Fernando Santos becomes first foreign coach without win for Azerbaijan

Portuguese head coach Fernando Santos has set an unfortunate record by becoming the first foreign manager of the Azerbaijani national football team to fail to secure a single victory.

According to Report, under his leadership, the team played 11 matches, losing 9 and drawing 2.

Only Gjoko Hadžievski, who served as interim coach in 2007–2008 and recorded one draw and two losses in three matches, had similarly poor results, but no other foreign coach has matched Santos"s winless streak.

In comparison, the team achieved the following results under previous foreign coaches:

Carlos Alberto Torres (Brazil): 2 wins, 5 draws, 11 losses

Berti Vogts (Germany): 15 wins, 22 draws, 34 losses

Robert Prosinečki (Croatia): 6 wins, 6 draws, 11 losses

Nikola Jurčević (Croatia): 1 win, 2 draws, 7 losses

Gianni De Biasi (Italy): 10 wins, 8 draws, 21 losses

Most recently, on September 5, Azerbaijan suffered a 0–5 defeat away to Iceland in their opening match of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

On September 9, the national team will host Ukraine in Baku. The squad will be led by Aykhan Abbasov, head coach of Azerbaijan"s U-21 national team.