When qualifying for the 2026 US Canada Mexico World Cup, the entire Central Asian grasslands will be boiling. This is the first time in the history of the "Central Asian Wolves" team to enter the World Cup, and also the first team from the five Central Asian countries to stand on the stage of the World Cup. From its first appearance in the World Cup in 1998, to eight consecutive World Cup qualifiers failures, and now to breaking free from its cocoon and becoming a butterfly, Uzbekistan has rewritten history with the persistence of a generation.

Just five months later, on November 11th, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev laid the foundation for the new Tashkent football stadium in Tashkent Oblast. This magnificent stadium, planned to accommodate 55000 people, with a total investment of approximately 100 million US dollars, will become one of the largest and most technologically advanced professional football stadiums in Uzbekistan and even the entire Central Asian region after completion.

The national dream of a stadium

The construction of the new Tashkent football stadium is closely related to the rise of Uzbekistan football in recent years. In June 2025, the national team advanced to the World Cup with 5 wins, 3 draws, and 1 loss in the round of 18, becoming the 81st participating team in the history of the World Cup as the second place team in the group. This team, led by English Premier League Manchester City defender Hossanov and Italian Serie A Roma striker Shomurov, has a total value of over 68 million euros and is backed by a decade long youth training revolution.

The New Tashkent Football Stadium is the core of this grand strategy. President Mirziyoyev said at the groundbreaking ceremony, "The foundation we laid for the Tashkent New District Stadium today is the cornerstone of our victory tomorrow. I believe that this stadium will become a source of inspiration for youth, a symbol of pride for the people, and a great gift to millions of fans

The birth of a new landmark in a city

The New Tashkent Football Stadium is located in the core area of "New Tashkent", a new city covering an area of 20000 hectares, planned as the center of social, administrative, commercial, and cultural life in the capital. In the future, it will provide living space for one million people. The design concept of the stadium emphasizes the deep integration of modern architectural style and national values. The exterior walls will be decorated with traditional Uzbek ethnic patterns, and the overlooking form will echo the elements of the national emblem, striving to create a new urban landmark that harmonizes with the natural environment of the Chatkar Mountains.

In terms of technical specifications, the new stadium will fully comply with FIFA's stringent requirements for World Cup level venues, including turf quality, lighting systems, acoustic design, media broadcasting and other facility standards. The project will build a 360 degree panoramic intelligent broadcasting system, equipped with accessible facilities to meet the needs of disabled viewers, and adopt energy-saving materials and panoramic window design to achieve maximum utilization of natural light and optimization of building energy consumption. The entire project follows the principles of "green energy" and "intelligent management", aiming to create a sustainable and modern sports stadium.

The central stage of the youth feast

The construction of the new Tashkent football stadium is closely linked to the preparations for the 2027 U-20 World Cup. On October 2, 2025, the FIFA Council officially announced that the 2027 U-20 World Cup will be jointly hosted by Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan. This is the second largest heavyweight international football tournament after the World Cup, and also the second world-class football event hosted by Uzbekistan after successfully hosting the 2024 Indoor Five-a-side World Cup.

According to FIFA regulations, the U-20 World Cup semi-finals and finals must be held in venues with a capacity of over 50000 people. Therefore, this newly planned Tashkent football stadium, which can accommodate 55000 people, was destined to become the central stage of that youth football feast from the blueprint stage. Keywords: international news, infrastructure engineering information

At that time, the most talented young players under the age of 20 from around the world will gather in Tashkent to write their own youth legends in a brand new World Cup level stadium.Editor/Yang Meiling