Image Credits: Imago Images
The 2026 World Cup has barely begun and already it is doing what it has always done best, which is pulling young talent into the brightest spotlight in football and forcing the world to take notice.
Uzbekistan are making history this summer.
They are the first Central Asian nation ever to qualify for the FIFA World Cup, and their arrival on the biggest stage in the sport carries a sense of occasion that extends far beyond their own borders.
Under the management of Italian legend Fabio Cannavaro, they have arrived not as tourists but as a team with a genuine idea and, crucially, a genuine player at the heart of it.
At just 22 years old, right winger and attacking midfielder Abbosbek Fayzullaev has already carved out a career path that most players twice his age would envy.
He won three consecutive Uzbekistan Super League titles with Pakhtakor Tashkent before moving to CSKA Moscow in August 2023, where he won the Russian Premier League Breakthrough of the Season award in his debut campaign.
A further move followed in the summer of 2025 when he signed a five-year deal with Istanbul Basaksehir for a reported fee of around 8.6 million dollars, continuing his steady European ascent.
His numbers tell a tidy story too.
Standing at just 1.67 metres, he compensates with low centre of gravity, electric close control and a high football IQ that makes him almost impossible to dispossess in tight areas.
He logged 51 touches inside the opposition penalty box in the Turkish league this season, created 20 chances including six big chances, and chipped in with three goals and three assists from limited starts.
He is also a designated set piece threat for both club and country.
And now Liverpool are watching.
According to Uzbek outlet Zamin, whose reporters have confirmed it is their own information, Fayzullaev has been under serious observation from Andoni Iraola’s new side, with the Reds closely following his performances for both club and country.
Liverpool scouts are expected to continue monitoring him across Uzbekistan’s three group stage fixtures at the World Cup.
Uzbekistan open against Colombia in Mexico City on June 18, before facing Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal in Houston and concluding their group against DR Congo in Atlanta.
Fayzullaev is Uzbekistan’s main creative spark behind veteran striker Eldor Shomurodov, and should his country progress, his exposure at the tournament will only increase.
The context at Anfield makes this scouting mission entirely logical.
Mohamed Salah has left the club as a free agent, Federico Chiesa’s future remains uncertain, and Hugo Ekitike is facing the best part of a year on the sidelines following a ruptured Achilles.
Liverpool need attacking reinforcements, and they need them across multiple profiles.
Fayzullaev, with his versatility across the right flank and central attacking areas, his set piece quality and his age profile, fits the kind of forward thinking recruitment that sporting director Richard Hughes and Michael Edwards have built their reputations on.
It would be wrong to overstate this as an imminent deal.
Liverpool are watching.
They are not yet negotiating.
The World Cup is the audition and Fayzullaev knows it.
He does not need to win the tournament.
He just needs to show the world what sharp football eyes already suspect, that he is different, and that he belongs.
If he delivers across three matches against Colombia, Portugal and DR Congo, the queue of admirers will be considerably longer by the time the group stage concludes.
Liverpool, for now, appear to be near the front of it.