Kazakhstan's national football team lost to Moldova 1:2 at Astana Arena, suffering its second defeat in three matches of the 2026/27 Nations League. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.

Kazakhstan played three games in the Nations League, and each of them they started with a new lineup. The experiments of Kazakhstan's head coach John van 't Schip are understandable. The foreign specialist has been in charge of the team only recently. So he is learning the real capabilities of the players entrusted to him in combat conditions.

In addition, many first-team players are injured and there is not much time between matches. And the notorious jet lag does not add strength or vigor to the players.

This time the intensive rotation also affected the goalkeeping line. Stas Pokatilov, the "Azerbaijani" who played against the Faroe Islands and Slovakia, was replaced in goal by Aleksandr Zarutskiy from Aktobe.

It was Zarutskiy who parried a dangerous shot from Sergei Perchun, a midfielder of Italy's Ascoli, in the 16th minute. The first sharp moment in the match was created by the guests. The second one too. A couple of minutes later, the ball after Perchun's shot whistled past the crossbar. Soon Zarutskiy was troubled by Niki Kleshchenko, a midfielder of Scotland's Kilmarnock.

Kazakhstan responded with two dangerous shots from Galymzhan Kenzhebek and a long-range strike from Ramazan Orazov.

However, until the end of the half, Zarutskiy worked more than his counterpart Dmitriy Chelyadnik from Kyzylzhar. But even the Aktobe player was powerless to help his teammates at the end of the first half. The aforementioned Kleshchenko struck from medium distance right next to the post – 1:0.

League C. Group C3. Matchday 3. October 2

⚽ KAZAKHSTAN – MOLDOVA 1:2 (0:1). Goals: Kleshchenko 45+1 (0:1), Popescu 50 (0:2), Alip 64 (1:2)

Such a development of events, and especially the score, did not suit the Kazakhs in any way. "I understand perfectly well: if we don't win, it will be perceived as a tragedy," van 't Schip admitted the day before.

A tragedy in the Dutch style, looking ahead, did take place. Immediately after the break, Yerkin Topalov and Azamat Tuyakbayev appeared on the field, replacing Orazov and Elkhan Astanov. However, five minutes later the hosts' situation worsened with a goal by Petru Popescu, scored with a header after a corner kick delivered by the same Perchun – 0:2.

Our guys, pressed against the wall, sharply activated. The stands of Astana Arena drove them forward, demanding a goal. At the end of the hour of play, the tall Artur Shushenachev replaced Ramazan Karimov in attack. But it was not he who scored with a header after Bauyrzhan Islamkhan's cross from a free kick, but Nuraly Alip, who joined the attack – 1:2.

Kazakhstan's furious attacks continued. At times the ball rushed around the guests' penalty area, but it never found the goal until the end of the match. The 1:2 fiasco is not a tragedy, of course, but extremely unpleasant.

⚽ FAROE ISLANDS – KAZAKHSTAN 1:1, SLOVAKIA – MOLDOVA 2:0, MOLDOVA – FAROE ISLANDS 1:1, SLOVAKIA – KAZAKHSTAN 2:1, KAZAKHSTAN – MOLDOVA 1:2

⚽ October 6. KAZAKHSTAN – FAROE ISLANDS, MOLDOVA – SLOVAKIA

⚽ November 13. MOLDOVA – KAZAKHSTAN, SLOVAKIA – FAROE ISLANDS

⚽ November 16. KAZAKHSTAN – SLOVAKIA, FAROE ISLANDS – MOLDOVA

The 2026/27 Nations League features 54 national teams in four leagues. Each team in Leagues A, B and C plays six matches (three at home and three away). In League D – four.

The winners of the quartets will get the opportunity to move up to a stronger league. And the teams that take last places will drop lower. UEFA will determine additionally the number of Euro 2028 berths played for in this Nations League.