It was only in 1992 that Uzbekistan’s national team played its first-ever match, just a year after the country gained independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Fast forward to today, and the landlocked Central Asian nation will appear at its first-ever World Cup —an extraordinary achievement for both a team and a country still young in soccer terms.

Managed by Italy’s 2006 World Cup-winning captain Fabio Cannavaro, much of the squad will be unfamiliar to a global audience, aside from a few recognizable names—most notably Manchester City defender Abdukodir Khusanov and star striker Eldor Shomurodov.

On paper, especially after being drawn into a daunting group alongside traditional heavyweights Portugal and Colombia, the White Wolves look more like prey than predators in their tournament debut.…