The draw for the European zone of the 2026 World Cup qualification has brought Azerbaijan's national team face-to-face with familiar opponents.
Each of the teams Azerbaijan will face in the fall of 2025 has met them in previous encounters, Idman.biz reports.
The two confirmed opponents—Ukraine and Iceland—have only faced Azerbaijan in friendly matches. Meanwhile, the winner of the UEFA Nations League quarterfinal match between France and Croatia will also face the Azerbaijan team. Both potential opponents have met Azerbaijan in previous European Championship qualification stages.
Azerbaijan's national team has played a total of 9 matches against these 4 opponents, without securing a win.
The Auxerre tragedy France was Azerbaijan's first-ever opponent in international football, in the 1996 European Championship qualifiers. Since Azerbaijan did not play the match in Baku, the game took place in Trabzon, where France won 2-0. However, the match in Auxerre became infamous in Azerbaijan's football history as the Auxerre Tragedy or the "Goalkeeper Wasn't There" incident. In this game, Azerbaijan suffered its heaviest defeat, a 10-0 loss. France has never played in Azerbaijan before but could be making their first visit during the upcoming campaign.
Euro 1996 Qualifiers:
• December 13, 1994, Trabzon: Azerbaijan 0–2 France
• September 6, 1995, Auxerre: France 10–0 Azerbaijan
Points Lost in Baku Unlike France, Croatia has visited Baku twice. Azerbaijan has managed to earn points in both of these qualification matches. However, Croatia won convincingly in their home stadium. The first such win for Croatia came after a humiliating 6-0 defeat of Azerbaijan, which led to Berti Vogts' resignation as coach.
Euro 2016 Qualifiers:
• October 13, 2014, Osijek: Croatia 6–0 Azerbaijan
• September 3, 2015, Baku: Azerbaijan 0–0 Croatia
Euro 2020 Qualifiers:
• March 21, 2019, Zagreb: Croatia 2–1 Azerbaijan
• September 9, 2019, Baku: Azerbaijan 1–1 Croatia
Suspicious defeat and a draw Azerbaijan has played only friendly matches against Ukraine and Iceland. The only encounter with Iceland took place in Reykjavik, where Azerbaijan earned a 1-1 draw. The match against Ukraine, which ended in a goalless draw in Baku, was followed by a controversial and heavily criticized defeat in Kyiv. This loss raised questions and led to significant changes within the team, including the exclusion of certain players and the push for naturalization of foreign-born players.
Friendly matches:
• February 28, 2006, Baku: Azerbaijan 0–0 Ukraine
• August 15, 2006, Kyiv: Ukraine 6–0 Azerbaijan
• August 20, 2008, Reykjavik: Iceland 1–1 Azerbaijan
Vugar Kheyrullayev
Idman.biz
