Gurban Gurbanov

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

In his playing days, he was a forward. Starting out with his local club Kür Nur in 1988, Qurbanov enjoyed a decorated 18-year career. He scored 178 goals in 399 league matches. With 14 goals in 68 matches, he used to be the Azerbaijan national team's all-time leading goalscorer in international matches until Emin Mahmudov broke his record in 2025.

After coaching Neftçi from 2006 to 2007, Qurbanov became the manager of Qarabağ in 2008. From 2017 to 2018, he was simultaneously the manager of the Azerbaijan national team. Qurbanov has won a total of 22 trophies in his career: five as a player and 17 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, Qurbanov was the leading scorer in the Azerbaijan Premier League for Neftchi with 25 goals. The striker was named Azerbaijan's Player of the Year once, in 2003.

International career Qurbanov 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 was the national team goal scoring record until it was broken on 9 September 2025 by Emin Mahmudov.

Managerial career After Qurbanov 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.

In May 2014, he guided Qarabağ to their second Azerbaijani league title after 21 years. 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.

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

On 3 November 2017, Qurbanov was appointed manager of the Azerbaijan national team. A year later, on 8 December 2018, he resigned.

In 2025, with him still managing the team, Qarabağ FK reached the league phase of the UEFA Champions League. They won their two opening games against Benfica in Lisbon and Copenhagen at home.

On 23 December 2025, at the event dedicated to the 2025 sports year review organized by the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Azerbaijan, Qurban Qurbanov was awarded the title of “Best Men’s Coach of 2025.”

Personal life Gurban is the brother of Azerbaijani former footballer Musa Qurbanov. He is the father of Azerbaijan national team player Musa Qurbanlı.

In 2012, he campaigned to stop domestic violence.

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

Managerial statistics

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

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