2019 Tajikistan Higher League
# 2019 Tajikistan Higher League

The 2019 Ligai Olii Tojikiston (Tajik: 2019 Лигаи Олии Тоҷикистон) or 2019 Tajikistan Higher League was the 28th season of Ligai Olii Tojikiston, Tajikistan's top division of association football. The season will begin on 6 April 2019. and finished on 4 November 2019.

## Teams

On 19 February 2019, the Tajikistan Football Federation announced that the season would involve eight teams, consisting of Istiklol, Khujand, Kuktosh, Regar-TadAZ, Khatlon, CSKA Pamir, Panjshir and newly promoted Istaravshan.

| Team | Location | Venue | Capacity |
| - | - | - | - |
| CSKA Pamir | Dushanbe | CSKA Stadium | 7,000 |
| Istaravshan | Istaravshan | Istaravshan-Arena | 20,000 |
| Istiklol | Dushanbe | Central Republican Stadium | 24,000 |
| Khatlon | Bokhtar | Central Stadium | |
| Khujand | Khujand | 20-Letie Nezavisimosti Stadium | 20,000 |
| Kuktosh | Kuktosh | Rudaki Stadium | |
| Panjshir | Balkh | Panjshir Uktam Mamatova | 8,500 |
| Regar-TadAZ | Tursunzoda | Stadium Metallurg 1st District | 20,000 |

### Foreign players

Each Tajikistan Higher League club is permitted to register six foreign players, with four allowed on the pitch at the same time.

| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Player 5 | Player 6 | Former |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| CSKA Pamir Dushanbe | Eiya Edward | Yegor Khokhlov | Mikhail Zaitsev | | | | |
| Istaravshan | Jamshed Khasanov | Tulkinjon Umarov | | | | | |
| Istiklol | Oleksiy Larin | | | | | | Ruslan Koryan Mihajlo Cakić Jalil Kimsanov |
| Khatlon | | | | | | | |
| Khujand | Tornike Dzhimsheleishvili | Davit Kupatadze | Tursunali Rustamov | Asiljon Begimkulov | | | |
| Kuktosh Rudaki | Prince Arthur | Misiam Inocent | Ishmael Klotey | Nodirbek Ibragimov | Muhiddin Odilov | Bunyod Shodiev | |
| Panjshir | Quaye Godson | | | | | | |
| Regar-TadAZ | Arash Akbari | | | | | | |

In bold: Players that have been capped for their national team.

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Istiklol | Alisher Tukhtaev | End of Contract | 31 December 2018 | Pre-Season | Khakim Fuzailov | 31 December 2018 |
| Istaravshan | | | | Pre-Season | Tokhirjon Muminov | 14 March 2019 |
| CSKA Pamir Dushanbe | Rustam Khojayev | Resigned | 23 June 2019 | | Sergey Zhitsky | 8 July 2019 |
| Istiklol | Khakim Fuzailov | Resigned | 27 June 2019 | 1st | Alisher Tukhtaev (Caretaker) | 27 June 2019 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Istiklol (C) | 21 | 16 | 3 | 2 | 60 | 20 | +40 | 51 | Qualification for AFC Champions League preliminary round 2 |
| 2 | Khujand | 21 | 11 | 3 | 7 | 37 | 21 | +16 | 36 | Qualification for AFC Cup play-off round |
| 3 | Regar-TadAZ | 21 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 31 | 30 | +1 | 30 | |
| 4 | CSKA Pamir | 21 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 24 | 27 | −3 | 29 | |
| 5 | Istaravshan | 21 | 8 | 3 | 10 | 24 | 32 | −8 | 27 | |
| 6 | Kuktosh | 21 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 31 | 36 | −5 | 27 | |
| 7 | Khatlon | 21 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 26 | 28 | −2 | 24 | Qualification for Relegation play-offs |
| 8 | Panjshir (R) | 21 | 3 | 2 | 16 | 18 | 57 | −39 | 11 | Relegation to Tajik First Division |

* ↑ If the league champions cannot qualify for the AFC Champions League group stage, they will enter the AFC Cup group stage.
* ↑ Since league champions Istiklol were also Tajikistan Cup winners, the league runners-up qualified for the AFC Cup play-off round.
* 1 2 Head-to-head results: Istaravshan 0–0 Kuktosh, Kuktosh 3–1 Istaravshan, Istaravshan 3–0 Kuktosh.

## Results

### Results by round

| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| CSKA Pamir | L | L | D | D | W | L | L | D | L | L | W | W | W | W | L | D | L | W | D | W | W |
| Istaravshan | L | W | L | L | L | D | D | L | W | W | L | L | W | W | L | D | W | L | L | W | W |
| Istiklol | W | W | D | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | D | W | W | D | W | W | L | W | W | L |
| Khatlon | L | L | W | D | D | L | W | W | L | D | L | W | L | W | D | W | D | L | L | L | D |
| Khujand | W | L | D | W | W | D | L | L | W | W | W | L | L | W | W | W | W | D | W | L | L |
| Kuktosh | W | L | D | W | L | W | D | W | W | L | D | D | L | L | L | D | L | L | W | D | W |
| Panjshir | W | W | L | L | L | D | L | L | L | L | D | L | L | L | L | L | L | L | L | L | L |
| Regar-TadAZ | L | W | W | L | D | D | W | D | L | D | L | W | W | L | W | L | W | W | W | D | D |

### Position by round

| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| CSKA Pamir | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| Istaravshan | 5 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 |
| Istiklol | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Khatlon | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 7 |
| Khujand | 4 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Kuktosh | 2 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 6 |
| Panjshir | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Regar-TadAZ | 8 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |

* Leader / Qualification for AFC Champions League preliminary round 1
* Standby team for AFC Cup group stage
* Qualification for Relegation play-offs
* Relegation to Tajik First Division

## Relegation play-offs

The 2019 season ended with a relegation play-off between the 7th-placed Tajikistan Higher League team, and the runners-up of the Tajik First Division, on a two-legged confrontation.

## Season statistics

### Scoring

* First goal of the season:

### Top scorers

    As of match played 4 November 2019

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Sheriddin Boboev | Istiklol | 16 |
| 2 | Alisher Dzhalilov | Istiklol | 11 |
| 3 | Sherzod Makhamadiev | Regar-TadAZ | 9 |
| 4 | Tursunali Rustamov | Khujand | 8 |
| 5 | Muhammadjon Rakhimov | Istiklol | 7 |
| 5 | Nozim Babadjanov | Regar-TadAZ | 7 |
| 5 | Bakhtovar Zokirov | Istaravshan | 7 |
| 5 | Ehson Panjshanbe | Istiklol | 7 |
| 5 | Shodibek Gafforov | CSKA Pamir Dushanbe | 7 |
| 10 | Shervoni Mabatshoev | CSKA Pamir Dushanbe | 6 |
| 10 | Dilshod Vasiev | Khujand | 6 |
| 10 | Muhiddin Odilov | Kuktosh | 6 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Tursunali Rustamov | Khujand | Panjshir | 9-0 | 30 June 2019 |
| Dilshod $Vasiev^5$ | Khujand | Panjshir | 9-0 | 30 June 2019 |
| Sherzod Makhamadiev | Regar-TadAZ | Kuktosh | 4-3 | 24 August 2019 |
| Sheriddin Boboev | Istiklol | Kuktosh | 6-1 | 27 September 2019 |

* $^5$ Player scored 5 goals
