Nazim Aliyev: Azerbaijan national team can play head-to-head with Iceland and Ukraine

Azerbaijan national team can play head-to-head with the national teams of Iceland and Ukraine in the qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup.

Nazim Aliyev, the top scorer of the Azerbaijan championships with 183 goals, said this in his statement to "Report".

The former striker evaluated the upcoming games of the national team:

"Ukraine is not in a normal state. We can play head-to-head with this opponent. Also with the Icelandic national team. Everything depends on the players' physical and psychological preparation for the game. Psychologists should work with the players. This also happened in the Soviet era. It is important not only to be strong in football, but also psychological preparation. We used to score more points in the group. It should be like this this year as well. It is true that it is difficult to get out of the group. But the players must believe in themselves."

He stated that our football is developing:

"The small number of players nominated for the national team and the limited selection create difficulties. But in my opinion, our football has developed. Our clubs play well, they pass stages. "Qarabag" achieved a very good result. I think that every Azerbaijani football player in this team should be invited to the national team."

It should be noted that the national team will face Iceland in Reykjavik on September 5 and Ukraine in Baku on September 9 within the framework of the 2026 World Cup qualifying round.