CORNERFLICK
It is likely not on most football fans' radar yet, but the first round of qualification for the various UEFA tournaments are well on their way. After the conclusion of this round, it is time to pull up the net and see what the results are for the Baltic Teams. Traditionally, they have a hard time qualifying for the main stage, but there have been surprises like RFS making it to the Europa League in 2024/2025.
Champions League
This year, the Baltic representatives in the qualifiers for the Champions League were FC Flora Tallinn from Estonia, Riga FC from Latvia and Kauno Žalgiris from Lithuania, who all became champions of their national leagues and earned the right to enter the road to the "cup with the big ears". Making it past this round is crucial, as it would grant these clubs the largest chance to make it at least to the league phase of any of the three tournaments. With that mission, Flora Tallinn had to face off with the Georgian champions FC Iberia 1999, Riga FC with Armenian champions Ararat-Armenia and Kauno Žalgiris with Kosovo's champions FC Drita. And well, this round had mixed results.
Flora Tallinn
Flora Tallinn lost its home game with 2-3, and could not make it in the away game either (2-2). The scoreline was 5-4 across both legs. However, it has to be said that despite it being a very close affair, Flora Tallinn had to fight back from 2-goal deficits in both legs. Flora Tallinn is now down to the 2nd qualifying round of the Conference League, where they hope to overcome The New Saints from Wales.
Riga FC
Riga FC also lost the first leg, which they had to play in Armenia with 2-0. This deficit was quickly dealt with in the 2nd leg in Riga, with Riga FC having a 2-0 lead in the 23rd minute. After a positive first half, the second half was disastrous. In the 46th minute, Ararat scored the 2-1, and in the 63rd minute the 2-2, putting Riga FC on a 2-goal deficit again. The late 3-2 in the 94th minute only softened the loss a little bit, sending Riga FC to the 2nd qualifying round of the Conference League as well with a 3-4 aggregate scoreline. Riga FC will face off with Vardar from North-Macedonia.
Kauno Žalgiris
The only Baltic side that still has a chance to get itself in the most prestiguous tournament is Kauno Žalgiris, who faced off with FC Drita. The home game in Kaunas led to a 1-1 scoreline, leaving the decision down to the 2nd leg. In Kosovo, it was a thriller. The Lithuanians took an early lead, but by the 53rd minute, the scoreline was 2-1 in favour of Drita. Vykintas Slivka, who just returned to Lithuania, completed his brace in the 82nd minute to put the tie level once again. It looked like extra time would be needed. However, in the 94th minute, a penalty taken by Amine Benchaib ensured the victory for Kauno Žalgiris, leading to a 4-3 win on aggregate.
Kauno Žalgiris will face off in the 2nd round of qualification for the Champions League with KÍ Klaksvík from the Faroe Islands. The away game will be played on the 21st of July on the Faroe Islands, while the home game will take place on the 29th of July. For Kauno Žalgiris, this is very unlucky, as their stadium will not be available due to a concert of "Mr. Worldwide" himself. Pitbull's concert has been agreed in advance, but especially the reaction of Kauno Žalgiris' head coach Željko Sopić to this news has made hilarious headlines: “because of a concert by some dog or somebody”.
Conference League
The Conference League is the level of tournament where the Baltics will likely have the highest probability of qualification. The most important here is that no team is tripping in the first stages, and almost all of the Baltic teams fulfilled this task. It was however certain that one Baltic team would be lost, as FC Hegelmann from Lithuania saw Paide Linnameeskond from Estonia being drawn to face them in this round.
Nõmme Kalju FC
The Estonian side Nõmme Kalju had to face Linfield from Belfast, Northern Ireland during this round. The Northern Irish side knocked out an ailing Žalgiris Vilnius last season, and now had to travel to the coastal town of Pärnu in Estonia. However, Nõmme Kalju's Roko Vukušić scored a very important goal during the 47th minute of the first leg, which would prove to be crucial for the second leg. This second leg was a true thriller as well. Linfield opened the score, but Nõmme Kalju came back after Linfield got a red card. In the 49th minute, Linfield takes the lead again. With 10 men, they managed to make it all the way to stoppage time, but a 92nd minute goal of Mihhail Orlov ensured Nõmme Kalju will continue. They will have to go to the Irish Republic now, where they will face Shelbourne.
FCI Levadia Tallinn
Levadia had no issue at all with the Welsh team Caernarfon, and managed to get the heaviest scorelines of this round of qualification. The Estonians won 0-5 away in Wales, and repeated this at home (5-0). With an aggregate score of 10-0, they comfortably qualified for the next round, where they will face off with IFK Göteborg from Sweden. This should be a more difficult match, but the Swedes are showing a horrible form in their domestic league, sitting at the 13th place (out of 16).
Paide Linnameeskond - FC Hegelmann
The only Intra-Baltic match-up in this round of qualification was between the Estonian side Paide Linnameeskond and FC Hegelmann from Lithuania. The first leg, which took place in Raudondvaris, Lithuania, saw all the action during the first half. Paide took the lead in the 37th minute, while Hegelmann equalised just before halftime (45+1). The second leg, which was played in Pärnu, Estonia, due to Paide's ground not fulfilling UEFA's requirements, saw a very comfortable win for Paide (3-0). With a 4-1 on aggregate, Paide will now continue it's European journey with a stand-off against Zire from Azerbaijan.
RFS
One of the teams with the highest expectations to perform in Europe is the Latvian side RFS, as they have proven to be most successful in qualifying for league phases and group stages before. The most eye-catching was the qualification for the Europa League in the 2024/2025 season, seeing them face off (and get results!) against the likes of Galatasaray and Anderlecht, and even winning against European giants Ajax.
By finishing second in the league behind city rivals Riga FC, there will be no chance for any misstep for RFS, and they delivered in the first round by beating the Northern Irish side Glentoran. With a 1-2 win at the historic Oval stadium in Belfast, RFS sealed the deal with a 2-0 win at home in Riga, seeing them through to the next round with a comfortable 4-1 win across both legs. They will now face the Icelandic side Vestri FC.
FK Liepāja
Latvian side FK Liepāja might not be a team that you would immediately expect as much of, but they definitely delivered during this round. The Latvians had to face the Montenegrin side FK Dečić in this round. The first leg started off terribly for Liepāja, as they received an early red card in the 21st minute. But with 10 men, they managed to take the lead and held on to that. With this 1-0 lead, they went to Montenegro. However, Dečić scored early on in the game. But the Latvian's still managed to have their tea with a 1-2 lead on aggregate due to a stoppage time goal. In the second half, they built this out to a 1-3 lead on aggregate (1-2 on the day). This means they now have to face of with Austria Wien in the next round.
FK Žalgiris
The most successful club in Lithuania, Žalgiris Vilnius, had to start this year's European campaign with a match-up against Montenegrin side FK Petrovac. The Lithuanians have gone through a very turbulent time in the club's history, and the previous European campaign ended in a shameful manner, by taking the shortest route from the UCL qualifiers to European elimination. It also sparked fan protests (suitcases on the pitch) and eventually, a complete change of leadership and ownership.
In this new situation, and a somewhat unpredictable first half of the season (which could be said for all of the TOPLyga teams), the first European games were seen as a big test. Žalgiris won comfortably in Podgorica (Petrovac' own stadium did not fulfill UEFA requirements), with 1-3. The second leg was to be played in Vilnius, and the club has put in a lot of effort to get the first stadium sell-out. Žalgiris succeeded in this and 5067 spectators were witness of another win. They had to wait until the second half, until Žalgiris was awarded a penalty after a handball. Striker Nikola Petković, who has scored regularly in the last games, easily made it 1-0 on the day. The most beautiful goal came in the 75th minute, by Nemanja Mihajlović. Petrovac scored the 2-1 on the day in the 87th minute. This all led to a comfortable 5-2 win on aggregate for Žalgiris. They will face off with Dinamo Tbilisi from Georgia.
Conclusion
The Baltics have seen a quite successful start of their European campaigns, although there is only one team left in the Champions League Qualifiers. In the next round, we will see the first showing of FK Auda from Latvia and FK Panevėžys from Lithuania, who both won their national cups and were able to start in Qualifying round 2. On Monday 20 July, the draw for the 3rd qualifying round will take place, in which we will see who will be the opponents in that round, if the Baltic teams keep their European dreams alive.
Next ties: UCL Q2: KÍ Klaksvík - Kauno Žalgiris (21 July in Klaksvík, FRO; 29 July in Jonava, LTU)
UECL Q2:
IFK Göteborg - FCI Levadia Tallinn (21 July in Gothenburg, SWE; 30 July in Tallinn, EST)
Vardar - Riga FC (22 July in Skopje, MKD; 28 July in Riga, LVA)
FK Liepāja - Austria Wien (23 July in Jūrmala, LVA; 30 July in Vienna, AUT)
FK Panevėžys - Tobol (23 July in Panevėžys, LTU; 30 July in Kostanay, KAZ)
FC Flora Tallinn - The New Saints (23 July in Tallinn, EST; 30 July in Oswestry, WAL)
Paide Linnameeskond - Zire (23 July in Pärnu, EST; 30 July in Sumgayit, AZE)
RFS - Vestri FC (23 July in Riga, LVA; 30 July in Reykjavik, ISL)
Dinamo Tbilisi - FK Žalgiris (23 July in Tbilisi, GEO; 30 July in Vilnius, LTU)
FCSB - FK Auda (23 July in Bucharest, ROU; 30 July in Riga, LVA)
Shelbourne - Nõmme Kalju FC (23 July in Dublin, IRL; 30 July in Pärnu, EST)