Uzbekistan have announced the appointment of Fabio Cannavaro as their new national team head coach ahead of their FIFA World Cup debut at next summer’s tournament.
The 52-year-old knows what it takes to triumph on the global stage, as he captained Italy to 2006 World Cup glory and subsequently became just the third defender in history to win the Ballon d’Or in the same year.
Formerly of Napoli, Parma, Inter Milan, Juventus and Real Madrid in his playing days, Cannavaro has managed eight different teams over the last 11 years, but he has been out of work since he was relieved of his duties by Croatian giants Dinamo Zagreb in April.
Cannavaro had previously held managerial roles with Udinese, Benevento, Al-Nassr and Chinese outfits Quanjian and Guangzhou Evergrande, while he also had a temporary spell in charge of China’s national team in 2019.
The Italian icon is now back in management with Uzbekistan and has replaced Timur Kapadze, who secured 2026 World Cup qualification in June after taken the job on a temporary basis midway through the campaign following Srecko Katanec’s decision to step down for health reasons.
Ranked 54th in the world by FIFA, Uzbekistan have punched their ticket to next summer’s tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States after finishing second in Group A of the AFC qualifiers with 21 points from 10 games.
Manchester City's Abdukodir Khusanov pictured in September 2025
New Uzbekistan boss Cannavaro to manage Man City’s Khusanov
Cannavaro will be assisted by Eugenio Albarella and will soon take charge of a spirited group of Uzbek players including Manchester City defender Abdukodir Khusanov.
The 21-year-old joined the Citizens in January from French club Lens for a reported £33.5m and he is steadily adapting to life in England after experiencing a shaky start to his career at the Etihad Stadium.
Khusanov has played 15 times for Pep Guardiola’s side in all competitions and he has particularly impressed as a right-back so far this season, starting three of his four matches in that position across the Premier League and Champions League.
The defender is a 22-cap Uzbekistan international and made his senior debut in June 2023 having previously represented his country across four different age groups at youth level.
Khusanov is currently sidelined with an injury, though, and has been left out of the senior squad ahead of international friendlies against Kuwait and Uruguay this week.
Uzbekistan are yet to schedule fixtures ahead of November’s international break, but when that comes around, Khusanov will hope to be fit and available for selection under new boss Cannavaro, who will likely view the Man City starlet as one of his key first-team players heading into the World Cup.
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