Uzbekistan suffered a 2-0 defeat to Canada in a friendly as Fabio Cannavaro’s side continued their preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The match was played on June 2 at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton.
Cannavaro started with a line-up close to his strongest available squad. Eldor Shomurodov, Abdukodir Khusanov, Rustam Ashurmatov, Oston Urunov and other key players were all included from the first whistle.
Uzbekistan were well organised in the first half, staying compact, pressing aggressively and looking to hurt Canada in transition. The visitors’ best chances fell to Shomurodov, who twice broke through towards goal but first shot wide and then failed to beat Maxime Crepeau.
Cannavaro’s side were forced into an early change in the 23rd minute when Azizjon Ganiev suffered an injury and was replaced by Abbosbek Fayzullaev. The extent of the midfielder’s injury has not yet been reported.
Canada improved after the break, with their substitutions changing the tempo of the match. Jonathan Osorio, Tani Oluwaseyi and Jayden Nelson all came on in the second half and played a key role in the result.
In the 58th minute, Oluwaseyi set up Osorio, who opened the scoring with a strike from outside the penalty area. Cannavaro made several changes in the 70th minute in an attempt to refresh Uzbekistan’s game, but the visitors were unable to change the course of the match.
Canada sealed the win in stoppage time. Oluwaseyi provided his second assist of the night, setting up Nelson for the hosts’ second goal.
After the match, Cannavaro said Uzbekistan had shown good intensity in the first half but struggled to maintain it after the interval.
“In the first half, our team played compactly and aggressively. In the second half, we wanted to control the ball more, but we lost intensity and made a few mistakes. In games like this, mistakes are punished,” Cannavaro said.
The Italian coach added that the match gave Uzbekistan useful lessons before the World Cup.
“It is better to make mistakes in friendlies like this than in the games coming in 10 days. Since I arrived, we have been working on playing with high intensity. I know very well the difference between Asian football and international football. It is not easy, but in the first half I saw many positive things from our team,” he said.
For Uzbekistan, this was their first defeat after a six-match unbeaten run. Cannavaro’s team will play their final warm-up match before the World Cup against the Netherlands on June 8 at Icahn Stadium in New York.
At the 2026 World Cup, Uzbekistan will compete in Group K alongside Colombia, Portugal and DR Congo. They will open their campaign against Colombia on June 18.