Kazakhstan Youth Championship: Top Talents to Compete for Places in KFF Academy U-15 Team

14 May 2026, 11:40

The Kazakhstan Championship for boys born in 2012 has concluded in Kyzylorda. Teams from all regions of the country, as well as from Astana, Almaty and Shymkent, took part in the tournament.

The championship was organized by the KFF Elite Youth Football Department. According to the Department’s Director, Yevgeniy Sveshnikov, the tournament provided an opportunity to comprehensively assess the potential of players from football academies and schools.

“We identify the most talented and promising players, create their profiles and enter the data into the Easy Coach platform database. Therefore, this tournament is one of the key tools for implementing the strategy of both our Department and the Kazakhstan Football Federation as a whole,” said Yevgeniy Sveshnikov.

The main feature of the competition was that the best-performing players would earn an opportunity to participate in trials for the KFF Academy U-15 team later this year.

As a special guest, Aybol Abiken visited the matches and offered support to the young players:

“Tournaments like this undoubtedly provide young players with valuable experience. We grew up playing on similar small pitches ourselves. I believe some of these boys will one day represent our country on the international stage. To become a national team player, hard work is the most important thing. If you work tirelessly, any dream can become reality,” emphasized Aybol Abiken.

The final standings were as follows:

1st place: Astana City Team
2nd place: Shymkent City Team
3rd place: Zhambyl Region Team

Individual Awards:

Best Goalkeeper – Subkhon Turgunov (Shymkent)

Best Defender – Yedil Ryzdaulet (Kyzylorda Region)

Best Midfielder – Aibar Zhetpisbayev (Zhetysu Region)

Best Forward – Ivan Korotkov (Shymkent)

Top Scorer – Bakhtiyar Kadyrbek (Zhambyl Region)

Best Player – Artur Golotoystrov (Astana)

Sundet Pirmanov (FC Ulan) also shared his thoughts:

“This tournament helps us gain valuable match experience. We participate in this Championship every year. Last year we finished first, and this year we were also hoping to win. There is a great atmosphere within the team, and we understand each other very well on the pitch. I believe our unity will help us achieve our goals. In the future, I will continue working hard to earn a place in the national team and make my country proud.”

It is worth noting that similar tournaments for players born in 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2014 will soon take place in Aktobe, Pavlodar, Petropavl and Shymkent