The Azerbaijan national football team has taken part in qualification for each major tournament sinceEuro 1996, but has never qualified for the finals tournament of anyWorld Cup orEuropean Championships. Azerbaijan was the first Caucasus country to host a major football tournament, theUEFA Euro 2020.
In the early twentieth century, football began to become popular in Azerbaijan, which was then part of theRussian Empire. In 1912, Azerbaijani football players had their first "international match" and they won 4–2 inTbilisi,Georgia against the local "Sokol" team. During 1912–1913, matches between the Azerbaijani and Georgian football teams were organized, first in Tbilisi and then in Baku. In 1914, the Football Union was founded in Azerbaijan. The Football Union undertook the organization of official city championships and other competitions.[4]
The oldest records of football teams inSoviet Azerbaijan go back to 1926–1927, whenTrans-Caucasian Championship was organized in Tbilisi. ThreeSouth Caucasian countries participated: Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia.[5] The Azerbaijan national football team held its first friendly matches againstGeorgia andArmenia in 1927 for the Trans-Caucasian Championship in Georgia.[5] Also in 1926, football players from Azerbaijan played three matches withFootball team from Iran in Baku. In 1929, three matches were played between these teams in Tehran. In all matches Azerbaijan players won.[6][7]
AfterAzerbaijan gained its independence in 1991, AFFA —Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan — was created. In 1992, renowned Azerbaijani footballerAlekper Mamedov became the first head coach of the Azerbaijani national football team, compiling a 3–1 record as coach that includes the first ever national team victory, overGeorgia on 25 May 1993.[8][9] The national team was accepted as a provisional member ofUEFA on 2 December 1993, and later as a full member in May 1994 at the 22ndUEFA Congress inVienna.[10][11] It also joinedFIFA in June 1994 at the 49thFIFA Congress inChicago.[12] The security issues forced the team to play all of its homeUEFA Euro 1996 qualifiers inTrabzon, Turkey, after UEFA imposed a ban on home matches on October 21, 1994.[13][14][15]
As of the early 2000s, Azerbaijani football federation started to integrate more players to the national team throughFIFA's eligibility rules.[16] In February 2004,Carlos Alberto Torres, captain of theBrazil team that won the1970 FIFA World Cup was appointed its national coach. Despite a poor start, a 0–6 defeat toIsrael on February 18, Azerbaijan won their first ever away match, 3–2 againstKazakhstan on April 28. In June 2005, following a 3–0 defeat byPoland, Torres stood down from the position, to be replaced by formerNeftchi coachVagif Sadygov, his third spell as coach of Azerbaijan.Shahin Diniyev took over as manager in November 2005. He resigned on 31 October 2007, andGjoko Hadzievski was named as care-taking coach of Azerbaijan.[17]
In April 2008, former German football player and coachBerti Vogts was appointed as a manager of Azerbaijan on a two-year contract.[18] Azerbaijan had a mixed qualifying campaign, finishing with 5 points, just missing out on a last place toLiechtenstein with 2 points.
In November 2009,AFFA extended Berti Vogts' contract for a further two years, making him the first manager to manage the weak Azerbaijani national team in two qualification cycles.[19][20]
In 2010, following a shock win overTurkey, the team reached 90th place inFIFA World Rankings, Azerbaijan's highest ever position in the country's football history.[21][22] After victory overKazakhstan, Azerbaijan also broke their scoring and points records by gaining 7 points and scoring 10 goals.[23][24]
In November 2011, AFFA extended Berti Vogts' contract for a further two years, until the end of the2014 FIFA World Cup qualification cycle.[25] Under Vogts, Azerbaijan had some poor results, not being able to defeat second-string sides. Vogts faced major criticism, protest and demonstration from local supporters and the media.[26][27] However, Azerbaijan managed to finish the qualification cycle in fourth place, the team's best ever finish.[28] In December 2013, Vogts being granted a new two-year contract, with the aim to lead Azerbaijan throughEURO 2016 qualifying.[29] In July 2014, Azerbaijan beat its ranking record by reaching 73rd place in FIFA World Rankings. Following three straight losses, Vogts resigned from his post after spending six years in charge of Azerbaijan.[30][31]
Succeeding Vogts as full-time manager was formerCroatia internationalRobert Prosinečki. He guided the Azerbaijani team to another record points haul (10) in2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying, but the team still finished fifth in the six-team Group C. Prosinečki resigned after deciding not to extend his contract with the Azerbaijan Football Federation and was succeeded by countrymanNikola Jurčević.
TheUEFA Euro 2020 qualifying proved to be a disaster for Azerbaijan as the team finished in bottom with a complete seven defeats, including a famous 1–5 at home against Slovakia, and only one draw, which was, surprisingly, against2018 FIFA World Cup runners-up Croatia, the home of the manager. Nikola Jurčević departed following the poor performance of Azerbaijan. After the qualifying, Azerbaijan turned out to be the only country ever to not qualify for a tournament they co-hosted.
The qualification for the2022 FIFA World Cup with new coachGianni De Biasi also went horribly, with Azerbaijan getting only a single point in Group A in matches with strongholds Portugal and Serbia and secondary sides Ireland and Luxembourg. TheNations League that year was more successful. Azerbaijan was drawn into Group 3 of League C with Kazakhstan, Belarus and Slovakia. After failing to win against Kazakhstan and Slovakia and securing themselves a goalless draw against Belarus, the matches of the second leg were all wins. At the end, Azerbaijan finished second with 10 points, three points away from promoted first-place Kazakhstan. After losing three matches in theUEFA Euro 2024 qualifying and drawing once, De Biasi got sacked on 22 October 2023. The games without a manager were equal: Azerbaijan won 2 matches out of four, including a surprising 3-0 defeat of already-eliminated Sweden. The other two matches were both lost.
In March 2024, the assistant managerArif Asadov was hired as caretaker manager. Under Asadov, the team won two out of 4 games. In June 2024, FormerUEFA Euro 2016 winning coachFernando Santos was appointed as the new manager. The2024-25 UEFA Nations League went badly, securing only a draw against Estonia and getting relegated.
Azerbaijan national football team in October 2013.
As ofUEFA Euro 2016 qualifying round, Azerbaijan's home colours are all-red kit. The team wears an all-blue kit for away games. This combination of colours is traditional for the national team since their first game. At the beginning of 90s, the team wore a white shirt, but towards the end of the decade it was transformed into blue-white striped shirts. At the beginning of the 2000s, the kit was replaced by the white shirt with a vertical tricolour stripe, formed of the colors from thenational flag of Azerbaijan on the chest. The kit was changed into blue shirts, red shorts and green socks only for theUEFA Euro 2008 qualifying round. After the tournament, the national team went back to their usual combination of colours.
Azerbaijan national team's away colours were yellow-black striped shirts, black shorts and yellow socks untilUEFA Euro 2004 qualifying round, when it was decided to abandon this kit in favor of the completely blue. During theUEFA Euro 2008 qualifying round games the team has used an all red kit.
Since 2017, Azerbaijan's kit have been supplied byNike. They took over fromPuma, who were Azerbaijan's kit suppliers between 2004 and 2006. Before thatUmbro were Azerbaijan's kit suppliers between 2002 and 2004.
Azerbaijan is often referred to by the media and supporters asMilli (The National), which is the nickname associated with all of Azerbaijan's international sporting teams due to the team's utilization of the country's national colors.[32]
^Д. М. Векилов. Участие Азербайджанской ССР в развитии советско-иранских торгово-экономических и культурных связей в 20—30-х годах // Известия Академии наук Азербайджанской ССР. — 1986. — С. 41.
^Stokkermans, Karel (18 January 2000)."European Championship 1996". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.Archived from the original on 7 July 2008. Retrieved7 July 2008.
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