Emin Cəbrayıl oğlu Mahmudov (born 27 April 1992) 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.Махмудов подписал контракт со «Спартаком» He played 90 minutes against Rostov in the first game of the 2011–12 season.РФПЛ: Эмин Махмудов — Спартак 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 Krylia Sovetov and also played for the reserve team of Spartak.Махмудов возвращается
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.«СПАРТАК» И «КРЫЛЬЯ» ДОГОВОРИЛИСЬ О ПЕРЕХОДЕ МАХМУДОВА 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. He debuted for Boavista in a Primeira Liga match against Sporting CP 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, Mahmudov signed with Neftchi Baku 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 the club.
After finishing the league in 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,Хавбек «Спартака» Махмудов выбирает между сборными России и Азербайджана 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
Club
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueCupOtherEuropeTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsSaturn Ramenskoye2010Russian Premier League21110––221Spartak Moscow2010Russian Premier League0020––202011–12Russian Premier League12020––1402012–13Russian Premier League1000––10Total13040––170Tom Tomsk (loan)2011–12Russian Premier League8000––80Krylia Sovetov (loan)2012–13Russian Premier League000020–20Krylia Sovetov Samara2013–14Russian Premier League12000––1202014–15Russian Football National League5000––502015–16Russian Premier League1000––10Total1800000–180Mordovia Saransk (loan)2015–16Russian Premier League18010––190Boavista2016–17Primeira Liga12100––121Neftchi Baku2017–18Azerbaijan Premier League22151––2722018–19Azerbaijan Premier League26800–112792019–20Azerbaijan Premier League19310–632662020–21Azerbaijan Premier League23420–202742021–22Azerbaijan Premier League27541–8439102022–23Azerbaijan Premier League361752–4045192023–24Azerbaijan Premier League30332–413762024–25Azerbaijan Premier League22441––2652025–26Azerbaijan Premier League321110––33112026–27Azerbaijan Premier League6000–2181Total2435625700271029573Career total3335831720271039175
International
+ Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsAzerbaijan20162020170020187120195020211272022101202394202471202581202651Total6516
Scores and results list Azerbaijan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Mahmudov goal.
+ List of international goals scored by Emin MahmudovNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 9 June 2018 Daugava Stadium, Riga, Latvia 3–0 3–1 Friendly2 30 March 2021 Baku Olympic Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan 1–1 1–2 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification3 27 May 2021 Bahçeşehir Okulları Stadium, Alanya, Turkey 1–0 1–2 Friendly4 1 September 2021 Stade de Luxembourg, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg 1–2 1–2 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification5 4 September 2021 Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Republic of Ireland 1–0 1–1 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification6 12 October 2021 Rajko Mitić Stadium, Belgrad, Serbia 1–1 1–3 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification7 14 November 2021 Baku Olympic Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan 1–1 2–2 Friendly8 2–19 16 November 2022 Zimbru Stadium, Chişinău, Moldova 1–0 2–1 Friendly10 24 March 2023 Raiffeisen Arena, Linz, Austria 1–2 1–4 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying11 12 September 2023Dalga Arena, Baku, Azerbaijan 1–0 2–1 Friendly12 16 November 2023 Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan 1–0 3–0 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying13 3–014 11 June 2024 Haladás Sportkomplexum, Szombathely, Hungary 2–2 3–2 Friendly15 9 September 2025 Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan 1–1 1–1 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification16 27 March 2026 Sumgayit City Stadium, Sumgait, Azerbaijan 1–0 6–1 2026 FIFA Series
Honours
Neftchi Baku Azerbaijan Premier League: 2020–21
Krylia Sovetov Russian Football National League: 2014–15
Russia U21 Commonwealth of Independent States Cup: 2012, 2013
Individual Azerbaijani Footballer of the Year: 2021, 2022
References
External links
Profile by the Russian Football Premier League Profile at FC Saturn website