The Turkmenistan national team earned their first victory in the AFC U17 Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers tournament in the Thai city of Chonburi, crushing their Maldivian peers 6–0.
For both teams, this was their second match in Group F. In their opener, Turkmenistan lost to Kuwait 0–1, conceding the decisive goal in stoppage time after Redha’s strike in the 94th minute. The Maldives also lost 0–1 to Mongolia thanks to an own goal by Didi (45+2).
The match began with attacks from Turkmenistan, who took the lead in the 9th minute after a precise shot from Medet Muhammetmyradov. Nine minutes later, Ahmet Allaberdiyev’s wards earned a penalty, but Suleymannazar Govshudov’s attempt from the spot was smartly saved by Mohamed Musa. In the 38th minute, the goalkeeper, expecting the ball to go wide, failed to react to a low shot from outside the penalty area by Dastan Jumaniyazov, and Turkmenistan went into halftime leading 2–0.
In the 52nd minute, Suleymannazar Govshudov extended the lead to three goals. Seven minutes later, Hudaynazar Meredov scored the fourth.
The rout was completed by substitute Shamyrat Shamyradov, who scored a brace in the 76th and 90th minutes.
In another match of the second round, Thailand U17 defeated Mongolia U17 4–0. For the winners, Phonphithak scored twice (34th minute from the penalty spot and the 71st), while Pichaya (53rd) and Fasuta (90+4) added one each.
Thus, after two rounds, Kuwait, Turkmenistan, Thailand, and Mongolia each have 3 points, but Thailand has played one match fewer. The Maldives have no points so far.
The next match for the Turkmenistan U17 team will take place on November 28 against the host of the qualifying tournament — Thailand U17.
We remind that 38 teams are participating in the AFC U17 Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers, divided into seven groups. The qualifying matches in all groups are being held from November 22 to 30, 2025, in a centralized single-round format.
The group winners will advance to the final stage of the tournament, which will take place from May 7 to 24, 2026, in Saudi Arabia. In the final stage, they will be joined by nine AFC representatives — Qatar, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, the Republic of Korea, the DPR Korea, Japan, Tajikistan, the United Arab Emirates, and Indonesia — who automatically qualified for the FIFA U17 World Cup Qatar 2025.
