Karen Nalbandyan made his debut for the Armenian national team

23-year-old midfielder Karen Nalbandyan made his debut for Armenia in the 2026 World Cup qualifier against Hungary (0:1), held on November 13 in Yerevan.

The Alashkert captain came on in the 76th minute, replacing Kamo Hovhannisyan. By role, Nalbandyan is a playmaker and is considered the backup for Eduard Spertsyan, but in this match he appeared on the pitch together with Spertsyan and played an unfamiliar position as a right wing-back. He didn’t have much defensive work — Armenia attacked more often in the final minutes and looked solid overall, as did Nalbandyan.

Despite limited touches, Karen played reliably and without mistakes:

• 4 accurate passes (100%), three of them in the opponent’s half
• 6 touches
• 1 tackle
• 1 duel won out of 1
• SofaScore rating: 6.6

Nalbandyan is having a bright season with Alashkert: the team shares first place with Ararat-Armenia, and Karen has already scored 7 goals.

Other players who previously rarely appeared for the national team also played against Hungary.

Urartu midfielder Narek Agasaryan played his second match for the national team, coming on in the 90th minute.

Forward Araik Eloyan, recently promoted from the U21 team, also played his second match. He came on alongside Nalbandyan in the 76th minute, taking Grant-Leon Ranos’ position.

During his 20 minutes, Eloyan took part in several dangerous attacks:
— created 1 big chance, made 1 key pass.
In the final minute, he made a perfect run for Artur Serobyan’s pass and could have equalized, but the ball hit his standing foot — still, he was very close to his debut goal.

“I am very pleased with him — he energized the game, pressed well. Missing the chance is fine, it happens,” said Yeghishe Melikyan.

33-year-old Ararat-Armenia captain Karen Muradyan played his 13th match for Armenia. Before this game, he had started only 4 times — the last time 4.5 years ago, in the 3:2 win over Romania in March 2021.

Muradyan’s stats:
— only 5 ball losses in 90 minutes
— 91% pass accuracy
— 1 key pass
— 2 interceptions
— 3 recoveries
— 2/2 duels won
— SofaScore: 7.0

Although he cannot fully replace Ugochukwu Iwu, Muradyan delivered one of his best performances for Armenia: reading the game well, positioning correctly, and passing reliably with minimal risk.

“Very satisfied with Karen Muradyan’s performance… He is a wonderful person, humble, dedicated, a true Armenian,” said Melikyan.

Armenia national team debutants in 2025

• Narek Agasaryan (Urartu) — 2 matches

• Nikolas Kalukyan (Urartu) — 1 match

• Araik Eloyan (Ararat-Armenia) — 1 match

• Daniel Agbalyan (Pyunik) — 1 match

• Karen Nalbandyan (Alashkert) — 1 match

• Tomas Adoryan (Banfield, Argentina) — 2 matches