stage

All times are local, Uzbekistan Time (UTC+5) & Kyrgyzstan Time (UTC+6).

Tiebreakers

Teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tie-breaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings.^[18]

Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
Goal difference in all group matches;
Goals scored in all group matches;
Penalty shoot-out if only two teams were tied and they met in the last round of the group;
Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points);
Drawing of lots.

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Uzbekistan (H)	3	3	0	0	10	1	+9	9	Advance to final
2	Oman	3	1	1	1	3	4	−1	4	Advance to third place match
3	Tajikistan	3	0	2	1	3	7	−4	2
4	Turkmenistan	3	0	1	2	1	5	−4	1

Source: Soccerway
(H) Hosts

11 June 2023

18:30

Tajikistan	1–1	Turkmenistan
Khamrokulov 86'	Report	Annaýew 57'

Pakhtakor Central Stadium, Tashkent

Attendance: 97

Referee: Hassan Akrami (Iran)

11 June 2023