Two European nations have never faced each other in a competitive match due to a historical conflict.
As club football takes a break for the international break, fans’ attention will now turn to World Cup qualification with 28 nations – including England - having already secured their spots at next summer’s tournament in North America.
African teams Algeria, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, and Tunisia have all secured their spots.
In Asian qualifying, Japan, Australia, Iran, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Uzbekistan, and Jordan have qualified, while New Zealand have secured their place via Oceania qualification.
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From South America, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, and Uruguay have qualified, while co-hosts Canada, Mexico, and the USA qualified automatically.
The 2026 tournament will feature 48 teams, whereas the last edition had just 32.
20 qualification spots are still available in the next two international breaks.
And despite the World Cup being a festival of football, which brings nations together, some countries are banned from facing each other by both FIFA and UEFA.
One of the fixtures is Armenia vs Azerbaijan.
The nations have been involved in a conflict relating to the mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh for several decades.
The area lies in the mountainous South Caucasus region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.
The conflict has been ongoing since the late 1980s – following the fall of the Soviet Union – with thousands reported killed during six weeks of fighting back in 2020, as per BBC News.
Nagorno-Karabakh’s regional parliament voted to become part of Armenia in the late 1980s, while Azerbaijan suppressed the movement despite Armenia backing it.
This resulted in clashes between ethnic groups and eventually full-scale war. Decades of conflict followed, with thousands killed on both sides with millions displaced.
According to AP, the region was under ethnic Armenian control from 1994 before Azerbaijan regained some of the territories and parts of Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020. The war ended with an armistice placed under Russian peacekeepers.
Back in 2020, UEFA imposed a temporary suspension of matches in both countries. This came after the body decided in 2007 that, for security reasons, the teams would be separate in draws for all of its competitions.
In 2008, the two nations were unable to play each other in a qualifying match for Euro 2008 after they were drawn in the same group.
Currently, there is no official record of the teams facing each other in senior men’s football.
As per UEFA’s regulations, there are still excessive travel restrictions between the Armenian capital, Yerevan, and the Azerbaijani capital, Baku.
But according to Azertac, the countries’ Under-19s sides faced off in 2006, with Azerbaijan winning 2-1.
Full list of fixtures that are banned by UEFA and FIFA
Spain v Gibraltar - Disputes over who owns Gibraltar
Armenia v Azerbaijan - Ethical and territorial conflict
Kosovo v Serbia - Historical and ethical conflict - Kosovo independence
Kosovo v Bosnia and Herzegovina - Bosnia support of Serbia against Kosovo
Kosovo v Russia - Russia support of Serbia against Kosovo
Russia v Ukraine - Ongoing conflict
Ukraine vs Belarus - Belarus links to Russia amid ongoing conflict
Topics: Football, Azerbaijan, UEFA, FIFA
Luke Davies