"We expected a difficult game. We fought as a team. We had more episodes than the opponent. If we could have brought it to the end, the result could have been different."
These words were said by Rufat Abbasov, a member of the Azerbaijani national team.
He spoke about the 0:2 defeat to Iceland in Baku in the qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup: "It was my debut match and I didn't want to lose. I always wait for a chance to be in shape. I want to keep my shape, I have no intention of giving my place to someone else. Whenever I get a chance, I will try to show myself from the best side. I thank the team and the coaching staff. Iceland is a very strong team. The result was not encouraging, we wanted to win points. But we had good episodes. We had many goal opportunities, but we could not take advantage of them. We will work on this and try to perform better," he said in his statement to "teleqraf".
Abbasov also touched upon the upcoming match against France: "Everyone knows the strength of France. But despite this, we will fight to the end. As a team, we will try to do our best."