Uzbekistan Should Have Advanced to the Next Stage, I Thought!

Uzbekistan should have advanced to the next stage, I thought! Cannavaro's biggest mistake has been revealed

Valeriy Nepomnyashchiy attributes Uzbekistan's unsuccessful World Cup campaign to tactical decisions made by head coach Fabio Cannavaro.

Despite being debutants in the tournament, the Uzbekistan national team finished the group stage with defeats. The team lost to Colombia (1:3), Portugal (0:5), and the Democratic Republic of Congo (1:3), failing to advance to the playoffs.

Valeriy Nepomnyashchiy, a renowned Russian football expert familiar with Uzbek football, emphasized in an interview with journalists that Uzbekistan's capabilities were actually higher. In his opinion, Uzbekistan should have at least finished third in the group and advanced to the next stage.

Fabio Cannavaro was appointed as the head coach of the Uzbekistan national team in October 2025. However, the team had already secured their World Cup spot under the leadership of Timur Kapadze before his appointment.

Nepomnyashchiy himself managed the Uzbekistan national team in 2006 and coached the Cameroon national team from 1988 to 1990, achieving success with the latter at the 1990 World Cup.

"Perhaps it's not entirely right for me to say this, but I think the team should have been led by Timur Kapadze. It seems to me that Fabio Cannavaro failed to properly assess the players' potential and choose the right tactics for the games," Nepomnyashchiy said.

Instead of adapting the players to his ideas, Cannavaro should have built his tactics around their strengths.

"Kapadze has worked with them for a long time and knows their capabilities better. In the first game, the team played too cautiously, and in the second, they played too adventurously," Nepomnyashchiy noted.

According to him, the team's performance improved slightly in the third game, but the opponent was not very strong.

"I was very disappointed. I thought the Uzbekistan national team should have finished third in the group and advanced to the next stage. But that didn't happen. The players we know well played well, but with such a lineup, they should have focused on defense and looked for opportunities in counterattacks. There are players who can take advantage of such opportunities. Trying to play evenly with Portugal or Colombia was completely the wrong approach," the experienced expert added.

The World Cup is being held for the first time with 48 national teams and is taking place simultaneously in three countries: the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The tournament will conclude on July 19.