Aykhan Abbasov

Aykhan Farzukh oglu Abbasov (Azerbaijani: Ayxan Fərzux oğlu Abbasov; born 25 August 1981) is an Azerbaijani professional football manager and former midfielder. He is the head coach of Shamakhi FK and the Azerbaijan national under-21 football team, also the caretaker of the Azerbaijani national football team since Fernando Santos' sacking.^[1]

Aykhan Abbasov

Abbasov in 2009
Personal information
Full name	Aykhan Farzukh oglu Abbasov
Date of birth	(1981-08-25) 25 August 1981 (age 44)
Place of birth	Baku, Azerbaijan SSR
Height	1.64 m (5 ft 5 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
	Khazri Buzovna
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1996–1997	Khazri Buzovna	1	(0)
1997–1998	Azerbaijan U18	19	(1)
1998–2001	Shafa Baku	63	(2)
2002	OIK	8	(0)
2003–2004	Shafa Baku	23	(0)
2004–2005	Turan Tovuz	39	(2)
2006–2007	Inter Baku	25	(0)
2007	Mil-Muğan	0	(0)
2007–2011	Qarabağ	49	(2)
2011–2012	Turan Tovuz	16	(0)
International career
2001–2002	Azerbaijan U21
Managerial career
2015–2016	Zira (assistant)
2016–2018	Zira
2018–2021	Sumgayit
2022–2024	Turan Tovuz
2024–	Şamaxı
2025–	Azerbaijan U-21
2025–	Azerbaijan
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Early life and footballing career

Abbasov was born on 25 August 1981 in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku, specifically in Khazar. He started playing football at the age of 7 in Buzovna^[2], playing for the U-18 team in 1997. Until 2002 he also played for Shafa Baku FK and the same year, went to play at MOIK Baku on a loan. From 2004 until 2007 he played for Turan Tovuz and Inter Baku (now Şamaxı FK). In his youth, Abbasov also participated in playing for the Azerbaijani junior (U-17) and youth (U-19) teams. In 2007, he began playing for MKT-Araz (now İmişli FK), where he left the club after that same season after the manager and club got into problems, playing for Qarabağ from then on until going back to Turan Tuvaz in 2011.^[3]

Coaching career

On 27 December 2016, Abbasov was appointed as manager of Zira FK until the end of the 2016–17 season.^[4]

On 16 December 2021, Abbasov left his role as head coach of Sumgayit.^[5]

On March 14, 2025, he was appointed the head coach of the Azerbaijan national U-21 football team, and AFFA signed a two-year contract with him.^[6]

For the Ukraine–Azerbaijan game in the 2026 World Cup qualification, he was appointed as caretaker of the Azerbaijani national football team, after Fernando Santos was sacked the game before. With him, Azerbaijan went from losing 5–0 to Iceland^[7] to drawing 1–1 with Ukraine.^[8] Since then, he has been kept as the temporary manager of Azerbaijan and will likely lead them against France.^[9]