Latvia earned its victory against Azerbaijan with a 5-1 win in Baku during the main round of the 2028 FIFA Futsal World Cup qualification tournament, lsm.lv reported on Sunday.
Both teams had opened their tournament campaigns against Czechia, with Azerbaijan falling 1-2 away and Latvia securing a 3-3 draw on the road, while Azerbaijan subsequently drew 2-2 at home against Czechia on November 5.
The result lifts Latvia to four points from two matches in Group 12.
Early Dominance From Set Pieces
Latvia capitalized heavily on set-piece situations during the opening period to build an advantage. Renards Ūdris opened the scoring in the second minute by redirecting a powerful strike from Artjoms Kozlovskis.
Edgars Tarakanovs doubled the lead in the seventh minute following a throw-in sequence involving Miks Babris, before Ūdris poked in his second goal just over a minute later. Team captain Andrejs Baklanovs extended the margin to 4-0 in the 11th minute by converting another well-executed side-out play.
Azerbaidžāna tried to counter the early deficit by deploying a flying goalkeeper tactic as early as the seventh minute when trailing 0-2. Latvia eventually punished the strategy in the 27th minute when Viktor Kuļepovs intercepted the ball in his own half and set up Babris for a finish into an empty net to make it 5-0.
Azerbaijan avoided a shutout four minutes before full-time when Nihad Ismajilov scored from a close-range team play following a power-play setup, ending the clean-sheet bid for Latvian goalkeeper Rainers Mūrnieks. Match statistics at the final whistle showed 22-20 in total shots, 11-4 in shots on target for Latvia, and 6-5 in corner kicks for Azerbaijan, alongside yellow cards issued to Guluzade and Ismajilov.
Latvia Seeks First Victory over Azerbaijan
Prior to Sunday’s fixture, Latvia had never beaten Azerbaijan, moving their overall head-to-head record to one win, two draws, and three losses. Their prior meetings included a scoreless draw in Belgium 28 years ago featuring outfield players Arturs Šketovs and Aleksandrs Dibrivnijs, alongside heavy defeats during Azerbaijan’s era of utilizing Brazilian players in 2011 and 2013 away matches (1-7 and 1-6), as well as two matches in Kurzeme in April 2019 (1-3 in Nīca and 2-2 in Liepāja).
Azerbaijan previously achieved success as a 2010 European Championship semifinalist and a 2016 World Cup quarterfinalist, but UEFA’s enforcement of naturalization rules left them absent from this year’s continental finals after six consecutive appearances.
Baku izcīnīta pārliecinoša uzvara👏 Pēc pirmā apļa Latvijas izlasei četri punkti. ⏭️Turpinājums nākamā gada februāra un marta mijā, kad Latvijas izlase Azerbaidžānu un Čehiju uzņems savā laukumā.#LatvijasIzlase #TelpuFutbols #FutsalWC pic.twitter.com/CrB6s0TMRa
Sastāvā iekļauto spēlētāju izmaiņas ietvēra Emīla Atamaņukova un sākotnēji neizsauktā Tonija Moldovāna dalību, kamēr savainotais kapteinis Germans Matjušenko piedalījās tikai treniņprocesā.
From the initial preliminary roster, Emīls Atamaņukovs, Niks Edžus Bērziņš and third goalkeeper Maksims Troickis were not named to the final game application, with Tonijs Moldovāns called up during the camp to replace the injured Niks Edžus Bērziņš.
Qualification Path Ahead
Latvia reached the main qualification round following a successful preliminary tournament campaign in April in Albania, where they achieved three victories: 8-0 against San Marino, 12-1 against Cyprus, and 3-2 against host nation Albania, joining the 24 top-ranked teams in the UEFA coefficient list.
The qualification format dictates that all 12 group winners and the four best runners-up will advance directly to the elite round. The tournament hosts for 2028 have not yet been named.
Latvia will conclude its main round schedule at home between late February and early March, hosting both Azerbaijan and Czechia in return fixtures.
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