Karaganda's Shakhter and Turan, who have already secured promotion to Kazakhstan's top football division, held a dress rehearsal of sorts for a 2027 Kazakhstan Premier League match. The hosts won 1-0 in Turkestan, according to infohub.kz.
Both returning sides fielded far-from-optimal lineups, with Shakhter in particular giving plenty of young players a run-out. The outcome at Turkestan Arena was settled in the 70th minute by a goal from Matvey Gerasimov, who had come on for Nikita Kildiyev shortly before finding the net.
Kairat's Abylai Toleukhan and Daniyar Tashpulatov, who each scored against Montenegro in the UEFA Youth League two days earlier, this time beat Batyr goalkeeper Stanislav Samoilov. The score in the Almaty match could have been emphatic had home captain Karim Makhametzhan not struck a penalty against the crossbar.
FIRST LEAGUE 2026
Matchday 25
October 16
⚽ KAIRAT-ZHASTAR (Almaty) – BATYR (Ekibastuz) 2-0 (0-0). Goals: Toleukhan 14, Tashpulatov 90+1. Missed penalty: Makhametzhan (K, 84) crossbar
⚽ TARAZ – CASPIY-M (Aktau) 5-0 (1-0). Goals: Silagan 27 own goal (1-0), Baitana 50 (2-0), Asubek 52 (3-0), Baitana 65 (4-0), Moldakarayev 90+2 (5-0)
⚽ TURAN (Turkestan) – SHAKHTER (Karaganda) 1-0 (0-0). Goal: Gerasimov 70
October 15
⚽ ARYS – ACADEMY ONTUSTIK (Shymkent) 1-0 (1-0). Goal: Kuralbayev 21 penalty
⚽ ASTANA-M – YELIMAI-M (Semey) 7-1 (4-0). Goals: Kaltanov 13 (1-0), Kaltanov 17 (2-0), Akhmetov 31 (3-0), Tolendy 43 (4-0), Kaltanov 61 (5-0), Kuandyk 69 (6-0), Baigaliyev 78 (6-1), Tolendy 90+2 (7-1)
⚽ TOBOL-M (Kostanay) – ZHAIYK (Uralsk) 4-1 (2-0). Goals: Musayev 24 (1-0), Nurgeldinov 45 (2-0), Zinadin 53 (3-0), Yakudi 57 (3-1), Nurgeldinov 79 (4-1)
⚽ KHAN-TENGRI (Almaty) – AKTOBE-M 2-1 (1-1). Goals: Muratov 1 (0-1), Turgunbayev 16 (1-1), Abdullayev 90+1 (2-1). Sent off: Abdrakhmanov (K, 89)
Astana's Akhmetali Kaltanov scored a hat-trick against his Semey counterparts. The capital youth team's recent results resemble a cardiogram – 7-1, 0-6, 7-1.
Kaltanov's teammate Anuar Tolendy, Kostanay's Nurislam Nurgeldinov and Taraz's Bauyrzhan Baitana each struck twice on the matchday.
All Matchday 25 games began with a minute of silence in memory of Alexander Ubykin. A Master of Sport of the USSR and a famous former goalkeeper for Kairat, Rostov's SKA and Pavlodar's Traktor, he died on October 11 at the age of 73.
The final Matchday 26 of the 2026 First League will take place on October 22.