The Kazakhstan national football team (, Qazaqstan Ūlttyq Futbol qūramasy) represents Kazakhstan in men's international football and it is governed by the Kazakhstan Football Federation. They split from the Soviet Union national football team after independence in 1991 and joined the Asian Football Confederation's Central Asian Football Federation. After failing to qualify for the 1998 and 2002 FIFA World Cups, they joined UEFA, but are yet to qualify for a FIFA World Cup or a UEFA European Championship. History AFC member (1992–2002) The country of Kazakhstan declared independence from the Soviet Union on 16 December 1991. Its national team then split from the Soviet Union national football team (a UEFA member) and joined the Asian Football Confederation. At the time, they were one of strongest teams in Central Asia, and one of the most improving teams in Asia. The team played their first match against another former-Soviet debutant, Turkmenistan, on June 1, 1992, as part of a Central Asian tournament. Kazakhstan won 1–0. The tournament also saw the footballing debuts of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. After beating Libya in a friendly in North Korea on 3 July, Kazakhstan played the remainder of its Central Asian fixtures and avoided defeat in all of them. They beat Uzbekistan 1–0 at home on 16 July, then drew 1–1 away in Turkmenistan on 14 September, in Kyrgyzstan on 26 September and Uzbekistan on 14 October. The final match was a 2–0 home victory over Kyrgyzstan on 25 October. Kazakhstan entered qualification for the first time in the attempt to reach the 1998 FIFA World Cup. In the first round they were placed in Group 9 alongside Pakistan and Iraq. Kazakhstan's first qualifying match was won 3–0 at home in Almaty on 11 May 1997, against Pakistan. On 6 June they travelled to Baghdad to face Iraq and won 2–1, then five days later won an away match against Pakistan, 7–0 in Lahore. The result remains Kazakhstan's biggest-ever international win. They retained their 100% start to World Cup football by beating Iraq at home 3–1 on 29 June. In the second and final round of qualification, Kazakhstan came last in the group. Their only victory was on October 18, 1997, when they beat the United Arab Emirates 3–0 at home. Kazakhstan drew three other games – all at home (versus Uzbekistan, Japan and South Korea). In the first round of Asian qualifying, Kazakhstan were placed