AFFA General Secretary Jahangir Farajullayev gave an interview to journalists in Reykjavik before the Iceland-Azerbaijan match in Group D within the framework of the 2026 World Cup qualifying round.

Offsideplus.az presents the interview in question:

— The team has been in Reykjavik for 3 days now. What are the impressions, is the team ready?

— First of all, the atmosphere in the team is very good. The children are motivated, everyone is willing. We want to start the cycle well. I think that will be the case. As for the demands, this is not a demand, but the result of a general discussion. We considered it acceptable, we fulfilled the demand. We have no demands from the team, they should demand from themselves. I think they do. We all expect a better game, a better result.

— Do you have any demands, do you have any promises?

— I think it is not necessary to make promises in sports, especially in football. The only promise is that the children will do their best to please the fans.

— I meant the prize...

— The prize fund is an internal issue for the team. What do we need? Motivation. The kids are motivated. It is enough to know that.

— What result will be considered acceptable tomorrow?

— In general, in any sport, when you start the game, you want to win. We want to win too.

— There is an opinion in the football community that these two games could be Fernando Santos' last games in the national team. Has the AFFA leadership formed a consensus in this regard?

— There is no consensus. The first game is the first match of the cycle. You absolutely cannot think pessimistically. If a bad opinion had been formed, Fernando Santos would not be here. We only think positively.

— Usually, before a big tournament, the AFFA leadership and president meet with the team. This time the meeting did not take place?

— I see, you are aware. The AFFA leadership met with the team. They were interested in their concerns, learned about them, and had a good discussion. It was not secret, it was an internal team meeting. It was not for the press and the public, it was just a friendly match within the team.

— Tomorrow our U-21 team will play a very difficult game in Portugal. What can we expect from it?

— Aykhan has a very big job in the team. We have discussed the preparation period with him. The expectation is to form a new team. The draw brought us to the most difficult opponent in the first match. We will meet on the road. The main thing is to test the team and come out of the trip unscathed.

The journalists' trip to Iceland is being carried out with the support of Misli and AFFA.