The official site of the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan (AFFA) announced the resignation of national team head coach Fernando Santos. The contract was terminated by mutual agreement.
The 70‑year‑old “Engineer” led the Azerbaijan team from June 2024. Previously Santos worked at Estoril, Porto, AEK Athens, Panathinaikos, Sporting, Benfica, PAOK, Besiktas, and with the national teams of Portugal, Greece, and Poland.
On September 5 Azerbaijan lost heavily to Iceland 0-5 in Reykjavik in the first round of 2026 World Cup qualifying. On September 9 in Baku the team will host Ukraine, and the team will be prepared for that match by Aykhan Abbasov, who previously worked with the country’s U‑21 team.
