The Turkmenistan national football team defeated the team of Chinese Taipei 3–1 in the third qualifying round of the Asian Cup, the final stage of which will be held in 2027 for the first time in Saudi Arabia.
The match took place today at the fully packed 10,000-seat stadium in the city of Arkadag, which hosted the Turkmenistan national team for the second time. A month ago, the Turkmen footballers won here against Sri Lanka with a score of 2–1 in the same qualifying tournament.
The Chinese Taipei team has always been considered an easy opponent for Turkmenistan’s footballers. This is proven not only by the latest FIFA rankings, according to which Turkmenistan is in 142nd place and Chinese Taipei in 174th, but also by the history of matches between these teams at the national team level since 2001. Before this match, the teams had played six official games, all of which Turkmenistan had won. In 2001, in the World Cup 2002 Qualifiers, the Turkmen side prevailed 5–0 in Tashkent (Uzbekistan) and 1–0 in Amman (Jordan). In 2011, in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), they won 2–0 in the AFC Challenge Cup 2012 Qualifiers. In 2017, in the Asian Cup 2019 Qualifiers, Turkmenistan won 3–1 in Taipei and 2–1 in Balkanabat. In March of this year, Turkmenistan also won 2–1 in the first match of the third qualifying round of the AFC Asian Cup 2027, held in Kaohsiung at the National Stadium in the presence of 1,897 spectators.
Before the return match in Arkadag, the Chinese Taipei national team came under the leadership of a new head coach—47-year-old Australian Matthew Barry Ross, who previously worked with several women’s teams in Germany, Sweden, China, South Korea, as well as with the men’s teams Al-Qadsiah U19, Dubai United (UAE), and the national team of Nepal.
Two rounds before the end of the qualifying tournament, the Chinese Taipei team already had no chance of advancing to the AFC Asian Cup 2027, sitting at the bottom of Group D’s table with 0 points. Despite this, head coach Matthew Barry Ross stated at the pre-match press conference that his team intended to earn 6 points in the remaining games against Turkmenistan and Sri Lanka.
Turkmenistan’s head coach Rovshen Meredov, in turn, stated that his team, which had 9 points after four matches, had only two steps left to qualify for the AFC Asian Cup 2027, and each of these steps—at home against Chinese Taipei and away against Thailand—had to be convincing.
“With every match that brings us closer to the final stage of the group round, the motivation only grows. Two steps remain, so these two steps must be taken very, very convincingly,” said R. Meredov.
Additional motivation for the Turkmen footballers came today from the Thailand national team, which earlier in Colombo convincingly defeated Sri Lanka 4–0. For the winners, Jude Soonsup-Bell scored a brace (65th and 90th minutes), while Thanawat Suengchitthawon (7th) and Pansa Hemviboon (77th) scored one each. After this victory, Thailand rose to first place with 12 points, which obligated the Turkmen side to play only for a win in the match against Chinese Taipei.
As expected, from the opening whistle of Iraqi referee Yousif Saeed Hasan, Rovshen Meredov’s players seized the initiative and opened the scoring as early as the 13th minute. On the left side of the attack, Rakhman Myratberdiyev skillfully beat two defenders in the penalty area and fired a precise low shot into the far corner from a tight angle. In the 35th minute, he again threatened the goal, connecting with a cross from the right by Elman Tagayev and striking dangerously from about 15 meters, but goalkeeper Tuan Xuan managed to parry the shot with difficulty.
After that, the pace of the game slowed, and it seemed that nothing interesting would happen before halftime. However, in the 2nd minute of added time, the visitors earned a free kick near the left touchline. Esteves Tsai Emilio delivered a cross, which Kouame Ange Samuel successfully redirected with the outside of his foot into the top corner—1–1.
Such a turn of events was clearly not in Turkmen players’ plans, and in the second half they launched a barrage of attacks on the opponent's goal. In the 46th minute, the top scorer of the national league, Didir Durdyyev, missed a magnificent chance—finding himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper, he unexpectedly shot straight at him.
Soon after, the Turkmenistan team did take the lead—2–1. A stunningly beautiful goal was scored in the 53rd minute by captain Elman Tagayev, who curled a left-footed shot from outside the penalty area into the far top corner. Just two minutes later, he could have scored a brace, but this time the Chinese Taipei goalkeeper saved his team, tipping the ball over for a corner.
Leading on the scoreboard, the home team did not switch to a defensive strategy and continued attacking. This tactic led to another goal. In the 78th minute, Teymur Charyev set up Meylis Diniyev, who had come on as a substitute 8 minutes earlier, and from a tight angle he struck an unstoppable shot into the far top corner—3–1.
In the last 10 minutes, the score could have grown to a rout. However, in the 83rd minute Dayanch Meredov hit the post, and in the 90th minute the visitors’ goalkeeper saved his team from conceding a fourth goal by parrying Rakhman Myratberdiyev’s shot from the edge of the penalty area.
The victory over Chinese Taipei allowed Turkmenistan to draw level with Thailand on points (12) ahead of their decisive head-to-head match on March 31, 2026, in Bangkok for the group’s only ticket to the AFC Asian Cup 2027.
