FC Goa to meet Regar-TadAZ in AFC Challenge League Group C in Kuwait from Oct 17-24, 2026
FC Goa will face Regar-TadAZ in Group C of the AFC Challenge League 2026-27 at a centralised venue in Kuwait from October 17 to 24, 2026, with all teams playing a single round-robin. The Gaurs were relegated to the AFC Challenge League after losing to FK Arkadag in the preliminary stage and will play three matches across seven days in Kuwait.
FC Goa reached the AFC Champions League Two main draw in 2025/26 after a win over Al-Seeb but failed to repeat that run this season, falling at the preliminary hurdle to FK Arkadag. Gouramangi Singh’s side enter the centralised group stage fresh from a 1-1 draw with Chennaiyin FC in their ISL opener and have been drawn alongside hosts Qadsia SC (Kuwait) and Fortis FC (Bangladesh) in Group C. Regar-TadAZ qualified for the Challenge League as the 2025 Tajikistan Cup champions.
Regar-TadAZ come into the competition having been eliminated without a win from the AFC Challenge League group stage in 2025/26, but they secured their place in the 2026-27 main competition with a 3-0 victory over Maziya SR&C in the qualifiers. Their 3-0 qualifier featured key attacking contributions that helped seal progression to the group phase.
Domestically, Regar-TadAZ sit atop the 2026 Vysshaya Liga with 40 points from 18 games, having suffered two defeats and won ten of their last 13 matches. They have an unbeaten home record of six wins and three draws from nine games and have amassed ten more points than they did across the entirety of last season, with four league fixtures remaining. FC Istiklol trail Regar-TadAZ by three points in the title race, having played one game fewer.
Alisher Tukhtaev replaced Takhirdzhon Muminov as Regar-TadAZ head coach midway through last season and led the club to the 2025 Tajikistan Cup despite a seventh-place league finish that year. Across 80 games in charge, Tukhtaev averages 1.64 points per game, recording 38 wins and 17 draws; separately, records show he has managed Regar Tad-AZ in 37 games with 18 wins, eight draws and 10 losses.
Regar-TadAZ’s attacking threats include Ozodbek Pandzhiev, a former Tajikistan U-19 international who can play across both flanks and has registered a goal and an assist from the right wing this season; he scored the opening goal and assisted the second in the 3-0 qualifier vs Maziya SR&C. Khaitov has contributed to at least six goals this campaign, with three goals and three assists in 13 starts, and he assisted Pandzhiev in the qualifier and both scored and assisted in the 2025 Tajikistan Cup final. A forward identified as Joseph, signed in the 2026 summer transfer window, has three goals and an assist in seven Vysshaya Liga games so far this season but did not score in the 3-0 win over Maziya SR&C.
FC Goa will travel to Kuwait to contest Group C’s single round-robin, facing Qadsia SC, Fortis FC and Regar-TadAZ between October 17 and 24, 2026, with three fixtures to be completed in seven days as they aim to qualify from the group stage.