Gurban Osman oghlu Gurbanov (; born 13 April 1972) is an Azerbaijani professional football manager and former player who manages Azerbaijan Premier League club QarabaÃÂ.
In his playing days, he was a forward. Starting out with his local club Kür Nur in 1988, Gurbanov enjoyed a decorated 18-year career. He scored 178 goals in 399 league matches. With 14 goals in 68 matches, he used to be the Azerbaijan national team's all-time leading goalscorer in international matches until Emin Mahmudov broke his record in 2025.
After coaching Neftçi from 2006 to 2007, Gurbanov became the manager of Qarabaàin 2008. From 2017 to 2018, he was simultaneously the manager of the Azerbaijan national team. Gurbanov has won a total of 22 trophies in his career: five as a player and 17 as a manager.
He started his career in Kür Nur, and has since played for Mertskhali Ozurgeti, Daà Âqñn Zaqatala, Alazani Gurjaani, Turan Tovuz, Neftçi, Dinamo Stavropol, Baltika Kaliningrad, Fakel Voronezh and Volgar Astrakhan. The last club he played for was Inter Baku. In the 1996âÂÂ97 season, Gurbanov was the leading scorer in the Azerbaijan Premier League for Neftchi with 25 goals. The striker was named Azerbaijan's Player of the Year once, in 2003.
Gurbanov debuted for the Azerbaijan national team in their very first match on 17 September 1992, and as of January 2006 he has scored 14 goals in 68 international matches, which was the national team goal scoring record until it was broken on 9 September 2025 by Emin Mahmudov.
After Gurbanov ended his football player's career, he became sport director of the club Inter. In summer 2006 he was appointed head coach of Neftçi.
At the beginning of the season 2008âÂÂ09 he became head coach of QarabaàFK to replace Rasim Kara.
In 2010, he became the most successful Azerbaijani manager in European competitions with 16 wins.
In May 2014, he guided Qarabaàto their second Azerbaijani league title after 21 years. In July 2014, he became the second Azerbaijani manager to reach the European Cups group stage, as Qarabaàqualified for the 2014âÂÂ15 UEFA Europa League group stage, beating Twente and being the second Azerbaijani team to advance to this stage in a European competitions.
In 2017, QarabaÃÂ FK, managed by Gurbanov, became the first Azerbaijani team to reach the group stages of the UEFA Champions League.
On 3 November 2017, Gurbanov was appointed manager of the Azerbaijan national team. A year later, on 8 December 2018, he resigned.
In 2025, with him still managing the team, QarabaÃÂ FK reached the league phase of the UEFA Champions League. They won their two opening games against Benfica in Lisbon and Copenhagen at home.
On 23 December 2025, at the event dedicated to the 2025 sports year review organized by the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Azerbaijan, Gurban Gurbanov was awarded the title of âÂÂBest MenâÂÂs Coach of 2025.âÂÂ
Gurban is the brother of Azerbaijani former footballer Musa Gurbanov. He is the father of Azerbaijan national team player Musa Gurbanli.
In 2012, he campaigned to stop domestic violence.
Turan Tovuz
Neftçi
Individual
QarabaÃÂ