France v Azerbaijan (UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying)

UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying
Group 1
EventUEFA Euro 1996 qualifying
Date6 September 1995 (1995-09-06)
VenueStade de l'Abbé-Deschamps, Auxerre, France
RefereeAlfred Micallef (Malta)
Attendance13,479

France v Azerbaijan, also known as the "Auxerre tragedy" in Azerbaijani media,[1] was a football match belonging to the UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying that took place on 6 September 1995.

France won the game 10–0, and it went down as the largest victory in the history of the France national team until it was surpassed by a 14–0 win over Gibraltar in 2023. The match also became the biggest defeat of the Azerbaijan national team, a record that still stands today.

Background

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Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Romania 8 5 3 0 15 6 +9 18
 Poland 8 3 3 2 13 8 +5 12
 France 7 2 5 0 7 1 +6 11
 Slovakia 8 3 2 3 10 15 −5 11
 Israel 8 2 3 3 11 11 0 9
 Azerbaijan 7 0 0 7 2 17 −15 0

This would be the 8th match for both teams in the first group of the UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying. While Azerbaijan already lost its chance to participate in the tournament, France was still fighting for a ticket. Prior to the game, France's biggest victory was 8–0, twice over Luxembourg (20 April 1913 and 17 December 1953) and against Iceland (2 June 1957).[2] Azerbaijan had suffered its biggest defeat (0–5) in a friendly match against Malta on 19 April 1994.[3]

Azerbaijan did not start a true striker for the match, instead utilising captain Shahin Diniyev in a rudimentary attacking role, while the French XI was almost at their full strength.

Match

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Details

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France 10–0 Azerbaijan
Report
Attendance: 13,479
Referee: Alfred Micallef (Malta)
France
Azerbaijan
GK 1 Bernard Lama
RB 2 Jocelyn Angloma downward-facing red arrow 57'
CB 4 Marcel Desailly (c)
CB 5 Frank Leboeuf
LB 3 Bixente Lizarazu
CM 7 Didier Deschamps
CM 8 Vincent Guérin
RW 6 Youri Djorkaeff
AM 10 Zinedine Zidane
LW 11 Reynald Pedros downward-facing red arrow 65'
CF 9 Christophe Dugarry downward-facing red arrow 69'
Substitutes:
DF 12 Éric Di Meco
DF 13 Lilian Thuram upward-facing green arrow 57'
FW 14 David Ginola upward-facing green arrow 65'
MF 15 Christophe Cocard upward-facing green arrow 69'
GK 16 Bruno Martini
Manager:
Aimé Jacquet
GK 1 Elkhan Hasanov downward-facing red arrow 36'
RB 3 İqor Getman Yellow card 49'
CB 4 Tarlan Ahmadov
CB 5 Emin Ağayev
LB 6 Rasim Abushev
RM 2 Arif Asadov
CM 11 Vyacheslav Lychkin
CM 10 Mahmud Qurbanov downward-facing red arrow 46'
CM 7 Yunis Huseynov
LM 9 Vladislav Kadyrov downward-facing red arrow 74'
CF 8 Shahin Diniyev (c)
Substitutes:
MF 13 Fazil Parvarov
FW 14 Mushfig Huseynov upward-facing green arrow 74'
FW 15 Samir Alakbarov upward-facing green arrow 46'
GK 16 Nizami Sadiqov upward-facing green arrow 36'
MF 17 Bakhtiyar Musayev
Manager:
Aghasalim Mirjavadov

Post-match

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After the game, France took second place with 14 points, ahead of Poland, while Azerbaijan remained in last with 8 losses. Head coach Aghasalim Mirjavadov resigned immediately after the defeat, citing the inability of the players, the low level of training and the opponents' strength as the reasons for the defeat.[4]

Les Bleus would go on to finish second in their group and qualify for UEFA Euro 1996, where they reached the semi-finals. Nearly the same crop of players, including some notable names like Zinedine Zidane, Youri Djorkaeff and Bixente Lizarazu, would go on to win the 1998 FIFA World Cup on home soil.[5]

In 2016, pastemagazine.com included the match in its list of Top 10 Biggest National Defeats.[6]

Final table

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Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Romania 8 5 3 0 15 6 +9 18
 France 8 3 5 0 17 1 +16 14
 Poland 8 3 3 2 13 8 +5 12
 Slovakia 8 3 2 3 10 15 −5 11
 Israel 8 2 3 3 11 11 0 9
 Azerbaijan 8 0 0 8 2 27 −25 0

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Mililimiz üçün "qara tarix"lər: "Oser faciəsi" və digər darmadağınlar - LAYİHƏ". Sportnet. Archived from the original on 6 September 2017. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  2. ^ "Fédération Française de Football". www.fff.fr. Retrieved 2022-01-10.
  3. ^ "AFFA - Azərbaycan Futbol Federasiyaları Assosiasiyası". www.affa.az. Retrieved 2022-01-10.
  4. ^ ""Oser faciəsi" - Mircavadov Fransaya 0:10 hesablı məğlubiyyətdən danışır... - Sportlife.Az". sportlife.az. Retrieved 2022-01-10.
  5. ^ "Le jour où la France en a collé 10 à l'Azerbaïdjan".
  6. ^ ""Oser faciəsi" "onluq"da". Milli.Az (in Azerbaijani). 2016-05-11. Retrieved 2022-01-10.