Mahir Mahir oğlu Emreli (previously Mahir Anar oğlu Mədətov; born 1 July 1997) is an Azerbaijani professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ekstraklasa club Raków Częstochowa, on loan from 2. Bundesliga club 1. FC Kaiserslautern, and the Azerbaijan national team.
Club career Emreli made his professional debut in the Azerbaijan Premier League for FC Baku on 27 September 2014 in a game against Araz-Naxçıvan.
Qarabağ On 16 July 2015, Emreli signed a three-year contract with Qarabağ FK.
On 23 August 2015, Mahir made his debut and scored his first goal for Qarabağ in a 2–0 away victory against Shuvalan.
Emreli made his European debut in 2016 against Luxembourgish F91 Dudelange in the second qualification round of the UEFA Champions League which ended 2–0 for Qarabağ.
On 15 September 2016, Emreli made his debut for UEFA Europa League group stage game against FC Slovan Liberec.
He scored his first European goal in a 1–0 home victory against Danish Copenhagen in the play-off round of the 2017-18 UEFA Champions League.
Emreli made his debut for UEFA Champions League group stage game against Chelsea in Stamford Bridge on 12 September 2017. Mahir made five appearances in the UEFA Champions League group stage.
On 18 August 2020, Emreli, scoring against FK Sileks at the first qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League, celebrated his goal with a salute to the Azerbaijani soldiers serving in the frontline during the border clashes with Armenia.
Legia Warsaw On 8 June 2021, Legia Warsaw announced the signing of Emreli on a contract until 30 June 2024.
On 17 June 2021, Emreli made his debut and scored his first goal for Legia in a 5–0 friendly victory over SK Bischofshofen. He scored his first officials goals for Legia in a UEFA Champions League first qualifying round match against Norwegian champions Bodø/Glimt on 7 July 2021.
On 26 August 2021, during play-off match of the 2021–22 UEFA Europa League against Slavia Prague, following an unsuccessful 0–1 first half, Emreli scored two goals and secured Legia's qualification to the group stage of the tournament. He set a unique record by scoring in all the tournaments he participated in.
In December 2021, Emreli was one of the victims of an attack by hooligans on a bus returning after the Ekstraklasa match against Wisła Płock. After this incident, Emreli decided not to play for Legia. On 2 February 2022, he terminated the contract by mutual agreement.
Dinamo Zagreb Hours after leaving Legia, Emreli was announced as the new player of Dinamo Zagreb in the Croatian First Football League. Legia owed Dinamo one million euros because they bought Lirim Kastrati from them in September 2021 for 1.2 million euros, but by December 2021 Dinamo had received only 200,000 euros. Dinamo decided to drop Legia's debt on the condition that Emreli would leave Legia for free and sign for Dinamo.
On 24 August 2022, Emreli played in the play-off match against FK Bodø/Glimt with Dinamo Zagreb winning 4–1 and ensuring a place in the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League group stage.DINAMO ZAGREB VS. BODØ / GLIMT 4 - 1Dinamo Zagreb qualify for the UEFA Champions League
Loan to Konyaspor On 14 February 2023, Emreli was loaned to Süper Lig club Konyaspor until the end of the 2022–23 season with an option of a permanent transfer at the end of the season.
1. FC Nürnberg On 6 August 2024, Emreli joined German 2. Bundesliga club 1. FC Nürnberg.
International career Youth He was part of the Azerbaijan under-23 team that won the football competition at the 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games. He was selected by Yashar Vahabzade for that tournament's squad, appearing in five games and scoring two goal in the final to help defeat Oman 2–1 .
Senior Emreli made his Azerbaijan debut on 9 March 2017 against Qatar in friendly match.http://www.affa.az/index.php/matches/azrbaycan-milli-komandas/59487?mt=latest AFFA.az
He scored his first goal for Azerbaijan on 29 May 2018, in a friendly match against Kyrgyzstan.
Sponsorship In 2018, Emreli signed a sponsorship deal with American sportswear and equipment supplier, Nike.
Personal life In May 2019, Mahir changed his surname from Mədətov to his mother's family name of Emreli, expressing disapproval at his father's marriage to another woman.
Career statistics Club
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational cupEuropeOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsBaku2014–15Azerbaijan Premier League17031——201Qarabağ2015–16Azerbaijan Premier League1675100—2182016–17Azerbaijan Premier League2135360—3262017–18Azerbaijan Premier League24820111—3792018–19Azerbaijan Premier League271640140—45162019–20Azerbaijan Premier League16721122—30102020–21Azerbaijan Premier League22183272—3222Total12659217505—21772Legia Warsaw2021–22Ekstraklasa15231147113311Dinamo Zagreb2021–22Prva HNL820020—1022022–23Prva HNL1030030—1332023–24Prva HNL144119000245Total32911140004710Konyaspor (loan)2022–23Süper Lig122———1221. FC Nürnberg2024–252. Bundesliga241011——25111. FC Kaiserslautern2025–262. Bundesliga12111——132Raków Częstochowa (loan)2026–27Ekstraklasa930063—156Career total247863012841511362114
International
+ Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsAzerbaijan2017302018102201962202040202190202271202370202451202580202661Total657
Scores and results list Azerbaijan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Emreli goal.
+ List of international goals scored by Mahir EmreliNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 29 May 2018 Baku Olympic Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan 2–0 3–0 Friendly2 17 November 2018 Baku Olympic Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan 2–0 2–0 2018–19 UEFA Nations League D3 8 June 2019 Bakcell Arena, Baku, Azerbaijan 1–2 1–3 UEFA Euro 2020 qualification4 6 September 2019 Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff, Wales 1–1 1–2 UEFA Euro 2020 qualification5 13 June 2022 Dalga Arena, Baku, Azerbaijan 1–0 2–0 2022–23 UEFA Nations League C6 11 June 2024 Haladás Sportkomplexum, Szombathely, Hungary 1–2 3–2 Friendly7 27 September 2026 Darius and Girėnas Stadium, Kaunas, Lithuania 1–1 1–1 2026–27 UEFA Nations League D
Honours Qarabağ Azerbaijan Premier League: 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20 Azerbaijan Cup: 2015–16, 2016–17
Dinamo Zagreb Croatian First Football League: 2021–22, 2023–24 Croatian Cup: 2023–24 Croatian Super Cup: 2023
Azerbaijan U23 Islamic Solidarity Games: 2017
Individual Azerbaijan Premier League top scorer: 2018–19, 2019–20
References
External links
Emreli profile on official club website