Arno Pijpers was fired as Kazakhstan coach Monday after a disappointing start to the country's World Cup qualification campaign. The Kazakhstan football federation made the decision ahead of a key qualifier against England at Wembley on Oct. 11.

Youth team coach Bernd Storck will take over in a caretaker capacity while a full-time replacement is found, the federation said on its Web site.

Kazakhstan opened its campaign with a 3-0 victory over Andorra, but lost 3-0 at Croatia and 3-0 at home to Ukraine last week. England and Ukraine are joint leaders of Group 6 with six points. Kazakhstan has three points.