The 2025 CAFA Nations Cup was the second edition of the CAFA Nations Cup, the biennial international men's football championship of Central Asia organized by the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA). The event was held in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan from August 29 to September 8. Iran were the defending champions.
The final took place on 8 September at the Olympic City Stadium in Tashkent, between hosts Uzbekistan and Iran. Uzbekistan won the match 1–0 to claim their first CAFA Nations Cup title.
Background In April 2025, it was announced that the second edition of the CAFA Nations Cup would be held around September 2025, commemorating the ten-year anniversary of the CAFA organization.
In June 2025, it was confirmed the second edition would be co-hosted in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan on 29 August to 8 September 2025 for the six member associations along with Malaysia and Oman as the guest teams.
On 15 July 2025, Malaysia announced their withdrawal from the competition, citing reasons including problems with logistics and players' availability. On 30 July 2025, India was announced as the guest team, replacing Malaysia in Group B.
Participating nations CountryAppearancePrevious 2nd1601st1272nd18 2nd103 (invitee)2nd77 2nd1042nd142 (co-hosts)2nd57 Seeding The following eight teams were divided based on their FIFA Ranking of April 2025. Malaysia (131 ranked) was part of the 3 July draw but later withdrew on 15 July. Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4
Draw results The draw was held in Dushanbe on 3 July 2025 at 16:00 (UTC+5), and was broadcast live on YouTube. The draw resulted in the following groups with Malaysia included at the time of the draw, later being replaced by India: + Group A Team A1 A2 A3 A4 + Group B Team B1 B2 B3 B4
Venues HisorHisor Central StadiumCapacity: 20,000 TashkentOlympic City StadiumJAR Stadium Capacity: 12,000 Capacity: 8,500
Squads
Each team was required to register a preliminary squad of up to 35 players, three of whom had to be goalkeepers, from which the matchday squad could be selected on a match-by-match basis.
Officials The following officials were chosen for the competition. (†): Also performed as both in some matches.
Referees Mooud Bonyadifard (†) (Iran) Hasan Akrami (†) (Iran) Vahid Kazemi (†) (Iran) Sanzhar Zhakypbekov (†) (Kyrgyzstan) Zayniddin Alimov (†) (Kyrgyzstan) Nurzatbek Abdıkadırov (†) (Kyrgyzstan) Abdullo Davlatov (†) (Tajikistan) Sajëçon Zajniddinov (Tajikistan) Sadullo Gulmurodi (†) (Tajikistan) Axrol Riskullayev (†) (Uzbekistan) Firdavs Norsafarov (†) (Uzbekistan) Ilgiz Tantashev (†) (Uzbekistan)
Assistant Referees, Fourth Officials & VAR Referees Alireza Ildorom (Iran) Farhad Moravveji (Iran) Ali Reza Moradi (Iran) Eldos Murzabekov (Kyrgyzstan) Kanat Mırsabekov (Kyrgyzstan) Nuraalı Abdunabiev (Kyrgyzstan) Ismoil Nuraliev (Tajikistan) Farhod Kuralov (Tajikistan) Amirçon Horkašev (Tajikistan) Vafo Karaev (Tajikistan) Hasan Karimov (Tajikistan) Andrey Sapenko (Uzbekistan) Alisher Usmanov (Uzbekistan) Bakhtiyorkhuja Shavkatov (Uzbekistan)
Group stage All times are local, Uzbekistan & Tajikistan Time (UTC+5).
Tiebreaker Teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tie-breaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams; Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams; Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams; If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams; Goal difference in all group matches; Goals scored in all group matches; Penalty shoot-out if only two teams were tied and they met in the last round of the group; Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points); Drawing of lots. Group A
Group B
Knockout round
Bracket
Third place match
Final
Goalscorers
Awards The following awards were presented at the end of the tournament: Best Player Khojiakbar Alijonov Top Goalscorer Igor Sergeev Best Goalkeeper Payam Niazmand Fair Play Award
Broadcasting rights TerritoryRights holder(s)UzbekistanUZ NTRC SportKyrgyzstanKyrgyz Sport TVTajikistanTV FutbolIranIRIB TV3IndiaFanCodeInternationalThe PRO CompanyFIFA+ TV (final and third-place match only)
Sponsors 1xBet Evar Koinoti Nav Siyoma Tojiktelecom
See also 2024 ASEAN Championship 2025 EAFF E-1 Football Championship 2026 SAFF Championship 2026 WAFF Championship 2027 AFC Asian Cup
Notes
References
External links CAFA competitions Official website at the-cafa.com 2025 CAFA Nations Cup at GSA 2025 CAFA Nations Cup at Soccerway