Soviet era (1951–1991) The club was founded in 1951 as
Məhsul after the
Aghdam city stadium was built; there then began a serious effort towards the creation of a professional football team. Consequently, Qarabağ FK, playing under the name of
Məhsul, took part in the 1966
Azerbaijani SSR championship. That year, the club reached fourth place in the local championship. Qarabağ participated in the local championship for four consecutive years during which second place was their best result (achieved in 1969). After 1969, however, owing to carelessness and a lack of financial support, the team withdrew from the championships for almost ten years. and the team was forced to move from
Imarat Stadium to Baku, while the former head coach and player of the team,
Allahverdi Baghirov, died in the war. Despite all these difficulties, in 1993, Qarabağ won the
Top League as well as the
Azerbaijan Cup. Financial problems plagued the club during the period from 1998 to 2001, and the club went through hard times although it became the first Azerbaijani team to win away from home in a European competition by defeating the Israeli side
Maccabi Haifa in the
1999 UEFA Intertoto Cup thanks to a double strike from club legend
Mushfig Huseynov. Qarabağ has also represented Azerbaijan in the
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and
UEFA Cup many times. These problems were alleviated in 2001, when one of the largest holding companies of Azerbaijan,
Azersun Holding, starting sponsoring the team. The squad used the name of
Qarabag-Azersun for two seasons, but then returned its original name in 2004.
Gurban Gurbanov era (2008–present) , the most successful Azerbaijani manager in European competitions. In 2008, former Azerbaijani football star
Gurban Gurbanov was appointed as head coach after the unexpected departure of
Rasim Kara to
Khazar Lankaran one week before the start of the
2008–09 season. Led by Gurbanov, Qarabağ have ignored a common strategy in Azerbaijani football: eschewing foreign signings in favour of nurturing local talent. Gurbanov brought with him a
tiki-taka style of play, characterised by short passes, long periods of build-up and players interchanging positions. Under Gurbanov, Qarabağ has become one of the most successful Azerbaijani football clubs in Europe (with three consecutive wins) and one which reached the
UEFA Europa League play-off-round by beating
Rosenborg in the
UEFA Europa League, and also eliminated
Honka of Finland. The achievements in European competitions have made Gurbanov among the most successful Azerbaijani managers ever. In 2010, the club set an Azerbaijani record for the most significant win in a European competition by beating
Metalurg Skopje 4–1 in Baku and eliminating
Wisła Kraków to reach the
play-offs for the second year in succession. In 2011, the club duplicated the same record by beating
Banga Gargždai 4–0 in
Gargždai. The
2011–12 season ended in disappointing style for Qarabağ, however, as they finished in fourth place, leaving the club without European competition. In 2013, Qarabağ reached
Europa League play-off-round for third time in their history. In May 2014, Qarabağ earned its second league title after 21 years. A month later, by beating
Red Bull Salzburg, the club became first Azerbaijani side to win in the third round of
UEFA Champions League. In August 2014, the club reached
Europa League play-off round for the fourth time in last five seasons. In 2014, Qarabağ qualified for the
2014–15 Europa League group stage, becoming the second Azerbaijani team to advance to this stage in a European competition. On 23 October 2014, after defeating Ukrainian club
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 1–0, the team became the first Azerbaijani club to win a Europa League group stage match. In 2017, after victory over the
Sheriff Tiraspol, Qarabağ qualified for the
UEFA Champions League play-off rounds for the first time. In the first leg they recorded a 1–0 victory over Danish side
F.C. Copenhagen in
Baku. Despite losing 2–1 in the second leg, Qarabağ won on away goals and became the first Azerbaijani team to reach the group stages of the UEFA Champions League. They were drawn in
Group C alongside
Chelsea,
Atlético Madrid and
Roma, where they managed to obtain two points in six games after two draws and four losses. In July and August 2021, Qarabağ secured their first participation in the group stage of
UEFA Europa Conference League. Qarabağ knocked-out
Ashdod (0–0 and 1–0),
AEL Limassol (1–1 and 1–0) and
Aberdeen (1–0 and 3–1) in the qualifiers. On 27 August, Qarabağ was drawn on Group H of the
2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League alongside
Basel,
Kairat and
Omonia. They eventually placed 2nd in the group, making it to the Knockout Play-off Round. In the 2023–24 season Qarabağ made it to the
Europa League group stage where they finished 2nd behind
Bayer Leverkusen. Qarabağ were subsequently drawn against
Braga in the knockout round play-off. The first leg ended as a 4–2 victory for Qarabağ. The second leg would finish 2–0 to Braga after normal time, but ultimately ended 3–2 to the Portuguese side after extra time, which meant Qarabağ won 6–5 on aggregate, and thus became the first ever team from Azerbaijan to reach the round of 16 in any UEFA club competition. The round of 16 draw pitted them against Bayer Leverkusen, whom they had already played earlier in the group stages. The club tied with Bayer Leverkusen 2–2 in the first leg at home but were knocked out in the second leg following two stoppage times goals from
Patrik Schick, ending the game 3–2. In the 2024–25 season, on April 27, 2025, Qarabağ secured the championship with four rounds remaining by drawing 1–1 against
Sabah in the 32nd round of the
Premier League, thus becoming Premier League champions for the 12th time in their history and for the 4th consecutive time. The club qualified for the
UEFA Champions League again after beating
Hungarian champions
Ferencvárosi TC 5–4 on aggregate. The first match of the club back at the Champions League was a comeback 2–3 victory against
Benfica. Following this victory, president
Ilham Aliyev congratulated the club for its victory. On October 1, Qarabağ Agdam claimed their second win in the UEFA Champions League group stage with a 2-0 victory over
Copenhagen at the Tofig Bahramov Republican Stadium in Baku. Qarabağ became the first Azerbaijani side to record back-to-back Champions League wins as they beat Copenhagen. On 28 January 2026, Qarabağ lost away to
Liverpool in the eighth and final round of the
league phase of the UEFA Champions League. Nevertheless, with 10 points collected in the league phase and finishing 22nd in the tournament standings, Qarabağ made history as the first Azerbaijani club to advance to the
Champions League knockout phase. == Stadium ==