Eight years ago, Sabah FK didn't exist. This season, they're in the UEFA Champions League league phase. That's not a fairy tale — it's a well-funded project that just delivered exactly what it was built to deliver.
Founded in September 2017 in Masazir with the backing of Yagub Huseynov, founder of Azerbaijani real estate and investment conglomerate Bridge Group, Sabah spent exactly one season in the Second Division before receiving a top-flight license in May 2018. The pace of that ascent tells you everything about the seriousness of the financial backing behind them.
The season that changed everything
Under manager Valdas Dambrauskas — a Lithuanian coach who, in a detail that belongs in a documentary, used his 2002 game show winnings from an Azerbaijani adaptation of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? to fund his UEFA coaching badges — Sabah completed the domestic double in 2025-26, winning both the Azerbaijan Premier League and the Azerbaijan Cup.
They didn't stop there. In August 2026, they knocked out Hapoel Be'er Sheva in the qualifying play-offs to reach the Champions League league phase for the first time. That's a round most newly qualified clubs treat as a ceiling. Sabah cleared it.
They play out of the Bank Respublika Arena, a 9,000-capacity ground that reflects their modern infrastructure — foreign coaches, international recruitment, consistent squad investment. Sabah are well-funded by Azerbaijani standards, though they occupy a different tier from state-backed Qarabag. This is an ambitious private project, not a government operation.
What to expect in the league phase
Sabah join Viking Stavanger, LASK, and Como as the four newcomers to the Champions League league phase — now in its third season since replacing the traditional group stage format. They'll be drawn from Pot 4, facing eight different opponents across the phase, and any points they pick up will come as a genuine surprise to the bookmakers.
That Pot 4 placement makes them one of the competition's longest shots to advance, and their odds to progress will reflect that. But the format — eight matches against varied opposition — at least gives a side like Sabah more margin than a four-team group ever would.
The draw takes place tonight in Monaco. Sabah FK will find out who they're facing. Europe's giants will find out who they are.
