Uzbekistan could be World Cup’s surprise team – Arshavin

Uzbekistan’s national team may become one of the surprise teams of the World Cup despite being drawn into the “group of death,” former Arsenal and Russia national team player Andrey Arshavin said in an interview with Sport-Express.

“Qualifying itself is already a success for them. But under the new format, even a team that finishes third in its group can advance to the next stage. So there are chances. Even though Uzbekistan has been drawn into a ‘group of death’ with Portugal and Colombia, I think they could be one of the unexpected strong teams of the tournament. There is no major difference in level with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I recently watched Uzbekistan play, and I liked the team. Shomurodov played well. They are a competitive team,” Arshavin said.

He also commented on Manchester City defender Abdukodir Khusanov.

“He was one of Manchester City’s top three players this season, which is an excellent achievement. I did not know much about Khusanov before; he was not very familiar to me before joining City. I was also skeptical about his transfer, but he has shown himself very well. He developed himself. But the fact that he adapted to Guardiola’s requirements and earned his trust also played a major role. In any case, Khusanov is a player who has reached this level through his own hard work,” Arshavin said.

For reference, Uzbekistan will compete against Portugal, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Colombia in Group K at the 2026 World Cup.