Ayxan Abbasov: The persistence of the players was very important to me

It was important for Azerbaijani football players to show persistence.

"Report" reports that Aykhan Abbasov, the head coach of the Azerbaijani national football team, said this at a press conference after the match against France in the qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup.

The specialist commented on the match they lost:

"We knew that the game would be difficult. We also saw how seriously the French national team was preparing. In addition, there was fan support. We were ready for the opponent's pressure in the first minutes. If we hadn't conceded a goal in the last minutes of the first half, maybe it would have been better in the second half. In any case, I thank our players for their persistence in today's game. This was very important to me. It will be easier gradually. A more difficult match awaits us in three days. We will now prepare for the match against Ukraine. Of course, it will be difficult because of the limited time. But our squad is large, and our other players are also ready. The Ukrainian national team will also play against us after a difficult trip to Iceland."

It should be noted that the France-Azerbaijan match ended with a 3:0 victory for the former. The national team will play its next match against the Ukrainian national team on October 13 in Krakow, Poland.