A car for every player! The president of this country celebrates World Cup qualification in style

For the first time in its history, this nation will compete in the World Cup. An achievement hailed with great fanfare by the country's president.

It was a draw that sealed the most beautiful chapter in the football history of this country, which qualified for its first World Cup. Facing the United Arab Emirates (0-0), Uzbekistan secured its golden ticket to the 2026 World Cup last Tuesday. A historic qualification that President Shavkat Miziyoyev wanted to celebrate with great fanfare. That's why, by decree, he decided to award honorary titles, medals, and even a car to each player on the national team.

" This is a reward for their courage, their determination, and the honor they brought to the Uzbek people ," the leader of this country, which remains very autocratic after the death in 2016 of Islam Karimov, who ruled with an iron fist for 25 years, proudly declared.

On the sporting front, Uzbekistan came close to qualifying for the World Cup in 2014 and 2018, but failed to do so. In an expanded World Cup with 48 teams and jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada, the Uzbeks therefore had every chance of success.

They don't yet know the identities of their opponents for the group stage, but it doesn't matter: the excitement surrounding the national team is at an all-time high in Uzbekistan, as evidenced by the symbolic celebration of the country's president and the scenes of jubilation in Tashkent, the capital.

In their Asian qualifying Group A, Uzbekistan is in second place behind Iran, who also qualified for the 2026 World Cup . Unlike the Uzbeks, the Iranians are much more experienced; this is their seventh World Cup qualification, and their fourth consecutively.