Azerbaijan’s national football team suffered a narrow 2–1 defeat to Ukraine in a Group D qualifying match for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, played at the Cracovia Stadium in Kraków, Poland.
Ukraine took the lead in the 30th minute when Oleksiy Kutsulyak headed in a cross from the right flank. Azerbaijan managed to level the score just before halftime – a deflected ball off Vitaliy Mykolenko rolled into his own net after a dangerous cross from Elvin Jafarguliyev.
In the second half, Ukraine regained control. Midfielder Ruslan Malinovskyi struck the decisive goal in the 64th minute, securing all three points for his team.
With this result, France leads Group D with 10 points, followed by Ukraine (7), Iceland (4), and Azerbaijan, which sits at the bottom of the table with one draw and three losses from four games.
Azerbaijan will next host Iceland in Baku, while Ukraine faces a challenging away match against France. Both fixtures are scheduled for November 13.
