France v Azerbaijan (UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying)
| Event | UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Date | 6 September 1995 | ||||||
| Venue | Stade de l'Abbé-Deschamps, Auxerre, France | ||||||
| Referee | Alfred Micallef (Malta) | ||||||
| Attendance | 13,479 | ||||||
France v Azerbaijan, also known as the "Auxerre tragedy" in Azerbaijani media,[1] was a football match belonging to the UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying that took place on 6 September 1995.
France won the game 10–0, and it went down as the largest victory in the history of the France national team until it was surpassed by a 14–0 win over Gibraltar in 2023. The match also became the biggest defeat of the Azerbaijan national team, a record that still stands today.
Background[edit]
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Romania
|
8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 6 | +9 | 18 |
 Poland
|
8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 8 | +5 | 12 |
 France
|
7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 11 |
 Slovakia
|
8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 15 | −5 | 11 |
 Israel
|
8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 9 |
 Azerbaijan
|
7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 17 | −15 | 0 |
This would be the 8th match for both teams in the first group of the UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying. While Azerbaijan already lost its chance to participate in the tournament, France was still fighting for a ticket. Prior to the game, France's biggest victory was 8–0, twice over Luxembourg (20 April 1913 and 17 December 1953) and against Iceland (2 June 1957).[2] Azerbaijan had suffered its biggest defeat (0–5) in a friendly match against Malta on 19 April 1994.[3]
Context[edit]
The French team was in difficulty following a series of poor results, having been negatively affected by failure to qualify for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, the most recent being a 1–1 draw conceded at the Parc des Princes against Poland a few weeks earlier. As Azerbaijan was one of the weakest European selections a Les Bleus victory was not in doubt. Instead, the challenge for them was to reassure themselves by regaining their effectiveness on target.
Match[edit]
Details[edit]
| France | 10–0 | Azerbaijan |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
          France
|
Azerbaijan
|
|
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Post-match[edit]
After the game, France took second place with 14 points, ahead of Poland; the Azerbaijani team remained in the last place with 8 losses and 0 points. Head coach Aghasalim Mirjavadov resigned immediately after the defeat, citing the inability of the players, the low level of training and the fact that the opponent was very strong as the reasons for the defeat.[4]
France, meanwhile, would go on finishing second place and qualified for the UEFA Euro 1996, in which France reached the semi-finals. Nearly the same crop of players, including some notable names like Zinedine Zidane, Youri Djorkaeff and Bixente Lizarazu, would go on to form the main squad in France's eventual 1998 FIFA World Cup triumph.[5]
In 2016, pastemagazine.com included the Auxerre tragedy in its list of Top 10 Biggest National Defeats.[6]
Final table[edit]
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Romania
|
8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 6 | +9 | 18 |
| France
|
8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 17 | 1 | +16 | 14 |
| Poland
|
8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 8 | +5 | 12 |
| Slovakia
|
8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 15 | −5 | 11 |
| Israel
|
8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 9 |
| Azerbaijan
|
8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 27 | −25 | 0 |
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "Mililimiz üçün "qara tarix"lər: "Oser faciəsi" və digər darmadağınlar - LAYİHƏ". Sportnet. Archived from the original on 6 September 2017. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
- ^ "Fédération Française de Football". www.fff.fr. Retrieved 2022-01-10.
- ^ "AFFA - Azərbaycan Futbol Federasiyaları Assosiasiyası". www.affa.az. Retrieved 2022-01-10.
- ^ ""Oser faciəsi" - Mircavadov Fransaya 0:10 hesablı məğlubiyyətdən danışır... - Sportlife.Az". sportlife.az. Retrieved 2022-01-10.
- ^ "Le jour où la France en a collé 10 à l'Azerbaïdjan".
- ^ ""Oser faciəsi" "onluq"da". Milli.Az (in Azerbaijani). 2016-05-11. Retrieved 2022-01-10.