Turkmen footballers played their first match in the 2025 Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) Nations Cup, which ended in a 1-1 draw against the Kyrgyzstan national team. This was reported by the online publication ‘Turkmenistan: Golden age’.

The tournament is being hosted by Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Group A, in which Turkmenistan is competing, also includes Kyrgyzstan, Oman and Uzbekistan. The first half at the ‘Zhar’ Stadium in Tashkent ended in a draw between Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan. In the 44th minute, Vepa Jumayev headed in a corner kick, opening the scoring and scoring his first goal for the national team. However, just a minute later, Joel Kojo equalised with a goal from the penalty area. In the second half, the Turkmenistan team created several dangerous moments in front of their opponents' goal, but failed to change the score.

In another Group A match, Uzbekistan and Oman also played 1-1. Thus, all four teams have one point each.

Turkmenistan considers the CAFA tournament an important stage in its preparations for the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers against Sri Lanka and Chinese Taipei, which will be held in the autumn.