Football (Armenian:ֆուտբոլfutbol) is the most popular sport inArmenia.^[1]

As of December 2024, theArmenia national football team is 100th inFIFA World Rankings. Since gaining independence in 1991, Armenia has had its own national association that takes part in allFIFA competitions (Senior, Youth andWomen's Football).FC Ararat Yerevan were one of the leading teams in the top league in theSoviet Union, often playing in European club competitions.

A number ofArmenian players played for theUSSR national team, includingKhoren Oganesian at the1982 FIFA World Cup andEduard Markarov in the 1960s. Markarov later became assistant coach of the Soviet Union's youth team, and was part of the coaching staff at theFIFA World Youth Championship inPortugal in 1991, when the team finished 3rd.^[2]

In the early 20th century, the first Armenian football clubs were founded inConstantinople,Smyrna and many other cities within the Ottoman Empire.^[3]

The first game between Armenian and Turkish teams was recorded in 1906. Armenian club calledBalta-Liman (after a neighborhood of Constantinople, now calledBaltalimanı) met withGalatasaray. Later,Balta-Liman was dissolved and two new clubs were founded:Araks andTork. Football's growth across many ethnic groups in theOttoman Empire was influenced by Armenian sports clubs, which were important in the process forming the region's sports culture.^[4]

However, the break-out ofWorld War I and theArmenian genocide led to a major decline of Armenian involvement in Ottoman sports.

Oldest records of football teams inSoviet Armenia goes back to 1926-1927, when theTrans-Caucasian Championship was organized inTbilisi. ThreeSouth Caucasus countries participated: Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.^[5]

The first professional club in Armenia was established in 1935 as Spartak and was later renamed Ararat.FC Ararat Yerevan grew and became the most popular club in Armenia.^[6] Ararat became one of the most competitive teams in theSoviet Union in 1973 after winning theSoviet Championship and theSoviet Cup.^[6] The team did well in European competitions as well; in 1975, it advanced to theEuropean Cup quarterfinals, losing to the eventual champions,Franz Beckenbauer'sFC Bayern Munich.^[6] The first stadium in Armenia was namedSpartak as well, built in the late 1920s in front of what is now theYerevan Circus.

In 1958,FC Shirak was founded inGyumri (then Leninakan), and played in theSoviet First League until Armenia's independence in 1991.

Football became the most popular sport in independent Armenia. Armenia became an independent state in 1991, theArmenian SSR having previously played for theSoviet Union national football team. TheFootball Federation of Armenia was founded on 18 January 1992 and established relations withFIFA in 1992 and withUEFA in 1993.^[7] The history of the Armenia national team began on 14 October 1992, when Armenia played its first match againstMoldova. That meeting ended in a goalless draw. Since 1996, the team is a member of qualifiers European and World Championships.^[8] Armenia has competed in everyUEFA Euro qualification andFIFA World Cup qualification since 1994.^[9]

However, the lack of financial resources forced many clubs in Yerevan and other provinces to retire from professional football.In 2016, only 6 clubs fromYerevan, 1 fromGyumri, and 1 fromKapan were practicing professional football and taking part in the Armenian football league system.

Manyfootball stadiums were built in Soviet Armenia during the final decade of the 20th century. Many of the Soviet-era stadiums are still in bad conditions. However, FFA is now trying to develop the infrastructure across the country with few stadiums being renovated such as inAbovyan,Armavir,Vanadzor and many more fields across the regions. Very few of the professional clubs either possess their own stadium or football training academy.

Armenia has many football academies and training centers. These facilities allow players to develop their skills. Some academies are opened and sponsored by professional clubs likeFC Pyunik andFC Ararat Yerevan, while theFootball Federation of Armenia also has an academy. These centers provide access to training pitches and coaching.^[10]

• Pyunik Training Centre owned byFC Pyunik, located inKentron District, Yerevan: is home to 3 natural-grass regular-sized pitches as well as thePyunik Stadium.
• Banants Training Centre owned byFC Banants, located inMalatia-Sebastia District, Yerevan: is home to 2 natural-grass and 1artificial turf regular-sized pitches as well as theBanants Stadium.
• Dzoraghbyur Training Centre owned byFC Ararat Yerevan, located inDzoraghbyur village,Kotayk Province: is home to 3 natural-grass and 1 artificial turf regular-sized pitches.
• Gandzasar Kapan Training Centre owned byGandzasar Kapan FC, locatedKapan,Syunik Province: is home to 1 natural-grass and 1 artificial turf regular-sized pitches.

• Technical Center-Academy of theFootball Federation of Armenia, located inAvan District, Yerevan: is home to 8 natural-grass and 2 artificial turf regular-sized pitches as well as themain stadium.
• Gyumri Football Academy of the Football Federation of Armenia, located inGyumri,Shirak Province: is home to 4 natural-grass and 2 artificial turf regular-sized pitches.
• Vanadzor Football Academy of the Football Federation of Armenia, located inVanadzor,Lori Province, is home to 3 natural-grass and 1 artificial turf regular-sized pitches.
• Vagharshapat Football Academy of the Football Federation of Armenia, located inVagharshapat,Armavir Province, completed in 2019, is home to 3 natural-grass and 1 artificial turf regular-sized pitches.
• Armavir Football Academy was completed by the end of 2020.

• Zepyur Football Training Camp, located inPyunik village,Kotayk Province: is home to 2 natural-grass regular-sized pitches.
• Tsaghkadzor Olympic Sports Complex in the town ofTsaghkadzor,Kotayk Province, with 2 natural football training fields and other facilities.

When it comes to stadiums, the federation is upgrading and improving its infrastructure. Some stadiums inYerevan,Vanadzor, andArmavir underwent renovations.^[11] The most famous stadium that hosts the national team's games and also matches international standards is the National Stadium, named afterVazgen Sargsyan. The famousHrazdan Stadium, which also hostedFC Bayern Munich back in the 1970s, does not meet the highest standards by theUEFA andFIFA.

TheArmenia national football team is the nationalfootball team ofArmenia and is controlled by theFootball Federation of Armenia. After thedissolution of the Soviet Union, the team played its first international match againstMoldova on October 12, 1992. Armenia became a member of FIFA and UEFA in the 1990s after gaining independence. This allowed the national team to compete in international tournaments, including theWorld cup andUEFA European Championship qualifiers and theUEFA Nations League. The team has never qualified for a major tournament, but there have been some memorable moments where the national team were close to qualifying for the final stage of the tournaments. In theUEFA Euro 2012 qualifiers, Armenia finished just a few points away from reaching the playoffs. Over the years, Armenia has had some talented players who played on the highest international stages. The most famous player isHenrikh Mkhitaryan, who played for top European clubs likeBorussia Dortmund,Manchester United F.C., andAS Roma. Now, Mkhitaryan is a part ofInter Milan's championship team. Players likeYura Movsisyan andMarcos Pizzelli also played for famous teams.

Awomen's team, anunder-21 team, anunder-19 team, and anunder-17 team also compete.

With the mostArmenian Premier League championships,FC Pyunik is considered as one of the most powerful teams in modern Armenian football. Other strong teams that compete at the highest level areFC Noah,FC Ararat-Armenia, andFC Urartu (previously FC Banants).^[12] Additionally, Armenian teams have participated in European leagues such as theUEFA Europa League andUEFA Conference League, but no Armenian club has advanced to the knockout stages of these competitions, with the teams only playing in the group stages. Armenian teams participate in these competitions annually.

• List of football clubs in Armenia
• List of football stadiums in Armenia

• Football in Armenia
• Sport in Armenia

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