“Shamakhi” club and Azerbaijan U-21 coach Aykhan Abbasov will experience another first in his career.
Aykhan Abbasov will serve as head coach of the Azerbaijan senior national team in the World Cup 2026 qualifying match against Ukraine, Idman.biz reports.
The 44-year-old coach has been temporarily assigned to this role for a single game, aiming to help the team move past the humiliating 0:5 loss to Iceland.
Looking at Abbasov’s career, he has an extensive background both as a player and coach. He began playing football at age seven at the Buzovna Sports School under his first coach, Boyukaga Abbasov, and represented Azerbaijan in the U-17 and U-19 youth teams.
Abbasov made his professional debut with Buzovna “Khazri,” later spending six years with “Shafa” and a loan spell at MOIK in 2002. He played for “Turan” (2004–2005), “Inter” (2006–2007), and then “MKT-Araz” before moving to “Qarabag,” where he spent four years. He returned to “Turan” for the 2011/12 season to end his playing career. As a player, he won the Azerbaijan Cup twice: with Shafa in 2001 and Qarabag in 2009.
Abbasov began his coaching career at “Zira,” serving as an assistant in the 2015/16 season and head coach for the next two years. He later managed “Sumgayit” (2018–2021) and “Turan Tovuz” (2022–2024). Since 2024, he has been the head coach of “Shamakhi” and was appointed head coach of Azerbaijan U-21 on March 14, 2025, under a two-year agreement with AFFA.
He will take over for Fernando Santos, who resigned today by mutual agreement with the AFFA leadership.
Idman.biz
