Tajikistan played its first official game on 11 April 1994 in
Tashkent as part of a regional tournament. It lost that game against
Kazakhstan 0–1. The first official competition the team entered was the
qualifiers for the
1996 AFC Asian Cup, when it was seeded in the 3-team Group 8 with
Uzbekistan and
Bahrain. Bahrain later withdrew, leaving Tajikistan to a play-off against their
Middle Asian neighbors. Tajikistan won the first game 4–0, and were beaten in the away game 0–5 after
extra time. It did not enter a
World Cup qualifying tournament until the
1998 FIFA World Cup edition, recording 4 victories in its preliminary group stage including a 5–0 triumph over
Turkmenistan, and losing only to
China, which placed it second behind its eastern neighbors, and out of the tournament. Tajikistan were drawn into a
2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification group with the
Philippines,
Yemen and
Nepal. Following defeat to the
Philippines on 27 March 2018, confirming Tajikistan's failure to qualify for the Asian Cup, manager
Khakim Fuzailov resigned. After failing to have a direct spot for the
2023 AFC Asian Cup, Tajikistan hired Croatian manager
Petar Šegrt, and Tajikistan took part in the third round of the
2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification, joining with
Myanmar, Kyrgyzstan, and
Singapore. Due to
COVID-19 pandemic, the third round was played in a single round-robin group format with a centralised host, which Tajikistan's group saw its neighbour
Kyrgyzstan hosting it. Tajikistan defeated Myanmar (4–0) and Singapore (1–0), before holding neighbour Kyrgyzstan to a goalless draw, topping the group and, after failing in 5 previous attempts, Tajikistan was able to qualify to its first-ever AFC Asian Cup and a major tournament in 2023. Tajikistan was invited to the
2022 King's Cup in Thailand held in September 2022 where Tajikistan defeated
Trinidad and Tobago 2–1 and sees them advanced to the final defeating
Malaysia in the penalty shootout winning their second international trophy. In the
2023 AFC Asian Cup, Tajikistan reached the quarter-finals for the first time in their history after losing 1–0 to the eventual runner-up
Jordan due to a 66th minute
own goal from
Vahdat Hanonov. Their coach,
Petar Šegrt, left his post at the end of this epic campaign due to the expiry of his contract and was replaced by his assistant
Gela Shekiladze. In June 2025, it was announced that Tajikistan would co-host the
second edition of the
CAFA Nations Cup alongside Uzbekistan. ==Kit==