We are on our way to the World Cup: what do European experts say about us?

The fact that the Uzbek national football team has qualified for the World Cup for the first time in its history has caused a great stir not only in our country, but also in the international sports community. This has been widely reported, including in countries such as Portugal and Brazil, which have a special place in world football. Reputable sports publications in Europe and Latin America have expressed their positive attitude towards the great achievement of Uzbek football players.

It should be recalled that our national team secured its place in the World Cup with a difficult away draw (0:0) with the United Arab Emirates in the decisive match of the Asian qualifying round. This result is recognized as the most important event in the recent history of Uzbek football.

Diogo Ribeiro, a famous Portuguese football analyst and expert on the bolanarede.pt portal, expressed the following thoughts on this: "Uzbekistan - in the 2026 World Cup! The Central Asian country's national team achieved an important draw on the field of the UAE and secured a place in the World Cup. Uzbekistan will be the first national team in its history to participate in the World Cup. This is undoubtedly a historic event for the country. The Uzbekistan national team has never participated in the World Cup before and will celebrate its historic debut next summer."

Ribeiro also touched on the general situation in the group in his analysis. According to him, with only one round left before the end of the third round of the qualifying stage, Iran and Uzbekistan took first and second places in the group and received a direct ticket to the 2026 World Cup. Qatar, the UAE and Kyrgyzstan will continue the fight for a place in the World Cup in the next stages.

Uzbekistan's qualification to the World Cup has also aroused great interest in Brazilian football. Sports analyst John Peter Andrada of the Itatiaia.com.br website also highlighted this achievement of our national team. According to Andrada, Uzbekistan's away draw against the UAE was equivalent to a real final. "This draw opened the door to the World Cup for the team. The team was able to withstand the great pressure of the opponent in this match. In particular, the goalkeeper of Uzbekistan, Utkir Yusupov, performed at a very high level, he saved his team in several dangerous situations," the Brazilian expert noted.

He also paid special attention to the well-known players of the Uzbekistan national team on the international stage - the striker of the Italian club "Roma" Eldor Shomurodov and the central defender of the English club "Manchester City" Abdukhodir Khusanov. According to the expert, the presence of such high-level players increases the prestige of the Uzbekistan national team on the international stage.

As is known, the Uzbekistan national team has already secured its first World Cup ticket in its history ahead of schedule. In the final round of the third qualifying round, our players will play against the Qatar national team on June 10 at the Bunyodkor stadium in Tashkent. Although this match is not of great importance for our team, it is clear that it is expected to become a real football holiday in our country.

Now, preparations for the World Cup for our national team are entering a new stage. Our entire country, football fans, players and experts are happy to welcome the realization of their dream of participating in the World Cup. Every football fan is eagerly awaiting the games of our team at the World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico. We are confident that this participation will be a great impetus for the further development of football in our country and the growth of interest in sports among the younger generation.

This historic event will undoubtedly remain forever in the pages of football history as one of the brightest pages of Uzbek sports. For millions of fans, this is no longer a dream, but a real reality. The fact that the Uzbek national team is competing on equal terms with the best teams in the world on the World Cup grounds will undoubtedly further enhance the prestige of our country. We wish our national team great success in the upcoming matches!