Armenia national football team

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Armenia women's national football team.

Armenia

Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)	Հավաքական Havakakan (Collective team)
Association	Football Federation of Armenia
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Artur Petrosyan
Captain	Henrikh Mkhitaryan
Most caps	Sargis Hovsepyan (132)
Top scorer	Henrikh Mkhitaryan (22)
Home stadium	Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium
FIFA code	ARM
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	73 5 (6 July 2017)
Highest	30 (February 2014)
Lowest	159 (July 1994)
First international
Armenia 0–0 Moldova (Yerevan, Armenia; October 14, 1992)
Biggest win
Armenia 7–1 Guatemala (Los Angeles, California, USA; May 28, 2016)
Biggest defeat
Chile 7–0 Armenia (Viña del Mar, Chile; January 4, 1997) Georgia 7–0 Armenia (Tbilisi, Georgia; March 30, 1997)

The Armenia national football team (Template:Lang-hy, Hayastani futboli azgayin havak'akan) represents Armenia in association football and is controlled by the Football Federation of Armenia, the governing body for football in Armenia. After gaining independence from the Soviet Union, the team played its first international match on October 12, 1992. Armenia's home ground is the Republican Stadium in Yerevan and their head coach is Artur Petrosyan. The national team has participated in the qualification of every major tournament from the UEFA Euro 1996 onwards, though they are yet to qualify for the knockout stage in either a UEFA European Football Championship or a FIFA World Cup. In what was the Armenian national squad's greatest success at present, the team came in third place in the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying stage, with controversial officiating preventing them from achieving second place, and hence moving on to the final tournament.

History

See also: Football in Armenia § History

Armenia became an independent state in 1991, the Armenian SSR having previously played for the Soviet Union national football team. The Football Federation of Armenia was founded on 18 January 1992 and established relations with FIFA in 1992 and with UEFA in 1993. The history of the Armenia national team began on 14 October 1992, when Armenia played its first match against Moldova. That meeting ended in a goalless draw. Since 1996, the team is a member of qualifiers European and World Championships. Armenia has competed in every UEFA Euro qualification and FIFA World Cup qualification since 1994.

The first head coach of the Armenian national squad was Soviet Armenian football star Eduard Markarov. Armenian winner of the UEFA Jubilee Awards and fellow Soviet Armenian football great Khoren Hovhannisyan also became a head coach. Many of the early coaches of the national team never stayed for longer than two years. Scottish coach Ian Porterfield became head coach in 2006 and began to lead the team to some of its first successes in the international stage. Under his leadership, the Armenian team had played a series of great matches with victories over Kazakhstan 2–1, Poland 1–0 and Portugal 1–1, with Cristiano Ronaldo in the lineup. But then tragedy struck; the 62-year-old Porterfield died of cancer, leaving his started work unfinished. An acting assistant coach, Vardan Minasyan, became acting head coach following Porterfield's death. Minasyan learned much from Porterfield and Samvel Darbinyan, another former head coach of Armenia, during this time about coaching and managing. On February 10, 2009, after the draw for the qualifying round teams of the UEFA Euro 2012, by order of the President of the Football Federation of Armenia Ruben Hayrapetyan, Minasyan will continue to lead the Armenian national squad, only now as the official head coach.

In the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying matches, Minasyan led Armenia in Group B against Russia, Slovakia, Ireland, Macedonia and Andorra. Armenia, considered a heavy underdog, defeated the group favorite Slovakia with two crushing defeats 4–0 and 3–1, defeated Andorra in two matches as well 4–0 and 3–0, drew with Macedonia 2–2 and defeated them in the deciding match 4–1 and tied with the group winners Russia 0–0. The Armenian team scored the most goals out of Group B, with a total of 22. Henrikh Mkhitaryan of Armenia scored 6 goals, the most goals scored by a single player in Group B. The national team almost made the final draw, but controversially lost in a decisive match against Ireland 1–2. Armenian goalkeeper Roman Berezovsky was given a red card by Spanish referee Eduardo Gonzalez at the 26th-minute for supposedly touching the ball outside the goal area. However, replays clearly showed the ball touched his chest and never touched his hands. Replays also showed that Ireland striker Simon Cox had actually touched the ball with his right hand. Despite this, Gonzalez did not penalize Cox. Cox would later admit he touched the ball with his hand. Had Cox’s offence been punished, Armenia would have been awarded a free-kick. Berezovsky was substituted with 19-year-old debuting Arsen Petrosyan. Valeri Aleksanyan later accidentally scored an own goal on Petrosyan, which ended up deciding the match. Armenia and Ireland would each score another goal. The Football Federation of Armenia unsuccessfully filed protest over the match. Gonzalez had later resigned after the match. Despite not getting to play in the UEFA Euro 2012, Minasyan brought the Armenian national team to a record #41 FIFA ranking, placed the team in a personal best third place in the group stage and went on to become the longest leading head coach of the Armenian football team. Minasyan stated he is proud of the entire team. They were all welcomed in the airport back in Armenia as heroes.

Stadium

Armenia vs Portugal during a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match at the Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium in Yerevan

Main articles: Hrazdan Stadium and Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium

Hrazdan Stadium was built from 1969 to 1970 on Athens St., Kentron in a period of 18 months with the financial support of the oil magnate Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. A total amount of 5 million rubles was allocated for Hrazdan. The stadium was named after the slope of the Hrazdan River. It is the largest stadium in Armenia, with more than 70,000 seats. The opening of the stadium took place on 29 November 1970. The Armenia national team played home matches in Hrazdan until 2000. Several Armenian football clubs also played in Hrazdan. In Soviet times, it was one of the largest stadiums in the Soviet Union (among the top four) and one of the few double-tiered stadiums. Hrazdan was the football ground stadium for Ararat Yerevan. Hrazdan Stadium hosted its first official football match on May 19, 1971 when Ararat Yerevan defeated Kairat Almaty 3–0 in front of a record 78,000 spectators. The stadium would host Ararat Yerevan for the final victory of the club in the 1973 Soviet Top League and in the 1973 and 1975 Soviet Cup. The Soviet Union national football team played only two matches at the stadium, both of which date back to 1978. In April of that year, in a friendly game against Finland, the USSR won 10–2. Six months later, in a qualifying match for the UEFA Euro 1980 against Greece the Soviet team won again 2–0. The match with Finland hosted 12,000 spectators and the match with Greece hosted 40,000. The capacity of the stadium decreased from 70,000 to an all-seater of 53,849 spectators. By the second half of 2012, Hrazdan was completely renovated to become the regular venue of the national team's home matches.

The Republican Stadium was renovated in 1999 and, since 2000, has been the home ground for Armenia. The stadium was built in 1953 and finished within a year's time. Republican Stadium has a capacity of 14,968. During the Soviet period and onward from 1953 to 1999, it was known as Dinamo Stadium. The stadium had its official name changed to "Republican Stadium named after Vazgen Sargsyan" in 1999, after Armenian war hero and former Prime Minister of Armenia Vazgen Sargsyan, who died that year. Local clubs Pyunik Yerevan and Ulisses Yerevan play home games in the Republican Stadium. In 2008, the stadium went under a large-scale development in order to modernize the playing surface and to create a high level VIP section and other facilities which met UEFA standards.

Armenia played a match in Hrazdan in 2008 against Turkey after partial renovation earlier that year. The number of seats decreased from 75,000 to 53,849. It is planned to hold Armenia's home matches after a complete renovation in 2012. On 12 October 2012, Armenia played a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Italy, but has not used Hrazdan since. Hrazdan is used mostly for Armenian football clubs and a number of other athletic competitions.

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup records

FIFA World Cup record											FIFA World Cup Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Position
1930 to 1990	Part of Soviet Union										-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1994	Did not enter										-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1998	Did Not Qualify										10	1	5	4	8	17	4/6
2002											10	0	5	5	7	19	6/6
2006											12	2	1	9	9	25	6/7
2010											10	1	1	8	6	22	6/6
2014											10	4	1	5	12	13	5/6
2018	Qualification in progress										5	2	0	3	6	10	5/6
2022	To Be Determined										-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total		0/20							-		57	10	13	34	48	106	-

UEFA European Championship records

UEFA European Championship record										UEFA Euro Championship Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Position
1960 to 1992	Part of Soviet Union									-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1996	Did not qualify									10	1	2	7	5	17	6/6
2000										10	2	2	6	8	15	5/6
2004										8	2	1	5	7	16	4/5
2008										12	2	3	7	4	13	7/8
2012										10	5	2	3	22	10	3/6
2016										8	0	2	6	5	14	5/5
Total		0/15								58	12	12	34	51	85	-

Recent results and forthcoming fixtures

Main article: Armenia national football team results

2016

Denmark v Armenia

4 September 2016 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification	Denmark	1–0	Armenia	Copenhagen, Denmark
18:00 (18:00 UTC+2)	Eriksen 17'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)		Stadium: Telia Parken, Copenhagen Referee: Harald Lechner (Austria)

Armenia v Romania

8 October 2016 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification	Armenia	0–5	Romania	Yerevan, Armenia
18:00 (20:00 UTC+4)		Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Stancu 4' (pen.) Popa 10' Marin 12' Stanciu 29' Chipciu 59'	Stadium: Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium Referee: Vladislav Bezborodov (Russia)

Poland v Armenia

11 October 2016 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification	Poland	2–1	Armenia	Warsaw, Poland
20:45 (20:45 UTC+2)	Mkoyan 48' (o.g.) Lewandowski 90+4'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Pizelli 50'	Stadium: Stadion Narodowy, Warsaw Referee: Ivan Kružliak (Slovakia)

Armenia v Montenegro

11 November 2016 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification	Armenia	3–2	Montenegro	Yerevan, Armenia
18:00 (21:00 UTC+4)	Grigoryan 50' Haroyan 74' Ghazaryan 90+4'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Kojašević 36' Jovetić 38'	Stadium: Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium Referee: Pavel Královec (Czech Republic)

2017

Armenia v Kazakhstan

Armenia v Saint Kitts and Nevis

Montenegro v Armenia

10 June 2017 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification	Montenegro	4–1	Armenia	Stadion pod Goricom, Podgorica
20:45 (20:45 UTC+2)	Beciraj 2', Jovetic 28', 54', 82'	Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA)	Koryan 89'

Romania v Armenia

Armenia v Denmark

Armenia v Poland

Kazakhstan v Armenia

Players

Current squad

The following 24 players were called up for the Friendly match against Saint Kitts and Nevis on June 4 and the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Montenegro on June 10, 2017.
Caps and goals correct as of June 10, 2017 after the match against Montenegro.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Arsen Beglaryan	(1993-02-18) 18 February 1993	11	0	Alashkert
12	1GK	Grigor Meliksetyan	(1986-08-18) 18 August 1986	1	0	Gandzasar Kapan
--	1GK	Aram Airapetyan	(1986-11-22) 22 November 1986	0	0	Banants
15	2DF	Hrayr Mkoyan	(1986-09-02) 2 September 1986	43	1	Esteghlal Tehran
20	2DF	Levon Hayrapetyan	(1989-04-17) 17 April 1989	39	1	Paykan
13	2DF	Kamo Hovhannisyan	(1992-10-05) 5 October 1992	31	0	Torpedo-BelAZ
4	2DF	Taron Voskanyan	(1993-02-22) 22 February 1993	20	0	Nea Salamis
5	2DF	Gaël Andonian	(1995-02-07) 7 February 1995	16	0	Veria
3	2DF	Gagik Daghbashyan	(1990-10-19) 19 October 1990	4	0	Alashkert
2	2DF	Armen Manucharyan	(1995-02-03) 3 February 1995	1	0	Pyunik
18	3MF	Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Captain)	(1989-01-21) 21 January 1989	64	22	Manchester United
8	3MF	Marcos Pizzelli	(1984-10-03) 3 October 1984	57	9	Al-Shabab
23	3MF	Aras Özbiliz	(1990-03-09) 9 March 1990	31	5	Beşiktaş
17	3MF	Artak Yedigaryan	(1990-03-18) 18 March 1990	23	1	Alashkert
7	3MF	Edgar Malakyan	(1990-09-22) 22 September 1990	15	0	Stal Kamianske
6	3MF	Gor Malakyan	(1994-06-12) 12 June 1994	7	0	Stal Kamianske
14	3MF	Artak Grigoryan	(1987-10-19) 19 October 1987	7	1	Alashkert
21	3MF	Tigran Barseghyan	(1993-09-22) 22 September 1993	6	1	Vardar
10	3MF	Narek Aslanyan	(1996-06-04) 4 June 1996	1	0	Pyunik
--	3MF	Armen Ambartsumyan	(1994-04-11) 11 April 1994	0	0	Fakel Voronezh
22	4FW	Edgar Manucharyan	(1987-01-19) 19 January 1987	53	9	Ural Yekaterinburg
11	4FW	Artur Sarkisov	(1987-01-19) 19 January 1987	38	6	Yenisey Krasnoyarsk
9	4FW	Ruslan Koryan	(1988-06-15) 15 June 1988	8	2	SKA-Khabarovsk

Recent call-ups

The following players were called up in the last 12 months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Anatoly Ayvazov	(1996-06-08) 8 June 1996	0	0	Shirak	v. Kazakhstan, 26 March 2017
DF	Varazdat Haroyan	(1992-08-24) 24 August 1992	25	1	Ural Yekaterinburg	v. Kazakhstan, 26 March 2017
DF	Hovhannes Hambardzumyan	(1990-10-04) 4 October 1990	15	1	Vardar	v. Kazakhstan, 26 March 2017
DF	Artur Kartashyan	(1997-01-08) 8 January 1997	0	0	Pyunik	v. Kazakhstan, 26 March 2017
DF	Serob Grigoryan	(1995-02-04) 4 February 1995	0	0	Pyunik	v. Montenegro, 11 November 2016
DF	Vahagn Minasyan	(1985-04-25) 25 April 1985	13	1	Alashkert	v. Poland, 11 October 2016
DF	Andranik Voskanyan	(1990-04-11) 11 April 1990	1	0	Alashkert	v. Poland, 11 October 2016
DF	Gevorg Hovhannisyan	(1983-06-16) 16 June 1983	1	0	Shirak	v. Denmark, 4 September 2016
MF	Gevorg Ghazaryan	(1988-04-05) 5 April 1988	53	10	Marítimo	v. Kazakhstan, 26 March 2017
MF	Artem Simonyan	(1995-02-20) 20 February 1995	3	0	Minsk	v. Kazakhstan, 26 March 2017
MF	Karen Muradyan	(1992-11-01) 1 November 1992	4	0	Alashkert	v. Montenegro, 11 November 2016
MF	Davit Hakobyan	(1993-03-21) 21 March 1993	2	0	Shirak	v. Montenegro, 11 November 2016
MF	David Manoyan	(1990-07-05) 5 July 1990	24	0	Nea Salamis	v. Poland, 11 October 2016
MF	Zaven Badoyan	(1989-12-22) 22 December 1989	5	1	Alashkert	v. Poland, 11 October 2016
MF	Karlen Mkrtchyan	(1988-11-25) 25 November 1988	46	2	Unattached	v. Poland, 11 October 2016
FW	Gegham Kadymyan	(1992-10-19) 19 October 1992	5	2	Vorskla Poltava	v. Montenegro, 11 November 2016
FW	Vardan Pogosyan	(1992-08-03) 3 August 1992	3	0	Pyunik	v. Montenegro, 11 November 2016
FW	Gegham Harutyunyan	(1990-08-23) 23 August 1990	0	0	Gandzasar	v. Poland, 11 October 2016
FW	David Arshakyan	(1994-08-16) 16 August 1994	1	0	Chicago Fire	v. Denmark, 4 September 2016

Records

Lists of the 10 players with the most caps and top goalscorers for Armenia, as of June 10, 2017 (players in bold are still available for selection):

Most Caps

#	Player	Caps	Goals	Career
1	Sargis Hovsepyan	132	2	1992–2012
2	Roman Berezovsky	94	0	1996–2015
3	Robert Arzumanyan	74	5	2005–2015
4	Artur Petrosyan	69	11	1992–2004
5	Henrikh Mkhitaryan	64	22	2007—
6	Harutyun Vardanyan	62	1	1994–2004
7	Marcos Pizzelli	57	9	2008—
8	Hamlet Mkhitaryan	56	2	1994–2008
9	Romik Khachatryan	54	1	1997–2008
10	Armen Shahgeldyan	53	6	1992–2007
	Gevorg Ghazaryan	53	10	2007—

Last updated: June 4, 2017.
Bolded players are currently active.

Top Goalscorers

#	Player	Goals	Caps	Career
1	Henrikh Mkhitaryan	22	64	2007—
2	Artur Petrosyan	11	69	1992–2004
3	Yura Movsisyan	10	35	2010—2015
	Gevorg Ghazaryan	10	53	2007—
5	Edgar Manucharyan	9	52	2004—
	Marcos Pizzelli	9	57	2008—
7	Ara Hakobyan	7	42	1998–2008
8	Armen Shahgeldyan	6	53	1992–2007
	Artur Sarkisov	6	38	2011—
10	Arman Karamyan	5	49	2000–2010
	Robert Arzumanyan	5	74	2005–2015
	Aras Özbiliz	5	31	2012—

Last updated: June 4, 2017.
Bolded players are currently active.

2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying

Armenia is competing in Group E in qualification for 2018 FIFA World Cup. Template:2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group E

Managers

Vardan Minasyan held the position from 2009 to 2014, the longest period of time.

As of 10 June 2017

Manager	Period	Pld	Won	Tied	Lost	GF	GA	Win %
Eduard Markarov	1992–1994	6	1	2	3	1	5	16.7%
Samvel Darbinyan	1995–1996	9	1	1	7	5	21	11.1%
Khoren Hovhannisyan	1996–1997	16	2	5	9	10	41	12.5%
Souren Barseghyan	1998–1999	14	4	2	8	11	19	28.6%
Varuzhan Sukiasyan	2000–2001	17	3	7	7	17	27	17.6%
Andranik Adamyan (caretaker)	2002	1	1	0	0	2	0	100%
Oscar López	2002	2	0	1	1	2	4	0%
Andranik Adamyan (caretaker)	2003	1	0	0	1	0	2	0%
Mihai Stoichiţă	2003–2004	10	4	1	5	11	17	40%
Bernard Casoni	2004–2005	8	1	1	6	5	18	12.5%
Henk Wisman	2005–2006	8	1	1	6	5	14	12.5%
Ian Porterfield	2006–2007	10	2	4	4	5	9	20%
Vardan Minasyan (caretaker) Tom Jones (caretaker)	2007	6	1	1	4	2	8	16.7%
Jan Poulsen	2008–2009	12	3	4	5	9	19	25%
Vardan Minasyan	2009–2014	39	14	4	21	56	58	35.9%
Bernard Challandes	2014–2015	9	1	1	7	9	23	11.1%
Sargis Hovsepyan (caretaker)	2015	4	0	1	3	2	9	0%
Varuzhan Sukiasyan	2015–2016	7	2	1	4	12	12	28.6%
Artur Petrosyan	2017-	3	3	0	1	11	6	75.0%

Team image

Nickname

The Armenia team is called the Havakakan (Հավաքական), literally the "Collective team".

Jerseys and Colour

The home gear color were previously the Red-Blue-Orange Armenian tricolour, designed by Stepan Malkhasyants. All three colors were on the first Armenian national team jerseys ever designed. The definition of the colors, as stated in government website, is:

The Red emblematizes the Armenian Highland, the Armenian people's continued struggle for survival, maintenance of the Orthodox Christian faith, Armenia's independence and freedom. The Blue emblematizes the will of the people of Armenia to live beneath peaceful skies. The Orange emblematizes the creative talent and hard-working nature of the people of Armenia.

In the Euro 2012 qualification matches, played in 2010 and 2011, Armenia's home colors were red-blue-red, produced by Hummel. Beginning with May 2012 friendly with Greece, Armenia switched to all-red home colours and all-white away kit produced Adidas.

Kit suppliers

Kit provider	Period
Puma	1992–1999
Lotto	2000–2003
Hummel	2004–2011
Adidas	2012–2018
Macron (sportswear)	2018 See also Armenia national football team results Armenia national under-21 football team Armenia national under-19 football team Armenia national under-17 football team List of Armenian international footballers References External links Football Federation of Armenia FIFA profile UEFA profile RSSSF archive of results 1992– RSSSF archive of most capped players and highest goalscorers Armenian football portal Profile at National Football Teams Armfootball.tripod.com All official and unofficial games