Artyom Bandikyan made his debut for the Armenia national team

CSKA Moscow’s 20-year-old midfielder Artyom Bandikyan has made his debut for the Armenia national team. He came on in the 82nd minute of the match against Portugal in the 6th round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, held on 16 November in the city of Porto.

Bandikyan entered the pitch with the score at 1–8 in favour of Portugal, replacing Karen Muradyan; in the end Armenia lost 1–9.

Artyom played as a central midfielder, but he had few opportunities to show himself. He managed 5 touches of the ball and completed 3 accurate passes out of 5.

Previously, Bandikyan had played for Armenia’s youth national team. By the way, Armenia U21 will play Sweden U21 on 18 November in Yerevan. In theory, he could also take part in that match before flying back to Moscow.

In the current season, Artyom has been regularly appearing for the Army club. He has 5 matches in the Russian Premier League to his name, as well as 6 games in the Russian Cup, where he has recorded two assists. Bandikyan can play both at full-back and in central midfield.

The match against Portugal was the Armenia national team’s last in 2025. Thus, Artyom Bandikyan became the seventh debutant for the national team this year.

Armenia national team debutants in 2025

• Narek Aghasaryan (Urartu) — 3 matches

• Nicholas Kaloukian (Urartu) — 1 match

• Araik Eloyan (Ararat-Armenia) — 3 matches

• Daniel Aghbalyan (Pyunik) — 1 match

• Karen Nalbandyan (Alashkert) — 1 match

• Thomas Adoryan (Banfield, Argentina) — 2 matches

• Artyom Bandikyan (CSKA, Russia) — 1 match