President Aliyev congratulates Qarabağ FK on historic Champions League achievement

President Ilham Aliyev has congratulated Azerbaijan’s Qarabağ football club for advancing to the group stage of the UEFA Champions League, marking another milestone in the country’s football history.

In a message shared on his official social media pages, the head of state praised the team’s achievement, noting that by qualifying for the main stage of the prestigious tournament, Qarabağ has “written a new page in the history of our football”, Caliber.Az reports.

Aliyev also extended his congratulations to the club’s players, coaching staff, and fans, celebrating what he described as a proud moment for Azerbaijani sports.

Azərbaycanın “Qarabağ” klubu UEFA Çempionlar Liqasının əsas mərhələsinə vəsiqə qazanaraq futbol tariximizdə yeni bir səhifə yazdı!

“Qarabağ” klubunun bütün komanda heyətini və azarkeşləri təbrik edirəm! pic.twitter.com/h10MjVm5UD

— İlham Əliyev (@azpresident) August 27, 2025

Qarabağ secured its spot in the Champions League group stage after a tense second-leg match in Baku against Hungary’s Ferencváros. Although the Azerbaijani champions lost the home match 2–3, their earlier 3–1 away victory in the first leg ensured their progress on aggregate, with a combined score of 5–4.

Qarabağ Futbol Klubu is a professional football club competing in the Azerbaijan Premier League, the country’s top-tier football competition. Originally from Aghdam in the Karabakh region, the team has not played in its hometown since 1993 due to the First Karabakh War. Currently, the club hosts its matches in Baku, at the Azersun Arena and the Tofiq Bahramov Stadium, which also serves as the venue for Azerbaijan’s national team matches.

Founded in 1987, Qarabağ was among the founding members of the Azerbaijan Premier League in 1992 and, a year later, made history as the first non-Baku-based team to win the league championship. Alongside Neftçi PFK, Qarabağ is one of only two teams to have participated in every season of the Premier League.

The club has enjoyed remarkable domestic and international success. In 2014, Qarabağ won the league title for the first time in 21 years, beginning a period of dominance that has seen them claim a total of 12 Premier League championships and eight Azerbaijan Cup titles. Internationally, the team became the second Azerbaijani club after Neftçi PFK to qualify for the group stage of a European competition, reaching the UEFA Europa League group stage in the 2014–15 season. In 2017–18, Qarabağ achieved another historic milestone by becoming the first Azerbaijani team to reach the group stage of the UEFA Champions League.

Qarabağ has continued to build on this success in recent years. In the 2021–22 season, the club advanced through the group stage of the UEFA Europa Conference League, a feat it repeated the following year. Most recently, in the 2023–24 season, the team made history again by finishing second in its Europa League group and advancing to the tournament’s playoffs — another first for Azerbaijani football.

The latest achievement — qualifying once again for the Champions League group stage — further cements Qarabağ’s status as a symbol of perseverance and excellence in Azerbaijani sports.

By Tamilla Hasanova