CHILDREN’S AND YOUTH FOOTBALL

In 1973 – The youth team of Kazakhstan becomes a silver medalist at the All-Union tournament «Pereprava».
In 1976 –Almaty striker Alexander Hapsalis and Pavlodar defender Alexander Kadeikin become European champions among juniors (U-19) as part of the USSR national team.
In 1985 – Kazakhstani children’s and youth football teams win first major victories in the all-Union arena. In Minsk, Ust-Kamenogorsk FC Sputnik-2 becomes the winner in the senior age group of the Leather Ball tournament. At the same time, in the middle age group competitions held in Kazan, «Zhalyn» from Dzhambul wins.
In 1994 – The youth (U-16) and youth (U-19) teams of Kazakhstan make their debut on the international stage in the qualifying rounds of the VI Asian Championship among youth teams and the XXIX Asian Championship among youth teams. Both the qualifying and final parts of these Asian Championships are the qualifying stages of the World Championships in these age categories.
In 1998 – The Kazakhstan youth team takes fourth place in the final part of the XXXI Asian Championship and, having thus won the right to represent Kazakhstan in the X World Junior Championship, for the first time takes Kazakhstani football to the final part of the World Cup. The youth team of Kazakhstan for the second time becomes the winner of the qualifying group of the Asian Championship and wins a ticket to the final part of the XXXI tournament.
In 2002 – The UEFA Congress was held in Stockholm, at which the Football Union of Kazakhstan was admitted to the Union of European Football Associations.
In 2004 – the youth (U-21) national team of Kazakhstan under the leadership of Oirat Saduov made its debut in the qualifying tournament of the European Championship.
In 2006 –A football tournament «Coca-Cola Bulgary Extra» for schoolchildren started in Kazakhstan, organized by FSK, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as the Coca-Cola company. Students from 5,000 schools across the country will take part in the tournament in three age categories. At the end of the year, the tournament will receive a UEFA diploma as «the most significant event of the year in children’s and youth football in Kazakhstan.»
In 2008 – The first international youth tournament «Cup of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan» was held in Almaty, organized by the Football Federation of Kazakhstan and the Tsesna football club with the support of the People’s Democratic Party «Nur Otan”. The main prize of $10,000 was competed by youth teams in the age category up to 17 years, representing football schools Spartak (Moscow), CSKA (all Russia), Besiktas (Turkey), Dynamo (Minsk, Belarus), «ADO Den Haag» (Netherlands), «Ole Brasil (Brazil) and the Kazakhstan youth team, which played under the flag of the Almaty club «Tsesna». The participants were divided into two groups, the games in which were played in a round-robin manner. Then, in the play-offs, the participants competed for places from first to eighth. The head of the FIFA technical development department, Jean-Michel Benezier, FIFA development manager Eva Pasquier and UEFA Hat-Trick project manager Joseph Clement attended the tournament matches as guests of honor. In addition, the president of PFC CSKA (Russia) Evgeny Giner was present at the final match. The winner of the tournament was Istanbul’s Besiktas, which won all of its matches. In the final, the Turkish team beat CSKA Moscow with a score of 3:1. In the match for third place, Spartak Moscow beat Ole Brazil 2:0.
In 2008 – The youth futsal team (U-21) of Kazakhstan won the qualifying tournament for the 2008 European Championship, held in Hungary. Our team, under the leadership of acting coach Amirzhan Mukanov, defeated the teams of Hungary, Belarus and Latvia and won a ticket to the final tournament.
In 2012 – The Kazakhstan U-17 youth team won bronze medals at the international tournament «Cup of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan». In the match for 3rd place, they beat the Azerbaijani U-17 team, the score was 1:1 (5:4 penalties).
In 2017 – The Kazakhstan U19 youth team won silver medals at the Granatkin Memorial international tournament. Having drawn against Slovakia (0:0) and Azerbaijan (2:2), the youth team from Kazakhstan beat the teams of Lithuania (2:0), Slovenia (2:0) and Greece (2:1) and reached the final of the tournament, where they lost to the Russians (0:1).
In 2019 – The Kazakhstan youth team under 17 became the winner of the XII international youth football tournament for the Cup of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
In 2021 – The Kazakhstan U17 national team won silver at the 2021 Development Cup in Minsk (Belarus).
In 2021 – The JKFL Football League was created among private schools and academies on the initiative of the Kazakhstan Football Federation. More than 300 teams (over 5,000 children) took part in the 2021 JKFL season, which indicates a growing interest in football among children.
In 2022 – the youth football league «QJ League» is created.
In 2023 – Kazakh children won silver medals at the international children’s and youth tournament «Dalmatinko Cup» in Croatia, in which more than 200 teams from 15 countries took part. Five teams from Kazakhstan took part, such as «Turan-2013», «Aktobe-2013», «Astana-2012», «Akzhaiyk-2012» and the youth sports school «Okzhetpes-2012». The Aktobe children’s team confidently reached the finals, where they lost to their peers from Tashkent Pakhtakor.
In 2023 – During the working visit of the President of the International Football Federation Gianni Infantino to Kazakhstan, the head of FIFA took part in the opening of the JKFL children’s tournament among private schools and academies. Infantino emphasized the importance of holding such tournaments for the development of football in the world and cited as an example many successful programs and projects implemented by FIFA in the field of children’s football.
In 2023 – The Kazakhstan U-17 team won the silver medal at the 2023 Development Cup in Minsk (Belarus). In the final match, the Kazakhstan U-17 youth team met with their peers from Russia. The goalkeeper of the Kazakhstan U-17 national team, Abilkhair Aliakbar, was recognized as the best goalkeeper of the tournament.
From 2004 to 2023 – the Kazakhstan youth football teams U-19, U-17 are permanent participants in the qualifying tournaments for the European Football Championship.
From 2006 to 2023, the U21 youth team is a permanent participant in the qualifying tournaments for the European Football Championship.