Azernews.Az

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Azerbaijan’s Qarabag FC has made it into the list of the top 100 greatest football clubs in the world.

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) published a ranking of football clubs for the entire history of the main football European Cup - the Champions League (previously the tournament was called the European Cup) from 1955 to 2019 on December 23.

The current champion of Azerbaijani Premier League Qarabag FC ranks 84th in the list with 41 points. The club from Azerbaijan’s occupied Agdam city, which has related to Baku, has played 36 matches in the Champions League during its history. Qarabag FC celebrated 14 victories, played a draw 13 times and had nine defeats.

The ranking also includes six more football clubs from Azerbaijan. Neftçi PFC ranks 168th place (15 points), now defunct Bakı FC, ranked 268th 6 points), Keşla FC (previously Inter FC) ranked 293th with one point less than Bakı FC.

As to the other local clubs, FC Shamkir and Kapaz PFC took 396th and 397 places respectively, scoring two points each. Xazar Lankaran FC with one point is on 424th position.

Clubs ranked on theoretical points total (2 points win, 1 point draw, results after extra time count, all matches that went to penalties count as draw).

In the 2017-2018 season, Qarabag FC opened a new page in the history of Azerbaijani football by reaching the group stage of the UEFA Champions League.

The club is named after Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region, which has been under Armenian occupation for over two decades.

Qarabag FC is among few clubs worldwide with refugee status. After the occupation of Agdam in 1993, the team was compelled to leave its hometown and settled in different cities. Today Qarabag FC plays home matches in Baku.

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

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