The second CAFA Nations Cup tournament under the auspices of the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) starts today, August 29, at the Central Stadium of Gissar. The tournament will bring together the strongest national teams of the region and will become one of the main events of the year for football fans of Tajikistan.
The national team of Tajikistan got into group "B", where its rivals will be the teams of India, Afghanistan and Iran. The group stage matches will be played in a one–round robin system. The Tajik team will play its first match against the Indian national team – the game will take place at 20:30 at the Central Stadium of Gissar.
The day before, a meeting was held at the Rumi Hotel in Dushanbe with the participation of representatives of the CAFA, the Football Federation of Tajikistan, tournament officials and managers of the participating national teams. The Tajikistan team also held a final training session, which was attended by 21 football players.
The following foreign players are expected to gradually join the national team: Rustam Yatimov (Rostov, Russia), Oleg Baklov (Turan Tovuz, Azerbaijan), Zoir Juraboev (Sogdiana, Uzbekistan), Vakhdat Khanonov (Sepahan, Iran) and Parvizjon Umarboev (Lokomotiv, Bulgaria).
The head coach of the Tajikistan national team, Gela Shekiladze, stressed the importance of the tournament for the team and the country:
"We are very pleased that the CAFA Nations Cup 2025 will be held in Tajikistan. We started training just three days ago, and we're not fully equipped yet. But we're playing at home, so our goal is to get out of the group. I would like to appeal to the fans: support the Tajik national team in the upcoming matches."
The captain of the national team Akhtam Nazarov noted the strength of the rivals and appealed to the fans to unite:
"Our group is strong, Iran is the main favorite. But we will give our best in every match. I urge all the fans to unite, come to the stadium and support the national team. We promise to fight on the field to make you happy."
