The Turkmenistan national football team defeated the Chinese Taipei team in an away match of the first round of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifying round.

The Group D match ended with a score of 2:1. The winners were scored by Ahal forward Elman Tagayev (48th minute) and Arkadag midfielder Yazgylych Gurbanov (83). The hosts' only goal was scored by Samuel Kouame.

In the next round, Turkmenistan will host Thailand on June 10, and the Chinese Taipei team will play away against Sri Lanka.

The winners of six qualifying groups will advance to the final tournament of the 2027 Asian Cup, which will be held in Saudi Arabia for the first time.

Earlier, 18 teams have already secured the right to participate in the final stage of the 2027 Asian Cup. These are the participants of the 3rd round of the 2026 World Cup qualification: Australia, Bahrain, Indonesia, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Qatar, China, the DPRK, the Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Palestine, Uzbekistan, Japan and Saudi Arabia (as the organizer).

Turkmen football players have participated in the final stages of the Asian Cup twice. The first time was in 2004, when the tournament was held in China, and the second time was in 2019 in the United Arab Emirates. In the previous draw, the Turkmenistan national team took 3rd place in the qualifying group "E" and did not make it to the final tournament of the Asian Cup, which took place in 2023 in Qatar.

The Asian Cup is held every four years. Its first draw took place in 1956. Since 2007, the tournament has been held in odd years. The current Asian champions are Qatar, who have won the continental trophy twice in 2019 and 2023.