ASTANA, June 3. /TASS/. Former head coach of the Russian national football team Stanislav Cherchesov has been appointed to take charge of the national squad of Kazakhstan, the press office of the Kazakhstan Football Federation (KFF) announced in a statement on its official website on Monday.

Details of Cherchesov’s contract with the KFF were not released immediately.

Russia’s ex-Head Coach Cherchesov

Cherchesov, 60, took the reins of the national football squad in the summer of 2016, signing a contract with the RFU (the Russian Football Union) to work as the head coach of the team until August 2018.

In July 2018, the RFU extended Cherchesov’s contract for two more years with the option of prolonging it for another two-year term. The decision of the Russian governing football body to maintain its partnership with Cherchesov followed the national team’s successful home performance during the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Led by Cherchesov, the Russian national football team managed to reach the knockout stage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup advancing with a win over the Spanish team in the Round of 16 and then losing in a penalty shootout in the quarterfinals to Croatia, who eventually went on to the final of the world championship in Russia.

However, during the 2020 UEFA Euro Cup in June 2021, the Russian national team, led by Cherchesov, failed to clear the group stage of the tournament, which was postponed for one year due to the global spread of the novel coronavirus. The Russian football team wrapped up its European championship tour finishing in the cellar of Group B with three points after three matches.

In late December 2021, Cherchesov signed a contract to manage Hungary’s Ferencvaros FC. Under Cherchesov’s lead, the Hungarian football club won the country championship twice and clinched the National Cup.