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 body	CAFA
Founded	2023
Region	Central Asia
Number of teams	7 (2023)
Current champions	Iran (1st title)
Most successful team(s)	Iran (1 title)
Website	Official 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

Inaugural tournament

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 ^[10] On 19 April, it was reported that Russia had withdrawn from the tournament.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]}

Later tournaments

In April 2025, it was announced that the second edition of the CAFA Nations Cup would be held around September 2025, commemorating the ten-year anniversary of the CAFA organization. ^{[16] [17]}

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	TBD		26 August - 9 September

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

1st – Champions 2nd – Runners-up 3rd – Third place 4th – Fourth place

GS – Group stage Q – Qualified for the current tournament  ••  — Qualified but withdrew  •  – Did not qualify  ×  – Did not enter / Withdrew / Banned    – Hosts

Team	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	Amir Ghalenoei   Iran	Mehdi Taremi   Iran	Mehdi Taremi (6)   Iran	Ibrahim Al-Mukhaini   Oman	Uzbekistan

See also

• Nowruz Cup
• CAFA Women's Championship
• AFF Championship
• EAFF E-1 Football Championship
• SAFF Championship
• WAFF Championship
• AFC Asian Cup
• Asian Games

References

1. "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. "'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. "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. "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.
16. https://www.persianfootball.com/news/2025/04/07/iran-to-play-friendly-matches-against-russia-and-chile/
17. https://24.kg/english/316069_Central_Asian_Football_Association_CAFA_changes_its_logo/

External links

• CAFA competitions – official website at the-cafa.com (in English)