Uzbekistan qualified for its debut soccer World Cup on Thursday night, becoming the first ever Central Asian country to make it to the sport’s global showpiece.

Uzbekistan have qualified for their first World Cup after drawing with the United Arab Emirates on Thursday.They become the eighth team to secure their place at the expanded 48-team tournament in United States,

In Group C, a first-half penalty from Ole Romeny in Jakarta was enough to end China’s chances of qualifying for the World Cup for the first time since 2002, when the tournament was staged in Asia for the first time and co-hosts South Korea and Japan didn’t have to go through continental qualifying.