Kerjakov: "Uzbekistan Needs a Miracle to Reach the Play-offs"

Former Russian footballer Aleksandr Kerjakov shared his thoughts on the Uzbekistan national team's chances of reaching the play-off stage of the 2026 World Cup.

The Uzbekistan national team will face the Democratic Republic of the Congo, their main rival for third place, in the third round of the group stage.

According to Kerjakov, Uzbekistan's chances of advancing to the next stage are very low. For this to happen, the team must defeat DR Congo by a large margin.

"Uzbekistan's chances of advancing from the group stage at the World Cup are very slim. This is because they need to defeat the DR Congo national team by a very large scoreline," he said.

The former striker did not hide the fact that he does not believe a miracle will happen in this situation.

"I don't think some kind of miracle will occur and Uzbekistan will reach the play-offs," Kerjakov added.

The Russian specialist emphasized that Uzbekistan qualifying for the World Cup is already a great achievement for the country's football. In this regard, he compared the team to the Curaçao national team that participated in the 2026 World Cup.

"One can speak of this team just like the Curaçao national team. Qualifying for the World Cup is a great success for Uzbekistan football. I hope they will further develop this result in the future," Kerjakov told journalist Nikolay Baranov.

Now, the Uzbekistan national team will try to win against DR Congo in the final round to keep their tournament hopes alive until the end.