Kazakhstan National Soccer Team

The Football Federation of Kazakhstan which takes control over the Kazakhstan national team was founded in 1992 shortly after the Soviet Union breakdown. It affiliated to FIFA in 1994 and to UEFA in 2002.

Initially, the Kazakhstani team was a member of the Asian Football Confederation. It made its debut in a match against another former-Soviet country in June 1992. As an AFC member, the Kazakhs established themselves as a strong and crafty team without losing any of Central Asian fixtures in 1992.

The team has never broken into the FIFA World Cup finals, either as AFC or as UEFA member. However, it was a footstep away from qualifying for the 2002 World Cup as Kazakhstan had the same number of points (14) as its pool opponent Iraq. In the end, the team from Baghdad passed on goal difference.

The Kazakhstani national team is proud of its former player Ruslan Baltiev. He established himself as the team’s legend as he was the most capped (73 appearances) and the top Kazakhstani marksman (13 goals) ever.

In September 2012, the team had the 142d position in the FIFA World ranking, climbing up to the 98th at the utmost.