Uzbekistan Features - The Times Of Central Asia

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FIFA World Cup

Uzbekistan World Cup Ends With Reality Check After DR Congo Defeat

For an hour in Atlanta, it looked as though Uzbekistan's World Cup story might yet have an improbable final chapter, but a flurry of goals in the final 25 minutes saw Fabio Cannavaro's side handed another harsh reality check. The White Wolves threw away a first-half lead to lose 3-1 to the Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday, exiting their first World Cup with three defeats from three games and conceding 11 goals – more than any team at the tournament apart from Tunisia and Iraq. Meanwhile, Congo advanced to the knockout stage for the first time in their history, returning to Atlanta to face England on Wednesday. The meeting between two nations making only their second and first World Cup appearances respectively offered a study in contrasting approaches to building a national team. Around 85% of the Congolese squad was born outside the country, mainly in France, Belgium and England, whereas Uzbekistan's entire 26-man squad is homegrown. The Congolese have been one of the surprise packages of this tournament, and were unlucky not to get more than one point from the opening two games. They came here wearing red rather than their usual cobalt blue, knowing that a win would see them through to the next round. Uzbekistan needed an improbably large victory to progress and were playing largely for pride. But it was the Uzbeks who made a lightning start. Eldor Shomurodov had the ball in the net almost straight from the kick-off, only for it to be ruled out for offside. The Başakşehir man, who finished top scorer in the Turkish league last season, had endured a quiet tournament until this game, cutting a very lonely figure against Colombia and Portugal. He was sharp here, though, elegantly chipping over a hopelessly marooned Lionel Mpasi to make it 1-0, the first time Uzbekistan had led a game all tournament. Shomurodov spurned a chance to double the lead early in the second half, once again attempting to chip the goalkeeper when a simpler finish might have sufficed. That second effort was largely against the run of play. After such a bright start, Uzbekistan retreated deeper and deeper into their own half as momentum built for Congo. The White Wolves were fortunate to reach the interval ahead after Nathanaël Mbuku had a superb equaliser ruled out following a VAR review for a foul in the build-up, a soft decision that prompted widespread criticism. Congo missed several good chances in the second half, and with half an hour to go, Uzbekistan might have felt it was their day. Once again however, they demonstrated their capacity for self-destruction at the back. In the 68th minute, an innocuous, hopeful ball was tossed into the Uzbek box. The team's poster boy, Abdukodir Khusanov attempted to clear it but instead caught the outstretched leg of Yoane Wissa, leaving the referee little choice but to point to the spot. Wissa converted without fuss. Once the dam broke, Uzbekistan capitulated. Ten minutes later, substitute Fiston Mayele deftly flicked...

Kyrgyz-Uzbek Border

Chongara and Tash-Tobo: The Villages That Changed Countries Without Moving

About 2,500 people in Chongara and Tash-Tobo now live under Kyrgyz jurisdiction. The transfer reduces the number of Uzbek enclaves in Kyrgyzstan and clears the way for a much shorter road across the Batken Region. For Umitbek, the change first appeared online. Chongara, his home village, passed from Uzbekistan’s Ferghana Region into Kyrgyzstan when the legal border moved. “We are welcoming the decision with joy,” Umitbek told Azattyk. “Ninety-nine percent of our village is Kyrgyz.” Umitbek already holds a Kyrgyz passport, while many neighbors have Uzbek documents. Some households include citizens of both countries. The village has Kyrgyz and Uzbek schools, and families have chosen between them. Kyrgyz presidential spokesman Askat Alagozov announced the transfer on June 23. “Now registration procedures will be conducted in these villages, after which their residents will be granted Kyrgyz citizenship,” Alagozov said. He did not give a timetable for the process. Kyrgyzstan transferred plots of equal area to Uzbekistan as part of the settlement. Public announcement did not identify those plots or state their total size. The two governments also conducted a separate exchange involving 236 hectares. That land will support a road between the villages of Sai and Tayan, and shorten the journey between Aidarken and Batken from 225 kilometers to 55, or about 76% of the present route. Officials have yet to publish a construction date or budget. A Century Inside Another Republic Chongara and Tash-Tobo were Uzbek exclaves, pieces of Uzbekistan completely surrounded by Kyrgyz territory. Their unusual status grew from Soviet boundary decisions made a century ago. Chongara’s administrative link to the Uzbek Republic dates to territorial decisions around Sokh in 1925. Tash-Tobo was also assigned to the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic that year. A parity commission confirmed its enclave status in 1955. These lines served as internal administrative boundaries during the Soviet period. Villages that had shared roads, water systems and family links found themselves divided by customs posts and citizenship rules. Uzbekistan previously had four exclaves inside Kyrgyzstan: Sokh, Shakhimardan, Chongara, and Tash-Tobo. Following the latest transfer, only Sokh and Shakhimardan remain under Uzbek jurisdiction. Sokh is the largest and most complicated. It lies within Kyrgyzstan, but has a largely ethnic Tajik population. Roads around the enclave have long shaped travel through the western Batken Region. A Settlement Built Over Two Decades Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan began formal border negotiations in 2000. Progress remained slow while relations between the two governments were strained. The process accelerated after Shavkat Mirziyoyev became Uzbekistan’s president in 2016. A 2017 agreement settled about 1,170 kilometers of the roughly 1,378-kilometer frontier. The remaining sections involved land, roads, and water infrastructure. The two foreign ministers signed a further border treaty in Bishkek on November 3, 2022, which covered sections left outside the 2017 settlement. On January 27, 2023, Mirziyoyev and Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov exchanged ratification instruments during a state visit to Bishkek. The legal delimitation fixed the agreed line on maps. Physical demarcation then placed that line on the ground. The 2022 package also...

Middle East Crisis

The Fragile U.S.–Iran Truce: What Central Asia Stands to Gain and Lose

The preliminary memorandum signed in mid-June between the United States and Iran, followed by renewed talks between Washington and Tehran, has extended a U.S.–Iran truce and opened a 60-day window for negotiations on a final agreement. The nuclear terms remain unresolved, while Israel’s continued military presence in southern Lebanon, despite U.S. pressure for a withdrawal, underscores how fragile the broader regional de-escalation remains. At the end of this period, the parties may sign a final agreement, return to hostilities, or mutually agree to extend the interim arrangement. Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, along with neighboring Azerbaijan, have welcomed efforts to de-escalate the conflict between the United States and Iran. The fighting briefly boosted demand for alternative routes through Central Asia, but prolonged instability would disrupt trade, raise transport and insurance costs, and increase security risks. The question now is what the region could gain if the pause holds. Those effects would vary across the region. Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan stand to benefit most directly from safer southern rail access through Iran to the Persian Gulf and Türkiye. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, which are less directly connected to these corridors and less exposed to oil price swings, would feel the consequences mainly through freight costs, fuel prices, and wider regional trade. For Azerbaijan, a sustained pause would reinforce its role as the Caspian link between Central Asia, the South Caucasus, and Türkiye, while renewed instability would push more freight toward Trans-Caspian alternatives. That interest is not merely theoretical. Tajik-Iranian trade reached $119.6 million in the first quarter of 2026, while Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan are developing access to Iranian maritime infrastructure through Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. The opportunity, however, is conditional. A truce can reduce military risk, but it does not by itself remove the banking, insurance, and compliance problems that have long complicated trade through Iran. For Central Asian exporters and logistics companies, the question is not only whether routes are physically open, but whether carriers, lenders, insurers, and buyers are prepared to use them during a temporary 60-day window. Analysts interviewed by Deutsche Welle said the framework leaves several important provisions unresolved, making a final agreement uncertain. For Central Asia, the most immediate economic variable is the Strait of Hormuz. Kazakh historian and political analyst Sultan Akimbekov identifies its reopening as the key to easing global supply fears. A durable reopening, combined with the temporary U.S. waiver allowing Iranian oil sales through August 21, could put downward pressure on global energy prices. The effects would vary across Central Asia: weaker prices could strain hydrocarbon revenues, while lower fuel, fertilizer, and freight costs could ease imported inflation in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. For Kazakhstan, lower global oil prices would have significant implications. National Bank Governor Timur Suleimenov has said oil generates more than 50% of the country’s export revenues and over 30% of the state budget and National Fund revenues. That would reverse one of the conflict’s few short-term economic benefits for Kazakhstan. Higher crude prices had briefly improved the outlook for export revenues,...

Tashkent International Investment Forum

Rail Reform and Regional Corridors Put Uzbekistan at the Center of Central Asia’s Logistics Map

At the Tashkent International Investment Forum, officials and transport executives discussed railway reform and new corridor projects, with private investment as a main point. World Bank Senior Transport Specialist Mansur Bustoni described rail as “essential” for Uzbekistan, which depends on land routes for access to seaports and export markets. The World Bank wants to help turn Uzbekistan Railways from a state monopoly into “a commercial bankable enterprise,” he told the forum. Uzbekistan Railways has about 4,700 route kilometers, according to Bustoni. The system carries around 60 million tons of freight and 15 million passengers a year and contributes about 8% of GDP. Much of that freight is linked to exports. The World Bank is supporting 44 activities across seven reform programs. Bustoni listed legal separation inside Uzbekistan Railways, financial reform, operational efficiency, and investment planning among the main areas. Each activity has been ranked by priority, he added. Tariff reform was one of Bustoni’s main topics. He called the proposed change “not a price hike.” The aim is to replace ad hoc increases with rules-based pricing. Cost-reflective tariffs would give the railway company more predictable revenue and reduce state cross-subsidies. Bustoni also cited capital-market plans. Uzbekistan’s infrastructure company is part of the National Investment Fund of the Republic of Uzbekistan (UzNIF), which he described as a $2.4 billion fund managed by Franklin Templeton, with a planned dual listing in London and Tashkent. The railway sector recorded a roughly $188 million net loss in 2023, reached break-even in 2024, and is expected to post a positive $138 million result in 2025, he added. [caption id="attachment_50833" align="aligncenter" width="2560"] Image: TCA[/caption] Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia (TRACECA) Secretary General Jasurbek Choriyev linked corridor development to Uzbekistan’s national priorities. He cited double-digit growth in passenger air traffic over five years and 15 million tourists last year, attributing the figures to national data and analysts at Airports Council International and the World Bank. Uzbekistan’s aircraft fleet has expanded to more than 100 planes from about 40 to 50 in recent years. A target of 188 aircraft by 2030 could be reached earlier, Choriyev noted. Uzbek airlines are also carrying more freight on the China-Europe route, driven in part by e-commerce. Choriyev described rail as the backbone of national connectivity, carrying about 90% of internal and external traffic. He pointed to the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan-Iran railway and gave 2030 as the expected completion date, with 2028 or 2029 possible. He also cited the Trans-Afghan corridor as a route to Pakistan. About 52% of Uzbekistan’s rail network is electrified, with a target of 70% by 2030. Innokenty Ivanov, a principal consultant at Freshfields, said Uzbekistan’s railway reform is creating legal routes for private investment through market mechanisms and public-private partnerships. The reform covers the reorganization of Uzbekistan Railways as a holding company and a legal framework for private investment and independent operation. Ivanov compared the process with Germany, where railway reform led to long-term contracts between the government and the infrastructure company. Financing tied to measurable targets gives investors more certainty...

Connectivity

EU Launches Platform to Mobilize Up to €2 Billion for Europe–Central Asia Connectivity

The European Commission launched a Connectivity Agenda Platform on June 23, 2026, and concluded statements of intent with international financial institutions expected to mobilize up to €2 billion ($2.3 billion) for transport, border-crossing and trade-facilitation projects across the Black Sea region and the South Caucasus. The initiative was unveiled at a high-level ministerial meeting in Brussels, hosted by European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, Commissioner for International Partnerships Jozef Síkela, and Commissioner for Sustainable Transport Apostolos Tzitzikostas. The meeting brought together transport ministers and senior officials from EU member states, as well as representatives from Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Türkiye, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan, alongside international lenders, to advance connectivity projects under the EU’s Global Gateway strategy. The new platform is designed to coordinate investments and policy actions across transport, energy, digital connectivity, and trade. Participants also agreed to improve the operational efficiency of the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor, a wider framework that includes the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, or TITR, also known as the Middle Corridor. The route links China and Europe through Central Asia and the South Caucasus, offering an alternative to transport routes crossing Russia. The European Commission said the expected financing would support transport infrastructure, border-crossing modernization, and trade-facilitation projects aimed at improving freight movement across the corridor. “The Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor is becoming a vital bridge between Europe and Asia,” Síkela said, adding that the investments would help make the route faster, more reliable, and better integrated. Tzitzikostas said stronger transport links were critical for economic competitiveness and regional resilience. The platform’s launch came during Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s official visit to Brussels, where he met with European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. In an EU–Kazakhstan joint statement, the leaders reaffirmed the strategic importance of the Trans-Caspian corridor and pledged deeper cooperation under the EU’s Global Gateway strategy. They also highlighted the EU’s role as Kazakhstan’s largest trade and investment partner and agreed to deepen cooperation in critical minerals, energy, transport, digitalization, and emerging technologies. Speaking at the Kazakhstan-EU roundtable in Brussels, Tokayev said Kazakhstan was investing heavily in infrastructure to position itself as a regional logistics hub connecting Europe, Central Asia, China, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. According to Tokayev, cargo volumes along the Middle Corridor have risen fivefold over the past six years, from 0.8 million tons to 4.1 million tons annually, with Kazakhstan targeting a capacity of 10 million tons. He said Kazakhstan has invested more than $35 billion in transport and logistics infrastructure over the past 15 years, with the Caspian ports of Aktau and Kuryk serving as major transit gateways. Tokayev also welcomed logistics agreements worth nearly $1 billion signed on June 23 by the Development Bank of Kazakhstan: one with the European Investment Bank, and a separate agreement with a banking syndicate including Commerzbank, JPMorgan Chase, and Standard Chartered, backed by guarantees from the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). A day earlier, Kazakhstan and European partners announced four transport-related agreements worth...

World Cup 2026

World Cup: Ronaldo Makes History as Portugal Rout Uzbekistan 5-0

The Group K match between Uzbekistan and Portugal in Houston turned into a record-breaking night for Cristiano Ronaldo, as the European side coasted to a 5-0 victory. Portugal and Uzbekistan had both made unconvincing starts to the tournament. Uzbekistan, playing at the World Cup finals for the first time, lost 3-1 to Colombia. Portugal, meanwhile, dominated their match against DR Congo but failed to hold on to their lead and drew 1-1. They were in no mood to drop more points against the World Cup debutants. Before the match, Portugal head coach Roberto Martinez made it clear that he did not regard his team’s opening result as a setback. “After the draw with DR Congo, nothing changed for us: there are three matches in the group stage, and the first one is part of the process,” the Portugal coach said. Uzbekistan head coach Fabio Cannavaro, for his part, said his players would try to minimize the mistakes that led to their defeat against Colombia. “Our only way to achieve a positive result is through tactics, discipline, and hard work on the pitch,” Cannavaro said. In practice, however, Cannavaro’s tactics did not work, and it was a case of “Houston, we have a problem” as Portugal pinned their opponents back from the kick-off. It took only six minutes for Ronaldo to score the first goal against Uzbekistan, finishing a cross into the penalty area. With that goal, Ronaldo became the second-oldest goalscorer in World Cup history, behind Cameroon’s Roger Milla, who scored his final World Cup goal at the age of 42. The Portugal captain, 41, became the first player to score at six World Cups and moved past Eusebio as Portugal’s all-time leading World Cup scorer. Ten minutes later, Portugal doubled their lead with a cleverly worked free kick. At first, it looked as though Ronaldo was taking an age to prepare to shoot, but Nuno Mendes instead struck the ball, catching Uzbekistan goalkeeper Abduvohid Nematov by surprise. After that, Uzbekistan became slightly more active in attack. Midway through the first half, Azizjon Ganiev tried his luck from long range, sending the ball into the top corner of Portugal’s goal. But Uzbekistan’s celebrations did not last long: after a VAR review, the referee disallowed the goal for a foul by Abbosbek Fayzullaev on João Cancelo in the build-up. Portugal then quickly took the game beyond Uzbekistan’s reach, and near the end of the first half Bruno Fernandes delivered a precise pass to Ronaldo, who was left unmarked in the penalty area and calmly shot into the bottom corner. Portugal eased the pace slightly in the second half but still managed to score twice more. Portugal’s fourth came on the hour, when a Bruno Fernandes corner was diverted in for an Abduvohid Nematov own goal. Late in the match, substitute Rafael Leao picked up a loose ball near the edge of the penalty area and, without hesitation, struck a powerful and accurate shot into the top corner to make it 5-0....