News - The Armenian national team is starting to prepare for matches against Hungary and Portugal.

The Armenia national team today began preparations at the Football Federation of Armenia's technical center/football academy for the final two matches of the 2026 World Cup qualifying round. On November 13, under the guidance of Yeghishe Melikyan, they will host Hungary in Yerevan, and on November 16 they will play Portugal in Porto. To remind, after four rounds the European zone Group F standings are led by Portugal, which has 10 points; Hungary have 5; Ireland 4; Armenia 3 points. According to the FFA, the national team's first training session will take place today. The squad starting today will: Henry Avagyan - Pyunik Ognjen Chancharevic - Noa Arsen Beglaryan - Alashkert Kamo Hovhannisyan - Ararat-Armenia Sergey Muradyan - Noa Eric Pilipoyan - Urartu Edgar Grigoryan - Ararat-Armenia Artur Bandikyan - BCMA (Moscow, Russia) Narek Aghasaryan - Urartu Karen Nalbandyan - Alashkert Karen Muradyan - Ararat-Armenia Narek Grigoryan - Farul (Romania) Gor Manvelyan - Noa Araik Eloyan - Ararat-Armenia Edgar Sevikyan - Akron (Russia) Zhirayr Shagoyan - Ararat-Armenia Artur Serobian - Ararat-Armenia Gevorg Tarakhchyan - Pyunik Georgi Harutyunyan, Stjopa Mkrtchyan, Eduard Spertsyan, Ugochukwu Ivun and Hrant-Leon Ranus will be in the national team camp on November 10, while Nair Tiknizyan will join on November 11. Recall that Armenia has met Hungary twice so far: in the Cyprus tournament, on February 18, 2004 in Paphos the Hungarians won 2-0; and in this World Cup qualifying cycle, on October 11 in Budapest the hosts again prevailed 2-0. As for Portugal, we have met this team seven times before, all in official matches. In the 1998 World Cup qualifying, on August 31, 1996 in Yerevan it was 0-0, and on August 20, 1997 in Setúbal the hosts won 3-1. Our side stood out Erik Assadourian. In the Euro 2008 qualifying round, on August 22, 2007 in Yerevan we had a 1-1 draw; for us the goal was scored by Robert Arzumanyan. On November 17 of the same year in Leiria, the Portuguese won 1-0. In the Euro 2016 qualifying round, on November 14, 2014 in Faro the Portuguese won 1-0, and on November 15, 2015 in Yerevan the score was 2-3, with the guests winning. From our side, Markos and Hrayr Mkoyan stood out. On September 6 of this year, in the current World Cup 2026 qualifying cycle, the Portuguese won 5-0 in Yerevan. Thus Armenia and Portugal have met seven times at the national team level. There have been two draws and five wins for Portugal. The goal difference is 14-4 in favor of the Iberian Peninsula representatives. In the FIFA rankings, Armenia is currently 104th, Hungary 37th, and Portugal 5th. Photo: The Football Federation of Armenia (FFA).