Overview

• The Uzbekistan Football Association announced Cannavaro’s appointment on Monday with immediate effect.
• His mandate focuses on organizing the team for its first World Cup, to be staged in the United States, Canada and Mexico next year.
• An all-Italian staff was named alongside him: Eugenio Albarella as assistant, Francesco Troise as fitness coach and Antonio Chimenti as goalkeeping coach.
• Cannavaro’s coaching résumé spans Guangzhou Evergrande’s 2019 Chinese Super League title, brief national-team duty with China and short club stints including Udinese, Benevento and Dinamo Zagreb, where his tenure ended in April 2025.
• He succeeds Timur Kapadze, who oversaw qualification, with local reports indicating Kapadze could move into a backroom role, which remains unconfirmed.