Emin Mahmudov


Emin Cəbrayıl oğlu Mahmudov is an Azerbaijani professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Azerbaijan Premier League club Neftçi and captains the Azerbaijan national team. He was selected as the Azerbaijani Footballer of the Year in 2021 and 2022.
Mahmudov is Azerbaijan's all-time top goalscorer.

Club career

Saturn Ramenskoye

Mahmudov was born in Saatly, Azerbaijan in 1992. As a child, he moved to Russia with his family and started playing football in the youth academy of Saturn Ramenskoye. During the 2010 season, he became the player of the senior team. Mahmudov made his debut in Russian Premier League on 24 April 2010, in a match against Dinamo Moscow, at the age of 17. He scored his first goal at the senior level against Anzhi on 20 November. Mahmudov played a total of 22 matches during his first season in the Premier League.

Spartak Moscow

After the dissolution of Saturn, Mahmudov signed a long-term contract with Spartak Moscow as a free agent on 15 January 2011. He played 90 minutes against Rostov in the first game of the 2011–12 season. Mahmudov appeared in a total of 12 matches during the season for Spartak, however despite a successful start, he was not able to become the player of the main squad. During the three seasons between 2012 and 2014, Mahmudov played on loan for Premier League teams Tomsk and [FC FC Krylia Sovetov Samara|Krylia Sovetov Samara|Krylia Sovetov] and also played for the reserve team of Spartak.

Krylia Sovetov

After a one-year loan, Krylia Sovetov purchased Mahmudov from Spartak on 31 January 2014, for €250,000. The same season Krylia got relegated from the Premier League. However, the 2014–15 season Krylia Sovetov became the champions of Russian Football National League and won the promotion to Premier League again. He missed most of that season due to a fractured leg injury that he received in September 2014.
Mahmudov made his comeback to the Russian Premier League on 9 August 2015, during the game against his previous team Spartak Moscow. On 31 August, it was announced that he would play on loan at Mordovia Saransk until the end of the 2015–16 season. Mahmudov made his debut for Mordovia on 20 September and soon became one of the regular members of the starting squad.

Boavista

On 21 July 2016, Mahmudov signed a two-year contract with Boavista. Mahmudov debuted for the Boavista in Primeira Liga match against Sporting Lisbon on 26 November 2016. On 23 December 2016, Mahmudov scored his first goal for the club, away against Nacional, in Primeira Liga.

Neftchi Baku

On 18 September 2017, Neftchi Baku signed with Mahmudov until the end of 2017–18 season. He made his Azerbaijan Premier League debut for Neftchi Baku against Gabala on 24 September 2017. He scored his first goal for Neftchi Baku in an Azerbaijan Premier League match against Gabala on 19 November 2017. On 17 June 2018, Mahmudov a new contract with Neftçi PFK until the end of the 2019/20 season. In summer of 2019, after the departure of Ruslan Abishov, he became the new captain of club.
After finishing the league with second place for two consecutive seasons, Mahmudov greatly contributed to Neftchi's championship in the 2020–21 season of the Azerbaijan Premier League. Due to his performance at both Neftchi and the national team, he was selected as the player of the year in Azerbaijan during the vote at the end of 2021.

International career

As a dual citizen of Azerbaijan and Russia, Emin was eligible to play for both countries. Mahmudov played for Azerbaijani youth national teams until 2007, and played for all youth levels of Russian national team until 2014. Mahmudov twice became the champion of Commonwealth of Independent States Cup in 2012 and 2013 with the Russian under-21 team.
Mahmudov decided to play for the Azerbaijan national football team in 2016. He made his debut in a 1–0 win over San Marino in the 2018 World Cup qualification.
In 2021, Mahmudov set multiple new records for the national team by becoming the first player to score 7 international goals in a single year and 4 goals in a single qualification event, as part of the 2022 World Cup qualification tournament.
On 11 June 2024, he scored a goal in a 3–2 victory over Kazakhstan in a friendly match, becoming the joint top scorer for Azerbaijan with 14 international goals, sharing the record with Gurban Gurbanov.
On 9 September 2025, he scored a goal on a penalty kick in a 1-1 tie with Ukraine in a 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification game, thus becoming the sole top scorer for Azerbaijan with 15 goals.

Career statistics

International

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
19 June 2018Daugava Stadium, Riga, Latvia3–03–1Friendly
230 March 2021Baku Olympic Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan1–11–22022 FIFA World Cup qualification
327 May 2021Bahçeşehir Okulları Stadium, Alanya, Turkey1–01–2Friendly
41 September 2021Stade de Luxembourg, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg1–21–22022 FIFA World Cup qualification
54 September 2021Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Republic of Ireland1–01–12022 FIFA World Cup qualification
612 October 2021Rajko Mitić Stadium, Belgrad, Serbia1–11–32022 FIFA World Cup qualification
714 November 2021Baku Olympic Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan1–12–2Friendly
814 November 2021Baku Olympic Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan2–12–2Friendly
916 November 2022Zimbru Stadium, Chişinău, Moldova1–02–1Friendly
1024 March 2023Raiffeisen Arena, Linz, Austria1–21–4UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying
1112 September 2023Dalga Arena, Baku, Azerbaijan1–02–1Friendly
1216 November 2023Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan1–03–0UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying
1316 November 2023Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan3–03–0UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying
1411 June 2024Haladás Sportkomplexum,Szombathely, Hungary2–23–2Friendly
159 September 2025Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan1–11–12026 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Neftchi Baku
Krylia Sovetov
Russia U21
Individual