Azerbaijan national team's failure starting with the same scenario in the qualifying stage for nearly 30 years

The Azerbaijan national team started the qualifying stage for the 2026 World Cup with a heavy 0:5 defeat against Iceland in Reykjavik.

Idman.biz reports that this result was remembered as one of the most difficult starts in the history of the national team and immediately recalled an unpleasant historical episode.

Almost 30 years ago - on June 2, 1996 - the Azerbaijani national team also started the qualifying stage for the 1998 World Cup with a game against Norway in Oslo. At that time, our team lost with the same score - 0:5 under the leadership of Kazbek Tuaev. This meeting went down in history as a painful debut for the national team in the qualifiers, and at the same time became an important lesson for the young team.

There is also a symbolic moment: in the 1998 selection campaign, Azerbaijan managed to rehabilitate itself by defeating Switzerland 1:0 in Baku just two months later. This showed that even after an unsuccessful start, there is always an opportunity for a response and struggle.

However, with Portuguese Fernando Santos at the helm of the national team, such a comeback from the national team is unlikely. Only a change of coach and the arrival of a local specialist (a local coach will most likely be invited until the remaining games of the qualifying stage) can create a turnaround in the country's main team.

Idman.biz