Armenia National Team Held First Training Before Departure to Hungary

On October 6, the Armenia national football team, led by head coach Yeghishe Melikyan, held its first training session at the FFA Technical Center/Football Academy as part of preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against Hungary and Ireland.

Most of the players have already joined the squad, while Lucas Zelarayán will join the team directly in Budapest on October 10. Vahan Bichakhchyan, Artur Miranyan, Tigran Barseghyan, Grant-Leon Ranos, and Nair Tiknizyan will join on October 7.

During the first training session, midfielders Karen Muradyan and David Davidyan — who returned to the team after a short break and missed the first two qualifying rounds — gave interviews to the FFA press service.

Karen Muradyan:
“My physical condition is excellent. The atmosphere in the team is wonderful. We have two difficult away games ahead, and we must believe in a positive result and give our all to win. We have good players capable of achieving great success.”

David Davidyan:
“I have already worked with Yeghishe Melikyan — he’s an excellent specialist. He needs a little time to unite the team even more. His main quality is the ability to understand players — their strengths and weaknesses. We have two tough opponents ahead, but we believe we can play well against both and achieve victory.”

Defender Arsen Sadoyan from “Alashkert” joined the national team for the first time.

The following players took part in the first training:
Henri Avagyan (“Pyunik”), Ognjen Čančarević (“Noa”), Arsen Beglaryan (“Alashkert”), Arsen Sadoyan (“Alashkert”), Kamo Hovhannisyan (“Ararat-Armenia”), Sergey Muradyan (“Noa”), Stepa Mkrtchyan (“Osijek”, Croatia), Erik Piloyan (“Urartu”), Edgar Grigoryan (“Ararat-Armenia”), György Arutyunyan (“Puskás Akadémia”, Hungary), Erik Simonyan (“Urartu”), David Davidyan (“Rotor”, Russia), Narek Aghasaryan (“Urartu”), Eduard Spertsyan (“Krasnodar”, Russia), Ugochukwu Iwu (“Rubin”, Russia), Karen Nalbandyan (“Alashkert”), Karen Muradyan (“Ararat-Armenia”), Jirair Shagoyan (“Ararat-Armenia”), Edgar Sevikyan (“Akron”, Russia”), Artur Serobyan (“Ararat-Armenia”).

The next training sessions will take place in Yerevan before the team travels to Budapest.

On October 11 at 20:00, Armenia will face Hungary in the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, and on October 14 at 22:45, the team will meet Ireland in Dublin.