The captain of the Armenian national team, Varazdat Haroyan, played his 90th match for the national squad. His milestone game took place in a home match against Georgia, which ended in a 0-3 defeat for Armenia.
Haroyan ranks third in the history of the national team in terms of appearances. In second place is Roman Berezovsky with 94 matches, while the leader is Sargis Hovsepyan, who has 132 caps. Henrikh Mkhitaryan has played 95 games, and it seems likely that Haroyan will surpass him this year and move into second place. However, Hovsepyan’s record remains out of reach for now. Notably, Sargis played for the national team until the age of 42.
Varazdat made his debut for the Armenian national team in 2011 at the age of 19. It was a friendly match against Lithuania, in which Armenia lost 0-3. His debut was tough—Haroyan was sent off in the 59th minute. However, he has had many successful matches throughout his career. Notably, he played in the memorable 3-2 victory over Montenegro in 2016, where he scored a goal and provided an assist for Gevorg Ghazaryan’s winning goal in the 90th minute.
Another significant moment came in Armenia’s comeback victory against Romania in 2021. The Armenian team secured a dramatic 3-2 win, scoring twice after the 86th minute. It was Haroyan who equalized, which became the turning point of the game.
Vato has been a key player for the national team since 2013, forming a defensive duo with Robert Arzumanyan. Since 2022, he has been the team captain, although he first wore the captain’s armband in 2020.
In his 90 appearances for the national team, Varazdat Haroyan has scored 4 goals and provided 3 assists. He started in 87 matches and was substituted in only four games. Throughout his international career, he has been sent off twice—once with a direct red card (in his debut match against Lithuania) and once for receiving two yellow cards.