How did the once-inconspicuous Central Asian neighbor shock Europe?

Kazakhstan, ranked 115th in the world, was 0-2 down in 70 minutes, but defeated Denmark, ranked 18th in the world, 3-2 in 16 minutes, breaking out the team's history for 31 years, and it is also the biggest upset so far in this European Cup qualifier. The 30,000 spectators in the stands of the Astana Stadium did not let the players and coach Adiev leave the stadium for a long time, and the whole country of Kazakhstan fell into a carnival, honoring the national team, nicknamed the "Golden Eagle Legion", as a hero.

Who would have thought that two years ago, in November 2021, Kazakhstan defeated the World Cup champion France 0-8 and was also called the "shame of the century" by the country's media.

At that time, the artist Dilmanov drew a cartoon of feet wearing boxing gloves with the caption "Kazakhstan players' sneakers", suggesting that boxing, which can only win gold medals in the country, is a sporting strength. Others question not 0 to 8, but the 105.62 billion tenge (US$245 million) that Kazakhstan has invested in football over the past three years.

Mixed martial arts world champion Hamitov called for a pay cut for the international: "Why do the average professional earn as much as $25,000 a month, the same as a world champion in wrestling, boxing and martial arts?" Even veteran Russian Arshavin, who received an annual salary of 1.5 million euros from the Almaty Warriors in 2016, has been questioned about high salaries and low incompetence. After all, the average salary in Kazakhstan is only $600 a month. But now, the Kazakhstan Football Federation can respond with confidence.

Kazakhstan's investment in football academy, sports facilities and professional leagues over the past 10 years has finally paid off. Featuring a government background, Astana FC had a near monopoly on the domestic championship and in 2014 became the first Kazakh club to reach the Champions League group stage, leading to a revival of the entire league. Most clubs are funded by local governments, and Kairat, the largest city, is funded by Kazakhstan's state-owned oil and gas group. Soviet-era stadiums that were crowded in the top flight have regained popularity in the last 10 years.

Since "leaving Asia and joining Europe" in 2002, Kazakhstani football has found a development model suitable for itself after 10 years of exploration. The Football Association has a commercial director who works with clubs to attract corporate sponsorship. The success of FC Astana and the Almaty Warriors in Europe has not only been rewarded with huge prize money from UEFA, but also brought the necessary capital for the development of youth training. Sport, especially football, is seen as the most effective way for the country's young people to stay away from alcohol or drug abuse, and therefore has strong support from the government and businesses.

Capital entered the world of football, and Kazakhstani football took on a new look. The first to break through was 5-a-side football, which is ranked 7th in the world, 16 places above the 5-a-side national team of 11-a-side world champion France. Almaty Warriors' men's 5-a-side team also won the 5-a-side Champions League in 2013 and 2015. The success of 5-a-side football from coach to naturalized Brazilian player was the key to success, which was subsequently extended to the 11-a-side pitch. FC Astana reached the Champions League group stage, and the 11-a-side men's national team finished first in the 2022/23 UEFA Nations League Group C and successfully advanced to the B division into the top 32 in Europe.

Astana FC play Atletico Madrid, Benfica and Galatasaray in the group stage of the Champions League. Participating in the Europa League also met European powerhouses such as Manchester United, Villarreal, AZMAAR, Celtic, Sporting Portugal, Greek Olympia, Partizan and other European powerhouses, and the players accumulated more rare experience in major competitions. In the autumn of 2024, Kazakhstan will likely face off against England, Norway, the Czech Republic, Austria, Ukraine, Turkey and other powerhouses. All of this has benefited from the great progress from 5-a-side football to clubs, from naturalized players to youth training.

Although Kazakhstan has never been in the World Cup and European Championships since 2002, Kazakhstan has never been in the World Cup and European Championships, ending three winless runs in three of the five World Cup European qualifiers, with only three wins in a total of 50 matches. But after 20 years of playing against opponents in Europe who are far stronger than Asia, the experience accumulated has finally exploded in recent years. The UEFA Nations League started from the lowest D level, promoted to two divisions in three consecutive editions, and was promoted to B division last year with a record of 6 wins, 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss. The 2022 World Cup qualifiers drew twice with Ukraine, forcing Bosnia and Herzegovina to knock the latter out, and losing only 2-0 at home to France. Coupled with this upset victory over Denmark, it even gives fans hope of reaching the Euro 2024 finals.

Kazakhstan's previous best results were a 2-1 home win over Serbia (28th) in the World Cup qualifiers (143rd) in March 2007, a home draw with Japan (18th) in the Round of 10 (121st) in 1997, a 2-2 draw with Poland (16th) in September 2016 (96th), and Ukraine, the world's top 25 in March 2021 (124th) and September 2021. There are four players in the squad who play for the Russian Premier League, including Zenit St. Petersburg defender Alip and CSKA Moscow midfielder Zannudinov, but the vast majority of players play in the domestic league, relying on the soil of the domestic league to grow.

The Chinese team has played Kazakhstan four times in its history, with 3 wins and 1 loss. In the Olympic qualifiers in March 1996, the Chinese Olympic team beat Kazakhstan 4-2 with goals from Xie Hui, Yao Xia, Yu Genwei and Peng Weijun after Yang Chen was sent off with a red card in the opening game. In September 1997, the national football team beat Kazakhstan 3-0 in Dalian, with goals from Fan Zhiyi, Li Bing and Li Jinyu; In February 2007, he won 2-1 in Guangzhou, scoring goals by Han Peng and Li Jinyu; However, in June 2016, they lost 1-0 in Dalian, and were overtaken by their later opponents.

In stark contrast, Kazakhstan was able to beat Denmark, which ranked 97th higher than itself in the World Cup, in the European Championship qualifiers, while the national football team was defeated in the warm-up by New Zealand, which ranked 25th below them in the world and the main scorer was absent. If we encounter Kazakhstan, which is 10 places lower than New Zealand in the world, again, what are our "odds"?