Scorers:
Zakaria Sawo, Abdellah Zoubir, Reynaldo Cephas

Qarabağ kicked off the 2026/27 season with a convincing victory, beginning their UEFA Europa League campaign against Icelandic side Vestri.

The first leg of the first qualifying round was played at the Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium. Qarabağ started the match with the following line-up:

99. Mateusz Kochalski, 2. Mateus Silva, 55. Badavi Huseynov (C), 4. Bence Várkonyi, 5. Bruno Langa, 35. Pedro Bicalho, 8. Marko Janković, 20. Kadi Borges, 21. Oleksii Kashchuk, 10. Abdellah Zoubir, 11. Zakaria Sawo.

Qarabağ dominated the match from the opening whistle, taking control of possession and creating a series of attacking opportunities from the early stages.

Our team eventually broke down the visitors' deep defensive line in the latter part of the first half. Zakaria Sawo opened the scoring with his first goal for Qarabağ, as well as the club's first goal of the new season. Shortly afterwards, Abdellah Zoubir doubled the advantage.

Qarabağ continued to press after the interval and created several dangerous chances. One of those opportunities was converted by Reynaldo Cephas, who added a third goal to seal a 3–0 victory and an excellent start to the new campaign.

The second leg between Qarabağ and Vestri will be played in Iceland on 16 July.

Photo: Mahammad Mammadov