Nine-year-old Sabah FK arrive at Old Trafford as youngest club in Champions League history

Sabah FK, a club that did not exist until September 2017, will walk out at Old Trafford on 10 September to face Manchester United in the Champions League league phase — becoming the youngest club in the history of the competition to reach that stage.

Who are Sabah FK?

Based in Masazır, Azerbaijan, Sabah were founded by Yagub Huseynov, chairman of the Bridge Group construction conglomerate. The name translates from Azeri as “tomorrow” or “the future” — a fitting identity for a club whose rise has been almost implausibly swift.

Their first season ended in fifth place in the Azerbaijani second division, yet promotion came anyway after higher-placed clubs failed to obtain a licence. From that fortunate beginning, Sabah steadily strengthened their squad, claimed the Azerbaijan Cup in May 2025, and then sealed their maiden Azerbaijan Premier League title in the 2025/26 season.

The manager who won a game show

Leading the club into European football’s top tier is Lithuanian head coach Valdas Dambrauskas, a figure with an unusual footnote in his biography: in 2002 he won the equivalent of £725 on Lithuania’s version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. His footballing credentials have proved rather more lucrative — he guided Sabah through a gruelling qualifying campaign to reach the Champions League for the first time.

A dramatic path to the league phase

Sabah’s route through qualifying was anything but straightforward. They eliminated The New Saints, KuPS and Aarhus before facing Hapoel Be’er Sheva in the play-off round, eventually advancing 6–4 on aggregate after extra time. The victory confirmed their place in the league phase and their place in the record books.

What awaits them

The draw has handed Sabah a schedule that reads like a tour of European football’s most storied venues. Alongside their opening fixture at Old Trafford, they will host Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund and Napoli in the group stage — opponents that would test any established club, let alone one that celebrated its eighth birthday only months ago.

For Manchester United, back in the Champions League after a period of absence, the match represents an opportunity to open their campaign against opposition with no experience at this level. For Sabah, it is simply the most significant night in their short but remarkable history.