The Most Famous

SOCCER PLAYERS from Azerbaijan

This page contains a list of the greatest Azerbaijani Soccer Players. The pantheon dataset contains 21,273 Soccer Players, 15 of which were born in Azerbaijan. This makes Azerbaijan the birth place of the 87th most number of Soccer Players behind Latvia, and Suriname.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Azerbaijani Soccer Players of all time. This list of famous Azerbaijani Soccer Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Azerbaijani Soccer Players.

1. Tofiq Bahramov (1925 - 1993)

With an HPI of 58.79, Tofiq Bahramov is the most famous Azerbaijani Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 27 different languages on wikipedia.

Tofiq Bahramov (Azerbaijani: Tofiq Bəhramov; Russian: Тофик Бахрамов; 29 January 1925 – 26 March 1993) was a Soviet footballer and football referee from Azerbaijan. He was notable for being the linesman who helped to award a dubious goal for England in the 1966 FIFA World Cup Final against West Germany. He came to be wrongly referred to as "the Russian linesman" in England as a result of his decision and his Soviet citizenship, although he was not Russian but Azerbaijani. As a referee earlier in the tournament, he drew attention for denying a Swiss goal in a first-round game between Switzerland and Spain. After his death in 1993, Azerbaijan's then national stadium was renamed the Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium in his honor.

2. Anatoliy Banishevskiy (1946 - 1997)

With an HPI of 54.56, Anatoliy Banishevskiy is the 2nd most famous Azerbaijani Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Anatoliy Andreyevich Banishevskiy (Azerbaijani: Anatoli Andreyeviç Banişevski; Russian: Анатолий Андреевич Банишевский; 23 February 1946, in Baku – 10 December 1997, in Baku) was an Azerbaijani footballer who played as a forward. Throughout most of his playing and coaching career, Banishevskiy was committed to his originally domestic club, Neftçi. He is widely considered the greatest Azerbaijani footballer of all time. He played for the Soviet Union national football team, winning 51 caps and scoring 20 goals. Banishevskiy played for the Soviet side in the 1966 FIFA World Cup, as well as in European Championship 1968 and 1972. His club team was Neftçi, and he scored 136 goals in Soviet Top League competition. The striker was unofficially named Azerbaijan's Player of the Year three times-in 1966, 1967, and 1978. In November 2003, as part of the celebration of UEFA's Jubilee, he was selected as the Golden Player for Azerbaijan by the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan as the country's most outstanding player over the past 50 years.

3. Eduard Markarov (b. 1942)

With an HPI of 51.21, Eduard Markarov is the 3rd most famous Azerbaijani Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Eduard Artyomovich Markarov (Armenian: Էդուարդ Մարկարով, Russian: Эдуард Артёмович Маркаров, Azerbaijani: Eduard Artyomoviç Markarov, born on 20 June 1942) is a retired Soviet football player who played striker for clubs Torpedo Armavir, Neftchi Baku and Ararat Yerevan and for the Soviet Union national football team. In his career as a manager, his last team was the Armenian Premier League club Mika Yerevan. He was a member of the Ararat Yerevan team that won the Soviet Top League in 1973 and the Soviet Cup in 1973 and 1975. Markarov scored 5 goals for Ararat Yerevan at the 1974–75 European Cup, sharing top goalscorer with Gerd Müller of Bayern Munich. He played three matches for the Soviet national squad and participated with the team at the 1966 FIFA World Cup, where they came in fourth place. As a manager, Markarov led Mika Yerevan to victory at the Armenian Cup in 2000 and 2001. Markarov was awarded the Master of Sport of the USSR title in 1963, the Honored Master of Sport of the USSR title in 1973 and the Honored Coach of the Armenian SSR title in 1983.

4. Alakbar Mammadov (1930 - 2014)

With an HPI of 48.36, Alakbar Mammadov is the 4th most famous Azerbaijani Soccer Player. Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Alakbar Mammadov (Azerbaijani: Ələkbər Məmmədov; Russian: Алекпер Мамедов; 9 May 1930 – 28 July 2014) was a Soviet and Azerbaijani footballer best known as a striker for FC Dynamo Moscow in the 1950s and later as the first manager of the independent Azerbaijan national football team. He has been classified as a Master of Sport of the USSR as a four-time champion player in the Soviet Top League and a member of the Soviet national team. Mammadov also played for and managed his hometown club Neftçi PFK for a total of 12 years. He was only player to score four goals against AC Milan at San Siro.

5. Gurban Gurbanov (b. 1972)

With an HPI of 46.85, Gurban Gurbanov is the 5th most famous Azerbaijani Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 32 different languages.

Gurban Osman oghlu Gurbanov (Azerbaijani: Qurban Osman oğlu Qurbanov; born 13 April 1972) is an Azerbaijani football manager and former player who manages Qarabag. He played as a forward. Starting out with local club Kur 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. From 2017 to 2018 he was the manager of the Azerbaijan national team. Gurbanov has won a total of 14 trophies, five as a player and nine as a manager.

6. Arkady Andreasyan (1947 - 2020)

With an HPI of 46.13, Arkady Andreasyan is the 6th most famous Azerbaijani Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Arkady Georgievich Andreasyan (Armenian: Արկադի Գեորգիի Անդրեասյան, Russian: Аркадий Георгиевич Андреасян; 11 August 1947 – 23 December 2020) was a Soviet Armenian football player and manager. He played as midfielder for Ararat Yerevan in most of his club career and for the Soviet Union national football team. He was a member of the Ararat Yerevan team that won the Soviet Top League in 1973 and the Soviet Cup in 1973 and 1975 and a member of the Soviet Olympic football team that won bronze at the 1972 Summer Olympics. Andreasyan was awarded the Master of Sport of the USSR title in 1971, the Honoured Coach of the Armenian SSR title in 1982 and the Order For Merit to the Fatherland of Armenia in 2011. He was the manager of Ararat Yerevan.

7. Igor Ponomaryov (b. 1960)

With an HPI of 39.95, Igor Ponomaryov is the 7th most famous Azerbaijani Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Igor Anatolyevich Ponomaryov (Russian: Игорь Анатольевич Пономарёв; Azerbaijani: İqor Anatoli oğlu Ponomaryov; born 24 February 1960) is an Azerbaijani and Russian football manager and a former Soviet player. He is a board member of Sabah.

8. Rashad Sadygov (b. 1982)

With an HPI of 39.87, Rashad Sadygov is the 8th most famous Azerbaijani Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Rashad Sadygov (Azerbaijani: Rəşad Sadıqov; born 16 June 1982) is an Azerbaijani football manager and former player who played as a centre-back. Sadigov is the most capped player in the history of Azerbaijan national team with 111 games and captained the team since 2004 and he is widely recognized as one of the strongest players in the history of independent Azerbaijan, as he won the national league title six times and was selected as the footballer of the year six times. He played in UEFA Europa League and UEFA Champions League for FK Qarabağ.

9. Vali Gasimov (b. 1968)

With an HPI of 37.64, Vali Gasimov is the 9th most famous Azerbaijani Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Vali Aydin oglu Gasimov (Azerbaijani: Vəli Aydın oğlu Qasımov, also spelled Veli Aydin oglu Kasumov; Russian: Вели Айдынович Касумов; born 4 October 1968) is an Azerbaijani football coach and a former player who played as a striker.

10. Yura Movsisyan (b. 1987)

With an HPI of 34.70, Yura Movsisyan is the 10th most famous Azerbaijani Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 32 different languages.

Yura Movsisyan (Armenian: Յուրա Մովսիսյան; born August 2, 1987) is an Armenian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Most notably, Movsisyan played for Spartak Moscow in the Russian Premier League. He played for the Armenia national football team, ending his career with 14 goals in 38 international games.

People

Pantheon has 20 people classified as Azerbaijani soccer players born between 1925 and 1992. Of these 20, 16 (80.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Azerbaijani soccer players include Eduard Markarov, Gurban Gurbanov, and Igor Ponomaryov. The most famous deceased Azerbaijani soccer players include Tofiq Bahramov, Anatoliy Banishevskiy, and Alakbar Mammadov. As of April 2024, 4 new Azerbaijani soccer players have been added to Pantheon including Igor Ponomaryov, Vali Gasimov, and Araz Abdullayev.