The day before tomorrow's 2026 World Cup qualifier match between Azerbaijan and Ukraine, which will take place at the Republican Stadium named after Tofig Bahramov in Baku (kickoff at 19:00 Kyiv time), the Football Federation of Azerbaijan has relieved the head coach of the national team — Portuguese Fernando Santos.

"The contract between the FFA leadership and the Portuguese specialist was terminated by mutual agreement. For the match against Ukraine, the team will be led by the youth team's assistant coach Ayhan Abbasov," the organization stated.

However, at the traditional pre-match press conference, one of Azerbaijan's coaches, Rashad Eyubov, represented the national team.

"We trained according to the plan. Our goal was to psychologically prepare the team in a short period of time. Football is a team game, and we must work as a team. I believe that we have the strength and quality to achieve a positive result," — Eyubov said.