How Experts Rated Our Legionnaires Who Played in the RPL

The group stage matches of the 2026 FIFA World Cup are in full swing across the ocean. The Uzbekistan national team, the center of attention for millions of our compatriots, played its first-ever Mundial match. The 'White Wolves', led by Fabio Cannavaro, started their debut match against Colombia, a strong representative of South America, and managed to keep a clean sheet for nearly forty minutes. Even after conceding the first goal, they showed willpower and managed to restore the balance, but there was no way to respond to the remaining two goals scored by the opponent, and the match ended in a 1:3 defeat.

Following this match, the prestigious 'Euro-Football' publication paid special attention to the four players in our national team who had previously played in the Russian Premier League (RPL). While the performance of defender Rustam Ashurmatov was analyzed in a separate piece, this article provides a detailed evaluation of the other three well-known legionnaires familiar to Russian sports fans. Experts assigned a starting score of 6.0 and provided their ratings for the players based on a 10-point scale.

You can find the detailed statistical results and expert conclusions of the former RPL stars in the match against Colombia in the analytical sports table below:

Oston Orunov was barely visible on the pitch

Former Spartak Moscow midfielder Oston Orunov failed to demonstrate his skill and was almost invisible during the first half. Consequently, head coach Cannavaro substituted him at halftime along with Sherzod Nasrullaev. The goal was to add new energy and high speed to the left wing. This tactical change largely paid off — in the second half, trailing in the score, our representatives began to play more dangerously and actively in attack, with the ball moving more frequently along the left flank. However, Orunov's personal statistics were not impressive: in his 45+5 minutes on the pitch, he touched the ball only 8 times, only two of which reached teammates as accurate passes. The publication's analysts rated him as completely detached from the game.

Fayzullaev: Historic goal, but many ball losses

Former CSKA Moscow star Abbosbek Fayzullaev became the author of a historic goal for our country, accurately targeting an empty net from a comfortable distance inside the opponent's penalty area, and won several dangerous free kicks. However, experts noted that his positive contributions were few beyond these actions. Like in previous matches, Abbosbek frequently handed the ball over to the opponent in the attacking line and could not contribute sufficiently to the development of attacks. The numbers show that while he made only 5 accurate passes, he lost the ball 16 times, and 6 of his aerial passes failed to reach their destination. Although he was moved to the left wing position after the break, this tactic could not fundamentally change the situation.

Eldor Shomurodov's controversial moments

The captain of our national team and former Rostov striker Eldor Shomurodov was conditionally at the center of two goal-scoring opportunities. In the first instance, when Dostonbek Hamdamov delivered a pass from the left wing, Eldor fired a powerful shot that forced goalkeeper Vargas into an error — the rebound was converted into a goal by Fayzullaev. However, our joy was short-lived; just five minutes later, Shomurodov, under opponent pressing in the center of the pitch, lost the ball to Puerta, and Colombia's second goal came exactly because of this gross error. In the final seconds of the match, in the 90+2 minute, Eldor missed an opportunity because he failed to run fast enough to the right side of the opponent's penalty area; although Jhon Arias, who arrived first, seemed to handle the ball, the referee did not award a penalty in the controversial situation.

Final conclusion of Zamin sports commentators:

The first World Cup match was much harder than expected for our leading legionnaires who gained great experience in the Russian championship. Of course, these ratings are not intended to break the players' spirits, but to serve as a basis for drawing the right conclusions from the shortcomings. Ahead of us is a frustrated Portugal national team led by Cristiano Ronaldo. We believe that Fabio Cannavaro will correct the players' mistakes and demonstrate a truly fighting game in the next round. Show all your strength, Uzbekistan, we continue to believe in you!

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