Azerbaijan vs Sweden

Tofiq Bahramov Stadium sets the stage for Azerbaijan’s opening UEFA Nations League Group C/1 showdown against Sweden.

Azerbaijan’s new Nations League campaign commences under newly-appointed boss Fernando Santos, whose first task is to lead the country to back-to-back wins for the first time since October 2023 following a 3-2 victory against Kazakhstan last time out. Santos’ impressive win ratio across his previous 164 games in charge of Greece (53.06%), Portugal (61.47%), and Poland (50%) bolsters Azerbaijan’s hopes of pulling off an upset in Baku. Adding to Azerbaijans’ confidence, they thumped Sweden 3-0 in their last encounter on home soil, halting an underwhelming three-match losing H2H streak ‘to nil.’ That victory kicked off Azerbaijan’s four-game unbeaten run on home soil (W3, D1), during which they scored precisely three goals on two occasions, suggesting Santos’ touchline debut could produce fireworks.

On the other hand, Sweden will be out to avenge last year’s humiliating result in Baku as new manager Jon Dahl Tomasson looks to turn the corner following an underwhelming run of three defeats from his first four international games in charge of the Scandinavian outfit (W1). The first-ever non-Swede to coach the national team is under severe pressure to turn the Blagult’s fortunes around after back-to-back relegations in the Nations League. On top of that, the Swedes have failed to qualify for two major international tournaments in the past three years, heightening the pressure on Tomasson. Breaking the deadlock could be a recipe for Sweden to take three points in Baku, considering all four previous H2Hs have seen a team to open the scoring claim the victory.