Timur Kapadze

Timur Kapadze was born on 5 September 1981 in Fergana and is a Meskhetian Turk; his father Tahir Kapadze is a football coach. He began his career in 1998 at Neftchi Fergana, winning the Uzbek league in 2001 and finishing second in 1998–2000.

In 2002–2007 he played for Pakhtakor Tashkent: six league titles and six cups in a row, the CIS Cup in 2007 and AFC Champions League semi-finals in 2003 and 2004 (152 games, 28 goals). At Bunyodkor in 2008–2010 he won three league titles and two cups. He played for Incheon United (2011), Sharjah (2012) and Aktobe (2012–2014; Kazakh champions in 2013, Super Cup in 2014). In 2015–2017 he captained Lokomotiv Tashkent, winning the league in 2016 and 2017 and the cup. He retired after the Uzbek Cup final in December 2017.

For Uzbekistan he played from 2002 to 2015: 119 caps and four Asian Cups (2004, 2007, 2011, 2015), reaching the semi-final in 2011.

As a coach he led the national team on an interim basis in 2018 and was assistant coach from 2019. Appointed head coach in January 2025, he guided Uzbekistan to its first World Cup, qualifying in June 2025, and to the CAFA Nations Cup in September. He left the national team in autumn 2025 and has managed Navbahor Namangan since December 2025. He received the honorary title of Honoured Sports Mentor in 2022 and the Uzbekiston iftixori title on 6 June 2025.