East Turkestan national football team

East Turkistan

Association	East Turkistan Football Association
Confederation	ConIFA
Head coach	Elshat Eslam
Top scorer	Ihtiyar Yusupov (2)
First international
East Turkestan 8–2 West Papua   (The Hague, Netherlands; 19 October 2019)
Biggest win
East Turkestan 8–2 West Papua   (The Hague, Netherlands; 19 October 2019)
Biggest defeat
Tamil Eelam 5–0 East Turkestan   (Walton-on-Thames, England; 4 July 2025)
CONIFA Asian Football Cup
Appearances	1 (first in 2025 CONIFA Asian Football Cup )
Best result	2nd (2025)

The East Turkestan football team is a team from the Uyghur region of East Turkestan. ^{[note 1] [ clarification needed ]} Previously registered as Uyghur, it is a member of ConIFA.

History

The idea to create an East Turkestan Football Association began in 2014 before it was eventually established. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

On 19 October 2019, it played its first international game ever, that ended with a 8–2 against West Papua in The Hague. ^[4]

On 14 December 2019, East Turkestan played a qualification match for the 2020 CONIFA World Cup against Tamil Eelam in Cergy, France, that ended with a 0–3 loss. The team debuted in the CONIFA Asian Football Cup in 2025, held in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, they competed in a 3-team round-robin including Tamil Eelam and Tibet.

References

1. "Where football meets international politics: the remarkable story of the East Turkistan Football Association". calciosovietico.it. Archived from the original on 2021-01-15. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
2. "Uyghur American Cup". The Tarim Network. 9 August 2021.
3. "Oost-Turkistan wint eerste interland met grote cijfers".
4. East Turkistan, West Papua and an Extraordinary Game of Football The Diplomat. 16 October 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.

1. Possibly Xinjiang?

External links

• East Turkestan Football Federation website