Armenia national football team

Armenia
Nickname(s) Հավաքական Havaqakan (The Collective team)
Association Football Federation of Armenia
Confederation UEFA (Europe)
Head coach Armen Gyulbudaghyants
Captain Henrikh Mkhitaryan
Most caps Sargis Hovsepyan (132)[1]
Top scorer Henrikh Mkhitaryan (25)
Home stadium Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, Yerevan[2]
FIFA code ARM
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 100 Steady (20 September 2018)
Highest 30 (February 2014)
Lowest 159 (July 1994)
Elo ranking
Current 93 Steady (20 August 2018)
Highest 65 (27 May 2014)
Lowest 126 (May 1995)
First international
 Armenia 0–0 Moldova 
(Yerevan, Armenia; October 14, 1992)
Biggest win
 Armenia 7–1 Guatemala 
(Los Angeles, California, USA; May 28, 2016)
Biggest defeat
 Chile 7–0 Armenia 
(Viña del Mar, Chile; January 4, 1997)
 Georgia 7–0 Armenia 
(Tbilisi, Georgia; March 30, 1997)

The Armenia national football team (Armenian: Հայաստանի ֆուտբոլի ազգային հավաքական, Hayastani futboli azgayin havak'akan) represents Armenia in association football and is controlled by the Football Federation of Armenia, the governing body for football in Armenia. After gaining independence from the Soviet Union, the team played its first international match on October 12, 1992. Armenia's home ground is the Republican Stadium in Yerevan . The national team has participated in the qualification of every major tournament from the UEFA Euro 1996 onwards, though they are yet to qualify for the knockout stage in either a UEFA European Football Championship or a FIFA World Cup.[3] In what was the Armenian national squad's greatest success at present, the team came in third place in the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying stage, with controversial officiating preventing them from achieving second place, and hence moving on to the final tournament.[4]

The primary training ground is at the Technical Center-Academy of the Football Federation of Armenia in the northern Avan District of the capital Yerevan, and the team plays their home matches at the Republican Stadium.

History

Armenia became an independent state in 1991, the Armenian SSR having previously played for the Soviet Union national football team. The Football Federation of Armenia was founded on 18 January 1992 and established relations with FIFA in 1992 and with UEFA in 1993.[5] The history of the Armenia national team began on 14 October 1992, when Armenia played its first match against Moldova. That meeting ended in a goalless draw. Since 1996, the team is a member of qualifiers European and World Championships.[6] Armenia has competed in every UEFA Euro qualification and FIFA World Cup qualification since 1994.[7]

The first head coach of the Armenian national squad was Soviet Armenian football star Eduard Markarov. Armenian winner of the UEFA Jubilee Awards and fellow Soviet Armenian football great Khoren Hovhannisyan also became a head coach. Many of the early coaches of the national team never stayed for longer than two years. Scottish coach Ian Porterfield became head coach in 2006 and began to lead the team to some of its first successes in the international stage. Under his leadership, the Armenian team had played a series of great matches with victories over Kazakhstan 2–1, Poland 1–0 and Portugal 1–1, with Cristiano Ronaldo in the lineup. But then tragedy struck; the 62-year-old Porterfield died of cancer, leaving his started work unfinished. An acting assistant coach, Vardan Minasyan, became acting head coach following Porterfield's death. Minasyan learned much from Porterfield and Samvel Darbinyan, another former head coach of Armenia, during this time about coaching and managing.[8] On February 10, 2009, after the draw for the qualifying round teams of the UEFA Euro 2012, by order of the President of the Football Federation of Armenia Ruben Hayrapetyan, Minasyan continued to lead the Armenian national squad, only now as the official head coach.[9][10][11]

In the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying matches, Minasyan led Armenia in Group B against Russia, Slovakia, Ireland, Macedonia and Andorra. Armenia, considered a heavy underdog, defeated the group favorite Slovakia with two crushing defeats 4–0 and 3–1, defeated Andorra in two matches as well 4–0 and 3–0, drew with Macedonia 2–2 and defeated them in the deciding match 4–1 and tied with the group winners Russia 0–0. The Armenian team scored the most goals out of Group B, with a total of 22. Henrikh Mkhitaryan of Armenia scored 6 goals, the most goals scored by a single player in Group B.[12][13] The national team almost made the final draw, but controversially lost in a decisive match against Ireland 1–2. Armenian goalkeeper Roman Berezovsky was given a red card by Spanish referee Eduardo Gonzalez at the 26th-minute for supposedly touching the ball outside the goal area. However, replays clearly showed the ball touched his chest and never touched his hands. Replays also showed that Ireland striker Simon Cox had actually touched the ball with his right hand.[14] Despite this, Gonzalez did not penalize Cox. Cox would later admit he touched the ball with his hand.[15] Had Cox’s offence been punished, Armenia would have been awarded a free-kick.[4] Berezovsky was substituted with 19-year-old debuting Arsen Petrosyan. Valeri Aleksanyan later accidentally scored an own goal past Petrosyan, which ended up deciding the match. Armenia and Ireland would each score another goal. The Football Federation of Armenia unsuccessfully filed protest over the match.[14][16] Gonzalez had later resigned after the match.[17] Despite not getting to play in the UEFA Euro 2012, Minasyan brought the Armenian national team to a record #41 FIFA ranking, placed the team in a personal best third place in the group stage and went on to become the longest leading head coach of the Armenian football team. Minasyan stated he was proud of the entire team.[18][19] They were all welcomed in the airport back in Armenia as heroes.[20]

Stadium

Armenia vs Portugal during a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match at the Republican Stadium in Yerevan

Hrazdan Stadium was built from 1969 to 1970 on Athens St., Kentron in a period of 18 months with the financial support of the oil magnate Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. A total amount of 5 million rubles was allocated for Hrazdan.[21] The stadium was named after the slope of the Hrazdan River. It is the largest stadium in Armenia, with more than 70,000 seats. The opening of the stadium took place on 29 November 1970.[21] The Armenia national team played home matches in Hrazdan until 2000. Several Armenian football clubs also played in Hrazdan. In Soviet times, it was one of the largest stadiums in the Soviet Union (among the top four) and one of the few double-tiered stadiums. Hrazdan was the football ground stadium for Ararat Yerevan. Hrazdan Stadium hosted its first official football match on 19 May 1971 when Ararat Yerevan defeated Kairat 3–0 in front of a record 78,000 spectators.[22] The stadium would host Ararat Yerevan for the final victory of the club in the 1973 Soviet Top League and in the 1973 and 1975 Soviet Cup. The Soviet Union national football team played only two matches at the stadium, both of which date back to 1978. In April of that year, in a friendly game against Finland, the USSR won 10–2. Six months later, in a qualifying match for the UEFA Euro 1980 against Greece the Soviet team won again 2–0. The match with Finland hosted 12,000 spectators and the match with Greece hosted 40,000.[5] The capacity of the stadium decreased from 70,000 to an all-seater of 53,849 spectators. By the second half of 2012, Hrazdan was completely renovated to become the regular venue of the national team's home matches.

The Republican Stadium was renovated in 1999 and, since 2000, has been the home ground for Armenia. The stadium was built in 1953 and finished within a year's time.[23] Republican Stadium has a capacity of 14,968. During the Soviet period and onward from 1953 to 1999, it was known as Dinamo Stadium. The stadium had its official name changed to "Republican Stadium named after Vazgen Sargsyan" in 1999, after Armenian war hero and former Prime Minister of Armenia Vazgen Sargsyan, who died that year. Local clubs Pyunik and Ulisses play home matches at the Republican Stadium. In 2008, the stadium went under a large-scale development in order to modernize the playing surface and to create a high level VIP section and other facilities which met UEFA standards.[5]

Armenia played a match in Hrazdan in 2008 against Turkey after partial renovation earlier that year. The number of seats decreased from 75,000 to 53,849.[24] It is planned to hold Armenia's home matches after a complete renovation in 2012. On 12 October 2012, Armenia played a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Italy, but has not used Hrazdan since. Hrazdan is used mostly for Armenian football clubs and a number of other athletic competitions.[5]

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup record

FIFA World Cup record FIFA World Cup qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA Squad Pld W D L GF GA Position
Uruguay 1930 to Italy 1990 Part of  Soviet Union-------
United States 1994 Did not enter-------
France 1998 Did not qualify101548174/6
South Korea Japan 2002 100557196/6
Germany 2006 122199256/7
South Africa 2010 101186226/6
Brazil 2014 1041512135/6
Russia 2018 10 21710265/6
Qatar 2022 To be determined -------
Canada Mexico United States 2026 -------
Total 0/7 - 62 10 14 38 52 122 -

UEFA European Championship record

UEFA European Championship record UEFA European Championship qualifying record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA Position
France 1960 to Sweden 1992 Part of  Soviet Union-------
England 1996 Did not qualify 10 1 2 7 5 17 6/6
Belgium Netherlands 2000 10 2 2 6 8 15 5/6
Portugal 2004 8 2 1 5 7 16 4/5
Austria Switzerland 2008 12 2 3 7 4 13 7/8
Poland Ukraine 2012 10 5 2 3 22 10 3/6
France 2016 8 0 2 6 5 14 5/5
Europe 2020 To be determined To be determined
Total 0/6 58 12 12 34 51 85 -

Recent results and forthcoming fixtures

2017

2018

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League D matches against Gibraltar and Macedonia on 13 and 16 October, 2018 respectively.
Caps and goals correct as of 9 September 2018 after the match against Macedonia.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Arsen Beglaryan (1993-02-18) 18 February 1993 14 0 Latvia Liepāja
16 1GK Aram Ayrapetyan (1986-11-22) 22 November 1986 5 0 Armenia Banants
12 1GK Anatoly Aivazov (1996-06-08) 8 June 1996 0 0 Armenia Banants
15 2DF Hrayr Mkoyan (1986-09-02) 2 September 1986 45 1 Armenia Alashkert
13 2DF Kamo Hovhannisyan (1992-10-05) 5 October 1992 39 0 Kazakhstan Zhetysu
3 2DF Varazdat Haroyan (1992-08-24) 24 August 1992 36 2 Russia Ural Yekaterinburg
19 2DF Hovhannes Hambardzumyan (1990-10-04) 4 October 1990 25 2 Cyprus Enosis Neon Paralimni
4 2DF Taron Voskanyan (1993-02-22) 22 February 1993 25 0 Armenia Alashkert
25 2DF Gagik Daghbashyan (1990-10-19) 19 October 1990 11 0 Armenia Alashkert
2 2DF Artur Kartashyan (1997-01-08) 8 January 1997 0 0 Armenia Pyunik
2DF Artyom Khachaturov (1992-06-18) 18 June 1992 2 0 Armenia Lori
18 3MF Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Captain) (1989-01-21) 21 January 1989 76 25 England Arsenal
8 3MF Marcos Pizzelli (1984-10-03) 3 October 1984 63 10 Kazakhstan Aktobe
10 3MF Gevorg Ghazaryan (1988-04-05) 5 April 1988 59 10 Portugal Chaves
6 3MF Karlen Mkrtchyan (1988-11-25) 25 November 1988 50 2 Armenia Pyunik
17 3MF Artak Yedigaryan (1990-03-18) 18 March 1990 30 1 Armenia Alashkert
7 3MF Edgar Malakyan (1990-09-22) 22 September 1990 20 0 Kazakhstan Zhetysu
3MF Artak Grigoryan (1987-10-19) 19 October 1987 13 1 Armenia Alashkert
21 3MF Rumyan Hovsepyan (1991-11-13) 13 November 1991 12 2 Armenia Pyunik
9 3MF Gor Malakyan (1994-06-12) 12 June 1994 12 0 Armenia Ararat-Armenia
23 3MF Ivan Yagan (1989-10-11) 11 October 1989 3 1 Belgium Eupen
24 3MF Petros Avetisyan (1996-01-07) 7 January 1996 0 0 Armenia Pyunik
11 4FW Artur Sarkisov (1987-01-19) 19 January 1987 39 6 Russia Yenisey Krasnoyarsk
14 4FW Yura Movsisyan (1987-08-02) 2 August 1987 34 9 United States Chicago Fire
20 4FW Tigran Barseghyan (1993-09-22) 22 September 1993 17 2 Republic of Macedonia Vardar
22 4FW Sargis Adamyan (1993-05-23) 23 May 1993 9 0 Germany Jahn Regensburg

Recent call-ups

The following players were called up in the last 12 months.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Valeri Voskanian (1994-04-06) 6 April 1994 0 0 Ukraine Mykolaiv v.  Moldova, 4 June 2018
GK Gor Manukyan (1993-09-27) 27 September 1993 1 0 Armenia Pyunik v.  Lithuania, 27 March 2018
GK Sevak Aslanyan (1998-05-17) 17 May 1998 0 0 Armenia Pyunik v.  Lithuania, 27 March 2018
GK Arman Meliksetyan (1995-06-21) 21 June 1995 0 0 Armenia Artsakh v.  Cyprus, 13 November 2017
DF Hayk Ishkhanyan (1989-06-24) 24 June 1989 6 1 Armenia Gandzasar v.  Macedonia, 9 September 2018
DF Narek Petrosyan (1996-01-25) 25 January 1996 0 0 Armenia Banants v.  Macedonia, 9 September 2018
DF André Calisir (1990-06-13) 13 June 1990 3 0 Sweden Göteborg v.  Macedonia, 9 September 2018
DF Armen Manucharyan (1995-02-03) 3 February 1995 2 0 Armenia Pyunik v.  Liechtenstein, 6 September 2018
DF Gaël Andonian (1995-02-07) 7 February 1995 23 0 Unattached v.  Moldova, 4 June 2018
DF Jordy Monroy (1996-01-03) 3 January 1996 2 0 Colombia Boyacá Chicó v.  Moldova, 4 June 2018
DF Robert Darbinyan (1995-10-04) 4 October 1995 1 0 Armenia Ararat-Armenia v.  Lithuania, 27 March 2018
DF Artyom Mikaelyan (1991-07-12) 12 July 1991 2 0 Armenia Shirak v.  Cyprus, 13 November 2017
MF Erik Vardanyan (1998-06-07) 7 June 1998 2 1 Armenia Pyunik v.  Macedonia, 9 September 2018
MF Aras Özbiliz (1990-03-09) 9 March 1990 37 6 Netherlands Willem II v.  Macedonia, 9 September 2018
MF Artem Simonyan (1995-02-20) 20 February 1995 9 0 Armenia Alashkert v.  Moldova, 4 June 2018
MF Edgar Babayan (1995-10-28) 28 October 1995 1 0 Denmark Hobro v.  Moldova, 4 June 2018
MF Gegham Kadymyan (1992-10-19) 19 October 1992 10 2 Ukraine Vorskla Poltava v.  Lithuania, 27 March 2018
FW Gegham Harutyunyan (1990-08-23) 23 August 1990 0 0 Kazakhstan Shakhter Karagandy v.  Moldova, 4 June 2018
FW Norberto Briasco-Balekian (1996-02-29) 29 February 1996 2 0 Argentina Huracán v.  Lithuania, 27 March 2018
FW Ruslan Koryan (1988-06-15) 15 June 1988 14 3 Armenia Pyunik v.  Cyprus, 13 November 2017

Records

Lists of the ten players with the most caps top goalscorers and top assists for Armenia, as of 9 September, 2018 (players in bold are still available for selection):

2018–19 UEFA Nations League

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion Republic of Macedonia Liechtenstein Armenia Gibraltar
1  Macedonia 3 3 0 0 8 1 +7 9 Promotion to League C — 4–1 2–0 19 Nov
2  Liechtenstein 3 1 0 2 4 6 −2 3[lower-alpha 1] 16 Nov — 19 Nov 2–0
3  Armenia 3 1 0 2 2 4 −2 3[lower-alpha 1] 16 Oct 2–1 — 0–1
4  Gibraltar 3 1 0 2 1 4 −3 3[lower-alpha 1] 0–2 16 Oct 16 Nov —
Updated to match(es) played on 13 October 2018. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. 1 2 3 Head-to-head goal difference: Liechtenstein +1, Armenia 0, Gibraltar −1.

Managers

Vardan Minasyan, previously held the position from 2009 to 2014 and again briefly in 2018, the longest period of time.
As of 8 October 2018
Manager Period Pld Won Tied Lost GF GA Win %
Armenia Eduard Markarov 1992–1994 6 1 2 3 1 5 16.7%
Armenia Samvel Darbinyan 1995–1996 9 1 1 7 5 21 11.1%
Armenia Khoren Hovhannisyan 1996–1997 16 2 5 9 10 41 12.5%
Armenia Souren Barseghyan 1998–1999 14 4 2 8 11 19 28.6%
Armenia Varuzhan Sukiasyan 2000–2001 17 3 7 7 17 27 17.6%
Armenia Andranik Adamyan (caretaker) 2002 1 1 0 0 2 0 100%
Argentina Oscar López 2002 2 0 1 1 2 4 0%
Armenia Andranik Adamyan (caretaker) 2003 1 0 0 1 0 2 0%
Romania Mihai Stoichiță 2003–2004 10 4 1 5 11 17 40%
France Bernard Casoni 2004–2005 8 1 1 6 5 18 12.5%
Netherlands Henk Wisman 2005–2006 8 1 1 6 5 14 12.5%
Scotland Ian Porterfield 2006–2007 10 2 4 4 5 9 20%
Armenia Vardan Minasyan (caretaker)
England Tom Jones (caretaker)		 2007 6 1 1 4 2 8 16.7%
Denmark Jan Poulsen 2008–2009 12 3 4 5 9 19 25%
Armenia Vardan Minasyan 2009–2014 39 14 4 21 56 58 35.9%
Switzerland Bernard Challandes 2014–2015 9 1 1 7 9 23 11.1%
Armenia Sargis Hovsepyan (caretaker) 2015 4 0 1 3 2 9 0%
Armenia Varuzhan Sukiasyan 2015–2016 7 2 1 4 12 12 28.6%
Armenia Artur Petrosyan 2016–2018 10 5 1 4 21 21 50%
Armenia Vardan Minasyan 2018 4 1 2 1 3 4 25%
Armenia Armen Gyulbudaghyants 2018- 0 0 0 0 0 0 0%

All-time head-to-head record

Key
Positive balance (more wins)
Neutral balance (equal W/L ratio)
Negative balance (more losses)

    Team image

    Nickname

    The Armenia team is called the Lernakanner (Լեռնականներ), literally the "Mountaineers".[25]

    Jerseys and Colour

    The home gear color were previously the Red-Blue-Orange Armenian tricolour, designed by Stepan Malkhasyants. All three colors were on the first Armenian national team jerseys ever designed. The definition of the colors, as stated in government website, is:

    The Red emblematizes the Armenian Highland, the Armenian people's continued struggle for survival, maintenance of the Orthodox Christian faith, Armenia's independence and freedom. The Blue emblematizes the will of the people of Armenia to live beneath peaceful skies. The Orange emblematizes the creative talent and hard-working nature of the people of Armenia.[26]

    In the Euro 2012 qualification matches, played in 2010 and 2011, Armenia's home colors were red-blue-red, produced by Hummel. Beginning with May 2012 friendly with Greece, Armenia switched to all-red home colours and all-white away kit produced Adidas.[5]

    Kit suppliers

    Kit provider Period
    Germany Puma 1992–1999
    Italy Lotto 2000–2003
    Denmark Hummel 2004–2011
    Germany Adidas 2012–2018
    Italy Macron 2018–

    See also

    References

    1. ↑ "Armenia national football team". Retrieved 14 June 2016.
    2. ↑ "Home". Retrieved 14 June 2016.
    3. ↑ "Armenia". FIFA.com. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
    4. 1 2 Ogden, Mark (11 October 2011). "Republic of Ireland 2 Armenia 1: match report". London: The Telegraph. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
    5. 1 2 3 4 5 Հայաստանի ֆուտբոլի ֆեդերացիա – ՀՖՖ-ի մասին (in Armenian). FFA.am. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
    6. ↑ "ARMENIA-MOLDOVA 0:0". Armfootball.tripod.com. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
    7. ↑ "ARMENIA". Soccerway. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
    8. ↑ Վարդան Մինասյանի ամանորյա անկեղծացումը (in Armenian). sport.news.am. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
    9. ↑ Рубен Айрапетян: Вардан Минасян продолжит возглавлять сборную Армении (in Russian). ArmFootball.com. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
    10. ↑ Рубен Айрапетян: тренером сборной будет Минасян (in Russian). ArmFootball.com. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
    11. ↑ Վարդան Մինասյանը հավաքականը կգլխավորի մինչև 2012թ. (in Armenian). aysor.am. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
    12. ↑ "UEFA EURO 2012 Standings". UEFA.com. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
    13. ↑ "Armenia – History and achievements". Footballtop.com. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
    14. 1 2 "Euro 2012 qual. – Armenia file protest over keeper's red card". Yahoo! Sport. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
    15. ↑ "Ireland 2 – 1 Armenia. Cox admits cheating!". YouTube.com. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
    16. ↑ Klopman, Michael (12 October 2011). "Valeri Aleksanyan Own Goal: Armenia Player Makes Embarrassing Play Against Ireland (VIDEO)". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
    17. ↑ Իտուրալդե Գոնսալեսն ավարտում է մրցավարի կարիերան (in Armenian). sport.news.am. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
    18. ↑ Վարդան Մինասյան. Ես հպարտ եմ մեր ֆուտբոլիստներով, նրանք շատ լավ աշխատանք կատարեցին (in Armenian). PanArmenian.Net. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
    19. ↑ Վարդան Մինասյան. Մեր խմբի բոլոր թիմերը հավասար էին, սակայն, Հայաստանն ամենագեղեցիկ խաղը ցուցադրեց (in Armenian). PanArmenian.Net. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
    20. ↑ Հայ ֆուտբոլիստներին օդանավակայանում դիմավորել են որպես հերոսների (in Armenian). PanArmenian.Net. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
    21. 1 2 "Football diplomacy, Armenia-Turkey: From Ararat's victory to Jorkaeff's goal". ArmeniaNow.com. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
    22. ↑ "Soviet top league 1971". Rsssf.com. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
    23. ↑ ՄԱՐԶԱԴԱՇՏ. ՎԱԶԳԵՆ ՍԱՐԳՍՅԱՆԻ ԱՆՎԱՆ ՀԱՆՐԱՊԵՏԱԿԱՆ ՄԱՐԶԱԴԱՇՏԸ (in Armenian). Armmonuments.am. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
    24. ↑ "Hrazdan Holding:Sports Complex". Hrazdanholding.com. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
    25. ↑ "Soccer: Armenia to seek victories as World Cup qualifyng [sic] matches resume". ArmeniaNow. 7 June 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
    26. ↑ "General Information: section the Flag". Government of Republic of Armenia. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
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