Zira FK
Also written as Zira.
The club
Zira FK was established on 28 July 2014 and joined the Azerbaijan First Division immediately, making it one of the youngest clubs in the Azerbaijan Premier League by a wide margin. The club is based in Zirə, a settlement on the outskirts of Baku, and its name comes from that district rather than from any sponsor or patron. The current president is Taleh Nasibov.
Zira FK is not Qarabağ FK, the Premier League's dominant club, founded in 1987 (with roots back to a 1951 club called Məhsul), originally from Aghdam in the Karabakh region but based in Baku since 1993 because of the war, and now the record twelve-time Azerbaijani champions who in 2026 became the first Azerbaijani club to reach the UEFA Champions League knockout phase. Zira FK is also not Neftçi PFK, one of Azerbaijan's oldest clubs, founded in 1937 as Neftyanik, based at the 11,000-capacity Neftçi Arena in Baku, and a nine-time league champion who in 2012 became the first Azerbaijani side to reach the group stage of a European competition. Zira have never won the Azerbaijani league and their only major honours are Azerbaijan Cup runner-up finishes, so despite occasionally finishing above both clubs in a given Premier League table, they are a much newer and less decorated institution than either.
The home ground is the Zirə Olympic Sport Complex Stadium; sources gave its capacity as 1,500 in one context and as 1,256 in another, so the exact current capacity was not established from the sources read here. Zira play in light blue shirts with dark blue shorts at home and in purple or maroon, with matching shorts, away. The head coach is Rashad Sadygov, appointed on 17 July 2020; his assistants are listed as Eltun Yagublu, Vagif Pashayev, Nariman Huseynov, Vugar Mammad and Aghabala Ramazanov. The club's all-time leading scorer is the Georgian forward Davit Volkovi with 44 goals, ahead of the Brazilian Raphael Utzig on 19 and the Guinean Salifou Soumah on 18.
Recent seasons
Zira were promoted to the Azerbaijan Premier League after finishing second in the First Division in their debut season, 2014/15 (63 points from 30 matches, 19 wins, 6 draws, 5 defeats). Their first Premier League season, 2015/16, brought a surprise second-place finish with 62 points, but the club was not permitted to enter the UEFA Europa League that followed, a detail the sources describe without giving the reason. Results fluctuated through the following years: fourth in 2016/17 (39 points), fourth in 2017/18 (44 points), fifth in 2018/19 (31 points), fourth in a shortened 2019/20 (23 points from 20 matches), fourth in 2020/21 (38 points) and third in 2021/22 (47 points).
The club then had its best sustained run. They were fifth in 2022/23 with 50 points, runners-up in 2023/24 with 58 points (16 wins, 10 draws, 10 defeats), and runners-up again in 2024/25 with 74 points from 36 matches, 23 wins, 5 draws and 8 defeats, 59 goals for and 27 against. In 2025/26 they finished fifth.
Honours and landmarks
Zira FK have not won the Azerbaijan Premier League. Their major domestic honours are two Azerbaijan Cup runner-up finishes, in 2021/22 and 2023/24; the sources read here did not identify a season in which Zira actually won the Azerbaijan Cup. Their highest league finishes are the two second-place campaigns of 2015/16 and, ten years later, 2023/24 and 2024/25.
Notable scorelines
In the 2026/27 UEFA Conference League first qualifying round Zira beat Torpedo Kutaisi of Georgia 6-0 on aggregate. In the 2024/25 Conference League second qualifying round they beat DAC Dunajská Streda of Slovakia 6-1 on aggregate. Their heaviest recorded European defeat is a 1-6 loss to Omonia of Cyprus in the 2024/25 Conference League play-off round. Domestic record wins and defeats were not established from the sources read here.
European record
Zira's European history goes back to the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League, when they beat Differdange 03 of Luxembourg 4-1 in the first qualifying round before losing 1-3 to Astra Giurgiu of Romania in the second. Their next European entry was the 2022/23 Conference League, where they lost 0-3 to Maccabi Tel Aviv of Israel in the second qualifying round.
The 2024/25 campaign was Zira's longest European run. They lost the 2024/25 Europa League first qualifying round to Sheriff Tiraspol of Moldova on penalties after a 2-2 aggregate draw, dropping into the Conference League, where they beat DAC Dunajská Streda 6-1 in the second qualifying round and Osijek of Croatia on penalties after a 3-3 aggregate in the third qualifying round, before losing 1-6 to Omonia of Cyprus in the play-off round and missing out on the league phase.
In 2025/26 Zira lost to Hajduk Split of Croatia 2-3 in the Conference League second qualifying round. In the 2026/27 Conference League they beat Torpedo Kutaisi of Georgia 6-0 in the first qualifying round before losing 1-2 to Paide Linnameeskond of Estonia in the second qualifying round, going out overall. Sources read here gave aggregate scorelines for these European ties but not individual leg-by-leg scores, dates or scorers, so those specifics were not established from the sources read here.
Head-to-head notes
No sourced head-to-head or rivalry detail specific to Zira FK, such as a named derby opponent, was established from the sources read here.
Quotes
No directly quoted material was confirmed from the sources read here.
Right now (2026/27)
Rashad Sadygov remains head coach. Two matches into the 2026/27 Azerbaijan Premier League season Zira sit second, with two wins from two, five goals scored and one conceded, level on six points with leaders Neftçi but behind them on goal difference. Eren Aydın has scored for the club and goalkeeper Aydın Bayramov has kept a clean sheet. In Europe, Zira reached the Conference League second qualifying round in 2026/27 by beating Torpedo Kutaisi of Georgia 6-0, but lost 1-2 to Paide Linnameeskond of Estonia in the second qualifying round and were eliminated. The full run of domestic fixtures beyond the opening two matches, any summer transfer business, and the current home stadium capacity were not established from the sources read here.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zira_FK https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qarabag_FK https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neftçi_PFK https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_Azerbaijan_Premier_League
Researched and written for not4quarters. Where a fact could not be established from the sources read, this page says so rather than guessing.