Azerbaijan national football team

Azerbaijan
	Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)	Odlar Yurdu; (The Land of Fire)
Association	Association of Football; Federations of Azerbaijan
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Berti Vogts
Captain	Rashad Sadygov
Most caps	Rashad Sadygov (74)
Top scorer	Gurban Gurbanov (12)
Home stadium	Tofig Bahramov Stadium; Lankaran City Stadium; Dalga Arena
FIFA code	AZE
First colours	Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	98
Highest	90 (November 2010)
Lowest	170 (June 1994)
First international
	Georgia 1–1 Azerbaijan ; (Tbilisi, Georgia, 1927); Georgia 6–3 Azerbaijan ; (Gurjaani, Georgia; September 17, 1992)
Biggest win
	Azerbaijan 4–0 Liechtenstein ; (Baku, Azerbaijan; 5 June 1999)
Biggest defeat
	France 10–0 Azerbaijan ; (Auxerre, France; September 6, 1995)

The Azerbaijan national football team (Template:Lang-az) is the national football team of Azerbaijan and is controlled by Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan. It represents Azerbaijan in international football competitions.

The Azerbaijan national football team has taken part in qualification for each major tournament since Euro 96, but has never qualified for the finals tournament of any World Cup or European Championships.

History

Early years

First Azerbaijani football clubs started to function in 1905. Generally they represented the main oil companies of Baku.
The Azerbaijan national football team held its first friendly matches against Georgia and Armenia in 1927 for the Trans-Caucasian Championship in Georgia.^[1]
During the Soviet Era the team did not play any international matches

'60s to '90s

1960s considered Golden Age for Azerbaijani football as it produced great players like Anatoliy Banishevskiy, Alakbar Mammadov and football referee Tofik Bakhramov, most famous for being a linesman who helped to award a goal for England in the 1966 World Cup Final between England and West Germany.

1990s

After Azerbaijan gained its independence in 1991, AFFA — Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan — was created. In 1992, renowned Azerbaijani footballer Alekper Mamedov became the first head coach of the Azeribaijani national football team, compiling a 3–1 record as coach that includes the first ever national team victory, over Georgia on May 25, 1993.^[3]^[4] In 1994, the national team was accepted into FIFA and UEFA.

Because of security issues, the team played all of its home Euro 96 qualifers in Trabzon, Turkey.^[5]

2000s

In February 2004, Carlos Alberto Torres, captain of the Brazil team that won the 1970 FIFA World Cup was appointed its national coach. Despite a poor start, a 0–6 defeat to Israel on February 18, Azerbaijan won their first ever away match, 3–2 against Kazakhstan on April 28. In June 2005, following a 3–0 defeat by Poland, Torres stood down from the position, to be replaced by former Neftchi coach Vagif Sadygov, his third spell as coach of Azerbaijan. Shahin Diniyev took over as manager in November 2005. He resigned on 31 October 2007, and Gjoko Hadzievski was named as care-taking coach of Azerbaijan.^[6]

In April 2008 famous German football player and coach Berti Vogts was appointed as a manager of Azerbaijan on a two-year contract.^[7] Azerbaijan had a mixed qualifying campaign, finishing with 5 points, just missing out on a last place to Liechtenstein with 2 points.

2010s

In November 2009, AFFA extended Berti Vogts' contract a further two years, making him the first manager to manage Azerbaijani national team in two qualification cycles.^[8]^[9] Following shock win over Turkey, team reached 90th place in FIFA World Rankings, Azerbaijan's highest position ever in country's football history.^[10]^[11]After victory over Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan also broke their scoring and points records by gaining 7 points and scoring 9 goals.^[12]^[13]

Stadium

Most of Azerbaijan's home matches are played at the Tofik Bakhramov Stadium in the capital Baku. It has been Azerbaijan's principal home stadium ever since the country's independence from the Soviet Union.

Today, some qualifying matches are hosted at the Lankaran City Stadium and Dalga Arena after it met UEFA stadium criteria.^[14]^[15]

The new Baku Olympic Stadium is under construction in Baku with an expected capacity of 64,000 seats.^[16]^[17] Following 2015, this stadium will be used as the venue for the most key matches of the Azerbaijani national team.

Colours

Azerbaijan's traditional home colours are white shirts, blue shorts and white socks. The team wears also an all white kit. This combination of colours are traditional for national team since first game. In the beginning of 90's the team has worn white jersey, to the end of decade it has been transformated into blue-white striped shirts, however for the beginning of 2000's has been turned to the white shirt with a vertical blue-red-green tricolor stripe on the chest. It have been changed into blue shirts, red shorts and green socks only for the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying round. In 2008 went back national team's usual combination of colors.

Azerbaijan national team's away colours were yellow-black striped shirts, black shorts and yellow socks until UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying round, when it was decided to abandon this kit in favor of the completely blue. During the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying round games the team has used an all red kit.

Record in major tournaments

World Cups

1930 to 1994 – Did not enter, was part of the USSR
1998 to 2010 – Did not qualify

European Championships

1960 – 1992 – Did not enter, was part of the USSR
1996 – 2012 – Did not qualify

UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying

Template:UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying Group A

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification

Template:2014 FIFA World Cup qualification - UEFA Group F

Current squad

Players called up for the match against Austria and Turkey on 7 and 11 October 2011.

Caps and goals as of 7 October 2011 (after the game with Austria).

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Kamran Ağayev	(1986-02-09) February 9, 1986 (age 38)	28	0	Khazar Lankaran
23	1GK	Andrey Popoviç	(1992-03-04) March 4, 1992 (age 32)	0	0	Sumgayit City
	1GK	Aqil Mammadov	(1989-05-01) May 1, 1989 (age 35)	0	0	Baku

2	2DF	Rail Melikov	(1985-12-18) December 18, 1985 (age 38)	38	0	Neftchi Baku
3	2DF	Saşa Yunisoğlu	(1985-12-18) December 18, 1985 (age 38)	27	0	Gabala
5	2DF	Elnur Allahverdiyev	(1983-11-02) November 2, 1983 (age 41)	21	0	Khazar Lankaran
13	2DF	Vurğun Hüseynov	(1988-04-25) April 25, 1988 (age 36)	11	0	Gabala
14	2DF	Rashad Sadygov (Captain)	(1982-06-16) June 16, 1982 (age 42)	75	4	Qarabağ
15	2DF	Ruslan Abishov	(1987-10-10) October 10, 1987 (age 37)	19	2	Neftchi Baku
21	2DF	Volodimir Levin	(1984-01-23) January 23, 1984 (age 40)	14	0	Inter Baku
16	2DF	Agil Nabiyev	(1982-06-16) June 16, 1982 (age 42)	7	0	AZAL Baku
18	2DF	Ruslan Amirjanov	(1985-02-01) February 1, 1985 (age 39)	3	0	Neftchi Baku
	2DF	Mahir Şükürov	(1982-12-12) December 12, 1982 (age 42)	53	1	Gabala

6	3MF	Rashad Sadigov	(1983-10-08) October 8, 1983 (age 41)	12	0	Qarabağ
8	3MF	Aleksandr Çertoganov	(1980-02-08) February 8, 1980 (age 44)	40	0	Gabala
19	3MF	Rahid Amirguliyev	(1989-09-01) September 1, 1989 (age 35)	16	0	Khazar Lankaran
20	3MF	Ufuk Budak	(1990-05-26) May 26, 1990 (age 34)	3	0	SC Freiburg II
22	3MF	Afran Ismayilov	(1988-10-08) October 8, 1988 (age 36)	7	1	Qarabağ
	3MF	Namiq Yusifov	(1986-08-14) August 14, 1986 (age 38)	0	0	Qarabağ

7	4FW	Vagif Javadov	(1989-05-25) May 25, 1989 (age 35)	40	7	Volga Nizhny Novgorod
10	4FW	Branimir Subašić	(1982-04-07) April 7, 1982 (age 42)	26	6	Khazar Lankaran
11	4FW	Rauf Aliyev	(1989-02-12) February 12, 1989 (age 35)	16	2	Qarabağ
17	4FW	Vüqar Nadirov	(1987-06-15) June 15, 1987 (age 37)	37	3	Qarabağ
9	4FW	Murad Hüseynov	(1989-01-25) January 25, 1989 (age 35)	4	1	Gabala
	4FW	Elshan Mammadov	(1980-05-04) May 4, 1980 (age 44)	4	0	AZAL

Fixtures and results

Forthcoming fixtures

Date	Tournament	Location	Opponent
11 October 2011	UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying	Istanbul, Turkey	Turkey
11 November 2011	Friendly	Tirana, Albania	Albania
15 November 2011	Friendly	Larnaca, Cyprus	Cyprus

Recent results

Date	Tournament	Location	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Azerbaijan Scorers
October 7, 2011	Euro 2012 Qualification	Baku	Azerbaijan	1:4	Austria	Vüqar Nadirov 74'
September 6, 2011	Euro 2012 Qualification	Baku	Azerbaijan	3:2	Kazakhstan	Rauf Aliyev 53' Mahir Şükürov 62' (pen.) Vagif Javadov 68'
September 2, 2011	Euro 2012 Qualification	Baku	Azerbaijan	1:1	Belgium	Rauf Aliyev 86'
August 10, 2011	Friendly	Baku	Azerbaijan	0:1	Macedonia
June 7, 2011	Euro 2012 Qualification	Baku	Azerbaijan	1:3	Germany	Murad Hüseynov 89'
June 3, 2011	Euro 2012 Qualification	Astana	Kazakhstan	2:1	Azerbaijan	Vügar Nadirov 63'
March 29, 2011	Euro 2012 Qualification	Brussels	Belgium	4:1	Azerbaijan	Ruslan Abushev 16'
February 9, 2011	Friendly	Dubai	Hungary	2:0	Azerbaijan
November 17, 2010	Friendly	Podgorica	Montenegro	2:0	Azerbaijan
October 12, 2010	Euro 2012 Qualification	Baku	Azerbaijan	1:0	Turkey	Rashad Sadygov 38'
October 8, 2010	Euro 2012 Qualification	Vienna	Austria	3:0	Azerbaijan
September 7, 2010	Euro 2012 Qualification	Cologne	Germany	6:1	Azerbaijan	Vagif Javadov 57'

Head coaches

Manager	Azerbaijan career	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Win %	Note
Alakbar Mammadov	1992–1993	4	3	0	1	75.00	First international game; First victory in friendly game
Kazbek Tuayev	1993–1994	2	0	0	2	0.00
Agaselim Mirjavadov	1994–1995	8	0	0	8	0.00	Biggest defeat
Kazbek Tuayev	1995–1997	9	2	3	4	22.22	First official game point; First official victory
Vagif Sadygov	1997–1998	20	6	3	11	30.00
Ahmad Alaskarov	1999–2000	13	1	6	6	13.00	Biggest win
Igor Ponomaryov	2000–2001	15	2	3	10	13.33
Vagif Sadygov	2002	8	0	2	6	0.00
Asgar Abdullayev	2003–2004	5	1	1	3	20.00	First official away game point
Carlos Alberto Torres	2004–2005	18	2	6	10	11.11	First foreign head coach
Vagif Sadygov	2005	5	0	1	4	0.00
Shahin Diniyev	2005–2007	20	4	7	9	20	Biggest home defeat
Gjoko Hadžievski	2007–2008	3	0	1	2	0.00
Berti Vogts	2008–present	39	8	10	21	20.51	First head coach working at least two consecutively qualifying rounds; Most points gained in qualification cycle

Last updated September 6, 2011

Player statistics

Lists of the players with the most caps and top goalscorers for Azerbaijan, as of September 6, 2011 (players in bold are still available for selection):

**Top Ten Highest Goalscorers**
Player		Period	Caps	Goals
1	Gurban Gurbanov	1992–2005	64	12
2	Elvin Mammadov	2008-present	27	7
3	Vagif Javadov	2006–present	39	7
4	Branimir Subašić	2007–present	26	6
5	Zaur Tagizade	1997–2008	39	6
6	Nazim Suleymanov	1992–1998	24	5
7	Vidadi Rzayev	1992–2001	35	5
8	Fábio Luís Ramim	2008–present	16	4
9	Farrukh Ismayilov	1998–2007	31	4
10	Rashad Sadygov	2001–present	74	4

**Top Ten Players With Most Appearances**
Player		Period	Caps	Goals
1	Rashad Sadygov	2001–present	74	4
2	Aslan Kerimov	1994–2008	74	0
3	Tarlan Ahmadov	1992–2005	71	0
4	Mahmud Gurbanov	1994–2008	69	1
5	Gurban Gurbanov	1992–2005	64	12
6	Emin Agayev	1992–2005	64	1
7	Mahir Shukurov	2004-present	53	1
8	Emin Guliyev	2000-2008	48	3
9	Vyacheslav Lichkin	1995–2001	45	4
10	Samir Abbasov	2004-present	44	0

Last updated: 6 September 2010
Source: national-football-teams

Team statistics

Opponent	Games	Wins	Draws	Losses	Goals For	Goals Against	Goal Differential
Albania	4	0	1	3	2	5	−3
Andorra	3	1	2	0	2	1	+1
Austria	3	0	1	2	0	5	−5
Bahrain	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1
Belarus	2	1	1	0	3	2	+1
Belgium	3	0	1	3	2	9	−7
Bosnia and Herzegovina	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1
Bulgaria	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
Czech Republic	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2
England	2	0	0	2	0	3	−3
Estonia	7	1	4	2	4	6	−2
Faroe Islands	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3
Finland	8	1	0	7	5	15	−10
France	2	0	0	2	0	12	−12
Georgia	4	1	2	1	2	2	0
Germany	4	0	0	4	2	15	−13
Honduras	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
Hungary	5	0	0	5	1	15	−14
Iceland	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
Iran	3	0	1	2	2	4	−2
Iraq	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1
Israel	3	0	0	3	0	10	−10
Italy	2	0	0	2	0	6	−6
Jordan	2	1	1	0	3	1	+2
Kazakhstan	6	2	3	2	6	7	−1
Kuwait	2	0	2	0	2	2	0
Kyrgyzstan	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
Latvia	3	0	3	0	2	2	0
Liechtenstein	4	2	1	1	7	2	+5
Lithuania	2	1	0	1	2	2	0
Luxembourg	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1
North Macedonia	5	0	1	4	3	10	−7
Malta	3	0	0	3	0	9	−9
Moldova	8	1	4	3	4	7	−3
Montenegro	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2
Northern Ireland	2	0	1	1	0	2	−2
Norway	2	0	0	2	0	6	−6
Oman	2	0	0	2	0	3	−3
Poland	6	0	1	7	1	20	−19
Portugal	4	0	1	3	1	13	−12
Romania	4	0	0	4	1	12	−11
Russia	2	0	1	1	1	3	−2
Saudi Arabia	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1
Serbia	4	1	1	2	5	10	−5
Slovakia	6	1	0	5	4	12	−8
Spain	1	0	0	1	0	6	−6
Sweden	2	0	0	2	0	4	−4
Switzerland	2	1	0	1	1	5	−4
Tajikistan	1	1	0	0	3	2	+1
Trinidad and Tobago	2	0	0	2	0	3	−3
Turkey	8	1	2	5	3	10	−7
Turkmenistan	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3
Ukraine	1	0	0	1	0	0	0
United Arab Emirates	1	0	1	0	3	3	0
Uzbekistan	8	4	2	2	11	10	+1
Wales	6	0	1	5	1	11	−10