Toktogul

Toktogul sits in the Jalal-Abad region, a town better known to travellers on the road through the mountains than to anyone following Kyrgyz football. For most of the past decade its club played out of sight of the top flight.

That changed in 2025. Toktogul won the National League, the country's second tier, then took the play-off against Umut-Bishkek 6-0 — a scoreline that removed any argument about who deserved the place. The 2026 season was the club's first in the Premier League.

Rather than turn to the kids, the club went shopping for experience. The signing that made people look twice was Solomon Kverkvelia, a Georgia international who had been at the Euros in 2024 and was now, a centre-half in a town of a few thousand. Mirbek Akhmatalyev came too, a Kyrgyzstan forward with Dordoi and Abdysh-Ata behind him; his goal knocked Muras United out of the cup.

The recruitment did not translate quickly. Sergiy Puchkov, the Ukrainian coach who began the debut season, was dismissed after a run of defeats, and Mirlan Eshenov — who had worked at Abdysh-Ata, Alay and with the national youth side — took over with the team in the lower reaches of the table, 12th at one stage and 14th at another. No trophy has followed the promotion, and the club has yet to enter an Asian competition.

Home is the Ergesh Ormonov Stadium, 5,000 capacity, in the town itself. On a Premier League matchday that is enough seats for a decent share of Toktogul to be there.