Abdukodir Khusanov

Abdukodir Khikmatzhon ugli Khusanov (Uzbek: Abduqodir Xikmatjon oʻgʻli Xusanov) is an Uzbek footballer who plays as a centre-back (and also at right-back). He was born on 29 February 2004 in Tashkent and came through the youth system of Bunyodkor, playing for its youth team up to the age of 18.

In March 2022 he moved to the Belarusian club Energetik-BGU: he made his debut on 19 March against Vitebsk and scored his first goal on 2 May against Neman. In August 2022 the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) put him on its list of the most promising players in the world; at the end of the season his club finished as runners-up in the Belarusian Premier League and Khusanov was named in the league’s team of the season.

On 24 July 2023 he signed a four-year contract with the French club Lens. He made his debut on 16 September 2023 against Metz, becoming the first Uzbek to play in Ligue 1, and on 29 November 2023 he made his Champions League debut against Arsenal (at 19 years and 9 months, the youngest Uzbek to play in the competition). His last match for Lens was a Coupe de France tie against Paris Saint-Germain on 22 December 2024.

On 20 January 2025 he joined Manchester City, becoming the first Uzbek to sign for a Premier League club. He made his debut against Chelsea on 25 January and scored his first goal for the club on 8 February in the FA Cup against Leyton Orient. In 2025/26 he won the EFL Cup with City (final on 22 March 2026, a 2–0 win over Arsenal, in which Khusanov started) and the FA Cup (final on 16 May 2026, a 1–0 win over Chelsea) — his first trophies at club level — and became the first Uzbek to win a major trophy in English domestic football. In July 2026 he extended his contract with the club until 2031.

He has represented Uzbekistan at under-17, under-19, under-20 and under-23 levels. With the under-20 team he won the AFC U-20 Asian Cup in March 2023 (beating Iraq in the final); at the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup the team lost to Israel in the round of 16, and Khusanov played every match in full. In April 2024 the under-23 team reached the final of the AFC U-23 Asian Cup and lost to Japan (Khusanov did not play in the final).

He made his senior debut on 11 June 2023 against Oman at the CAFA Nations Cup, where Uzbekistan lost the final to Iran and took silver. He played at the 2023 AFC Asian Cup in January 2024, where the team lost to Qatar on penalties in the quarter-finals. On 5 June 2025 a 0–0 draw with the UAE took Uzbekistan to the World Cup for the first time; on 2 June 2026 he was included in the 26-man squad under Fabio Cannavaro and played at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.