MOSCOW, October 20. /TASS/. The national football teams of Russia and Uzbekistan will play a friendly match on November 12 in Tashkent, the Russian Football Union’s (RFU) press office reported on Tuesday.

Russia’s national football squad played three friendly matches in late September and early October, namely against Iran (2:0), Namibia (6:0) and Nigeria (3:3).

Uzbekistan is currently 59th in the FIFA World Rankings while Russia stands at 35th. This summer, the national football team of Uzbekistan played at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, but failed to clear the group stage of the championship.

The Uzbekistani football team is led by Italian Head Coach Fabio Cannavaro, who is a former professional football player, the winner of the prestigious Ballon d’Or award in 2006 as well as the 2006 FIFA World Cup champion playing for Italy.

Russia’s football ban

The world’s governing football body, FIFA, announced on February 28, 2022, that the Russian national team and all professional clubs representing the country were barred from participating in FIFA tournaments.

In turn, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) made a similar decision regarding the Russian national football team’s participation in UEFA tournaments.

Both FIFA and UEFA cited Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine as grounds for their respective bans on Russian teams’ participation in competitions.