A club that wasn’t around nine years ago has made history by qualifying for the Champions League!
A football club formed in 2017 has done something amazing—they’ve qualified for the Champions League group stage after an exciting win on Tuesday night!
Sabah Baku from Azerbaijan didn’t even exist nine years ago, but now they’re set to play in Europe’s top club competition as the youngest team ever. They faced Israel’s Hapoel Be’er Sheva in the last qualifying round, losing the first match 2-1 away.
In the second game, the score was 2-2 as the match neared its end, with Hapoel looking like they would advance overall. But in the very last moment, Tellur Mutallimov scored a header for Sabah, making it 3-2 and sending the game into extra time.
Sabah then scored two more goals, securing their spot in Wednesday’s Champions League draw alongside big names like Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
In their first season, Sabah finished fifth in Azerbaijan’s second division, and this year they celebrated winning their very first league title. The final teams for the Champions League will be decided Wednesday, with Lyon and Fenerbahce facing off in an exciting play-off.
Sabah will play eight group matches, running from September 8, 2026, to January 27, 2027. One of their star players, Tymoteusz Puchacz, was moved to tears after this incredible win.
Before beating Hapoel, Sabah had already knocked out Wales’ The New Saints, Finland’s KuPS, and Denmark’s AGF in earlier rounds. The final play-off happened at the Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium in Baku because their usual home ground, Bank Respublika Arena in Masazir, doesn’t meet UEFA rules.
This season’s Champions League features 36 clubs. The draw is live on Wednesday at 5 pm BST from Monaco and will be shown on the Champions League’s social channels, website, and TNT Sports 1. The event will include several football legends.
So far, 30 clubs have already qualified and are in the draw. Four games will happen after the draw, so the full list of teams won’t be known just yet. The winners of Lyon vs. Fenerbahce and Viking vs. Dinamo Zagreb will also join the draw.
For the last two seasons, the tournament format has had eight teams automatically qualifying for the round of 16 as seeded teams. Those ranked 9th to 24th enter knockout play-offs and play two extra games.
This year’s Champions League final will be held at Estadio Metropolitano in Madrid.