Ashgabat or Asgabat, formerly named Poltoratsk between 1919 and 1927, is the capital and the largest city of Turkmenistan. It lies between the Karakum Desert and the Kopetdag mountain range in Central Asia, near the Iran-Turkmenistan border, and it has a population of 1,031,992 (2019).
Ahal Region is one of five provinces of Turkmenistan. It is in the south-center of the country, bordering Iran and Afghanistan along the Kopet Dag Range. Its area is 97,160 km2 (37,510 sq mi) and population 939,700.
The Turkmenistan national football team represents Turkmenistan in men's international football and it is controlled by the Football Federation of Turkmenistan, the governing body for football in Turkmenistan. Turkmenistan's home ground is the Kopetdag Stadium and their head coach is Mergen Orazow. The team represents FIFA and Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
Turkmenistan is divided into five regions, or welaýatlar and one capital city (şäher) with provincial legal status. They are Ahal, Balkan, Dashoguz, Lebap and Mary, plus the capital city of Ashgabat. Each province is divided into districts. As of 20 December 2022 there were 37 districts, 49 cities, including 7 cities with district status, 68 towns, 469 rural councils and 1690 villages in Turkmenistan.
Saparmurat Turkmenbashy Olympic Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, that stood on the site now occupied by the new Olympic Stadium, built between 2013 and 2017.
The qualification process for the 2004 AFC Asian Cup football competition began in March 2003. Out of the 45 AFC members, only Cambodia and the Philippines failed to enter for the tournament. Both China, the hosts and Japan, the reigning champions automatically qualified for the finals. The lowest ranked 20 teams were placed in 6 preliminary qualifying groups of 3 and one group of 2, with the group winners joining the remaining 21 teams in 7 groups of 4. The top two of each of these groups qualified for the finals in China.
Ahal Änew Football Club, or simply Ahal FC, is a Turkmen professional association football club based in the Änew, Ahal Province. Founded in 1989, the club played its first-ever top flight season in 1992. The club plays its home matches at the 20,000 seater Ashgabat Stadium.
Football Club Altyn Asyr, also known as Altyn Asyr Ashgabat or simply Altyn Asyr, which translates to "Golden Century", is a Turkmen football club based in Ashgabat. Founded in 2008, the club competes in the Ýokary Liga, the top tier of Turkmen football. It has remained there ever since, winning the Turkmenistan Higher League championship eight times in a row. The club also won the Turkmenistan Cup for 5 times in 2009, 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2020 and has been regular in AFC Cup recently. The team plays in the Ashgabat Stadium.
Gökdepe District is a district of Ahal Region, Turkmenistan.
The 15th edition of the Turkmenistan President's Cup was played from February 20 to 28 with the participation of eight clubs.
The 2010 Turkmenistan Cup is 18th since independence of the Turkmen national football cup.
The 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, which is also counted as the 5th Asian Indoor Games, was held in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan in 2017. It became the third city in the former Soviet countries to win the right of hosting an Olympic Council of Asia-sanctioned event, following Astana and Almaty in Kazakhstan, which jointly-hosted the 2011 Asian Winter Games. The host city was chosen in Kuwait on 19 December 2010. On 6 July 2013 the flag of the Olympic Council of Asia was officially handed over to the mayor of the city of Ashgabat.
Eight teams from five countries participated in the 17th edition of the Turkmenistan President's Cup, which took place in Ashgabat's Olympic Stadium and Abadan Stadium between February 20 and 28 2011. The group toppers clashed in the final and stood to win $20,000 while the runners-up got half that amount. The third-placed team received $5,000.
The 2012 AFC Futsal Championship qualification was held in late 2011 and early 2012 to determine 12 spots to the final tournament in United Arab Emirates. The teams finishing first, second and third in the 2010 AFC Futsal Championship, and the host nation for the 2012 competition, receive automatic byes to Finals.
The 2011 Turkmenistan Cup is 19th since independence of the Turkmen national football cup.
The 2013 Turkmenistan Cup was the 22nd season of the Turkmenistan Cup knockout tournament. Performed by the system of leaving since the quarterfinals, except commands FC Daşoguz, FC Lebap and FC Ashgabat, they began the tournament with a preliminary stage. The preliminary stage of the tournament was launched August 1, 2013. The final match was held October 28, 2013, in Turkmenabat between FC Altyn Asyr and FC Ahal. Cup won FC Ahal. The cup champion wins a spot in the 2014 Turkmenistan Supercup final.
The 2018 AFC Cup qualifying play-offs were played from 22 January to 20 February 2018. A total of 13 teams competed in the qualifying play-offs to decide five of the 36 places in the group stage of the 2018 AFC Cup.
The 2019 Turkmenistan Cup is the 26th season of the Turkmenistan Cup knockout tournament. The cup winner qualifies for the 2020 AFC Cup.
The 2020 AFC Cup qualifying play-offs were played from 21 January to 26 February 2020, before the remaining matches were suspended, and eventually cancelled by the AFC on 10 September 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the original competition format, a total of 19 teams would compete in the qualifying play-offs to decide seven of the 36 places in the group stage of the 2020 AFC Cup.
Altyn Asyr 
Turkey U-21 
Okzhetpes 
