Kazakhstan declared independence from the former Soviet Union in December 1991 and were accepted into the FIFA family as an autonomous national association in 1994. The young nation were originally classified as part of the Asia qualifying tournament for the FIFA World Cup™ and have yet to make their mark on the world football scene.

Kazakhstan made a debut qualifying appearance in the run-up to France 1998 and topped their pre-qualifying group ahead of Iraq and Pakistan. However, at that decisive stage they drew three matches and recorded only one victory over the UAE to finish bottom of the group.

The emerging country only missed out on the second qualifying round for Asia's first finals by a whisker, finishing level on points but behind Iraq on goal difference.

The Eastern Europeans picked up just one point from a possible 36 in qualifying for Germany 2006, but in March 2007 they picked up their first victory as a UEFA member, running out deserved 2-1 winners over Serbia.

That win was masterminded by Dutch coach Arno Pijpers, who came to the helm in January 2006. However, on Monday 15 September 2008, he found himself out of a job, following 3-0 and 3-1 defeats at the hands of Croatia and Ukraine respectively. His successor, the German Berndt Stork, will now head their South Africa 2010 qualification campaign.