Gurban Gurbanov

Gurban Osman oghlu Gurbanov (Azerbaijani: Qurban Osman oğlu Qurbanov; born 13 April 1972) is an Azerbaijani professional football manager and former player who manages Azerbaijan Premier League club Qarabağ.

Gurban Gurbanov

Gurbanov in 2023
Personal information
Date of birth	(1972-04-13) 13 April 1972 (age 53)
Place of birth	Ashaghy Tala, Zagatala District, Azerbaijan SSR, Soviet Union
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Qarabağ (manager)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1989–1991	Daşqın Zaqatala	54	(23)
1991–1992	Mertskhali Ozurgeti	17	(4)
1992–1993	Daşqın Zaqatala	39	(24)
1993–1995	Turan Tovuz	54	(21)
1995–1996	Kür Nur	12	(3)
1996–1998	Neftçi	43	(43)
1998	Dynamo Stavropol	37	(18)
1999	Baltika Kaliningrad	14	(1)
1999–2001	Fakel Voronezh	37	(10)
2001	Neftçi	14	(9)
2002	Fakel Voronezh	28	(7)
2003	Volgar Astrakhan	21	(0)
2004–2005	Neftçi	23	(10)
2005–2006	Inter Baku	3	(1)
Total		396	(174)
International career
1992–2005	Azerbaijan	68	(14)
Managerial career
2006–2007	Neftçi
2008–	Qarabağ
2017–2018	Azerbaijan
Signature
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

In his playing days, he was a forward. Starting out with his local club Kür Nur in 1988, Gurbanov had a decorated 18-year career. He scored 178 goals in 399 league matches. With 14 goals in 68 matches, he is also the Azerbaijan national team's all-time leading goalscorer in international matches.

After coaching Neftçi from 2006 to 2007, Gurbanov became the manager of Qarabağ in 2008. From 2017 to 2018, he was simultaneously the manager of the Azerbaijan national team. Gurbanov has won a total of 21 trophies in his career: five as a player and 16 as a manager.

Playing career

He started his career in Kür Nur, and has since played for Mertskhali Ozurgeti, Daşqın Zaqatala, Alazani Gurjaani, Turan Tovuz, Neftçi, Dinamo Stavropol, Baltika Kaliningrad, Fakel Voronezh and Volgar Astrakhan. The last club he played for was Inter Baku. In the 1996–97 season, Gurbanov was the leading scorer in the Azerbaijan Premier League for Neftchi with 25 goals.^[1] The striker was named Azerbaijan's Player of the Year once, in 2003.^[2]

International career

Gurbanov debuted for the Azerbaijan national team in their very first match on 17 September 1992, and as of January 2006 he has scored 14 goals in 68 international matches, which is the national team goal scoring record.^{[3][4][5][6][7]}

Managerial career

After Gurbanov ended his football player's career, he became sport director of the club Inter. In summer 2006 he was appointed head coach of Neftçi.

At the beginning of the season 2008–09 he became head coach of Qarabağ FK to replace Rasim Kara.

In 2010, he became the most successful Azerbaijani manager in European competitions with 16 wins.^[8]

In May 2014, he guided Qarabağ to their second Azerbaijani league title after 21 years.^[9] In July 2014, he became the second Azerbaijani manager to reach the European Cups group stage, as Qarabağ qualified for the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League group stage, beating Twente and being the second Azerbaijani team to advance to this stage in a European competitions.^[10]

In 2017, Qarabağ FK, managed by Gurbanov, became the first Azerbaijani team to reach the group stages of the UEFA Champions League.

On 3 November 2017, Gurbanov was appointed manager of the Azerbaijan national team.^[11] A year later, on 8 December 2018, he resigned.^[12]

Personal life

Gurban is the brother of Azerbaijani former footballer Musa Gurbanov.^[13] He is the father of Azerbaijan national team player Musa Gurbanli.

In 2012, he campaigned to stop domestic violence.^[14]

Career statistics

Scores and results list Azerbaijan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Gurbanov goal.

List of international goals scored by Gurban Gurbanov

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref.
1	8 June 1993	Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran	Kazakhstan U21	1–0	3–3	1993 ECO Cup	[15]
2				2–1
3	27 February 1996	Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, Larnaca, Cyprus	Faroe Islands	3–0	3–0	Friendly	[16]
4	27 May 1996	City Stadium, Maladzyechna, Belarus	Belarus	1–1	2–2	Friendly	[17]
5	22 March 1997	Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan	Turkmenistan	3–0	3–0	Friendly	[18]
6	14 October 1998	Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein	Liechtenstein	1–2	1–2	UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying	[19]
7	6 March 1999	Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, Larnaca, Cyprus	Estonia	1–0	2–2	Friendly	[20]
8	5 June 1999	Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan	Liechtenstein	1–0	4–0	UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying	[21]
9	12 February 2003	Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Serbia and Montenegro	Serbia and Montenegro	1–2	2–2	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying	[22]
10				2–2
11	11 June 2003	Shafa Stadion, Baku, Azerbaijan	Serbia and Montenegro	1–1	2–1	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying	[23]
12	31 March 2004	Stadionul Republican, Chișinău, Moldova	Moldova	1–1	2–1	Friendly	[24]
13	28 May 2004	Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan	Uzbekistan	1–0	3–1	Friendly	[25]
14	6 June 2004	Skonto Stadium, Riga, Latvia	Latvia	2–1	2–2	Friendly	[26]

Managerial statistics

Coaching record

As of match played 27 August 2025

Team	From	To	Record
			M	W	D	L	Win %	Ref.
Neftchi Baku	8 June 2006	28 August 2007	38	25	6	7	065.79	[27]
Qarabağ	5 August 2008	Present	681	400	152	129	058.74	[27]
Azerbaijan	3 November 2017	8 December 2018	12	4	5	3	033.33
Total			727	425	163	139	058.46	—

Honours

Player

Turan Tovuz

• Azerbaijan Premier League: 1993–94

Neftçi

• Azerbaijan Premier League: 1996–97, 2003–04, 2004–05
• Azerbaijan Cup: 2003–04

Individual

• Azerbaijani Footballer of the Year: 2003
• Azerbaijan Premier League top scorer: 1996–97
• Azerbaijan all-time top scorer: 14 goals

Manager

Qarabağ

• Azerbaijan Premier League: 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24, 2024–25
• Azerbaijan Cup: 2008–09, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2021–22, 2023–24