Conference League Stories: For the first time, Kosovo and Lichtenstein will have teams in a UEFA group stage

As the UEFA Champions League already has its 32 announcements and even defined groups, the Conference League He also met with the teams that will be spread across the eight zones of four clubs each. In the final round of access to the group stage there were two big surprises that marked historical events. Vaduz of Liechtenstein Y KF Ballkani from Kosovo they will be the first teams from those countries to play in UEFA competition.

The first shock was the ranking of Vaduz, who beat a historic team like Rapid Vienna from Austria. They are the first Liechtenstein team to qualify for an international cup, but there is much more to the depth of that data.

It turns out that the Principality does not have its own league, in fact, the The Liechtenstein Football Association (LFV) is made up of a professional club (FC Vaduz) and six amateur clubs (FC Schaan, FC Balzers, FC Triesen, FC Ruggell, USV Eschen / Mauren and FC Triesenberg).

All these clubs play the Liechtenstein Cupwhich is not recognized by the Uefa neither FIFA, and it is the only European federation that does not field teams for the Champions League. For this reason the LFV is affiliated with Ostschweizer Fussballverband (OFV), which is an association of amateur clubs which is a member of the Swiss Football Association.

Vaduz competes in the Swiss Second Division after being relegated in the 2020/2021 season. Fee for the Conference League He got it after being champion of the Liechtenstein Cup, where he is the first winner with 48 trophies, and entered the second qualifying round. In this first case he defeated the koper from sloveniahis next rival was the Konyaspor from Turkey for the third round and also triumphed.

After passing these two stages, he had to face the Quick Vienna for the playoffs. They drew 1-1 in Liechtenstein in the first leg and this Thursday achieved the unthinkable after winning 1-0 in Vienna. This qualification came on the twenty-seventh attempt after only reaching the third qualifying round at most. The merit is enormous and doubly, as he managed to qualify for a European competition as a participant in the Second Division of a foreign country.

But Vaduz were not the only team to make history. The KF Ballkani, reigning champion of the Kosovo Super League, has also managed to set a milestone. After FK Shkupi of North Macedonia scored as the first Kosovar team to play in the group stage of a UEFA competition.

The long and tiring road began in the UEFA Champions League first qualifying round but fell to Lithuanian ŽZalgiris Vilnius. Following the defeat, he was able to play the second round of the Conference League, where he was paired with the SP La Fiorita of San Marinoteam that beat 4-0 in the first leg and 6-0 in the second leg.

For the third round, their rival was KÍ Klaksvík of the Faroe Islands, who eliminated 3-2 in the first leg, but the return was tricky after falling 2-1. Given the tie, they went to penalties and Kosovo won 4-3.

The last leg was against FK Shkupi, a rival defeated 3-1 on aggregate, after winning 2-1 in North Macedonia and confirming their superiority with a 1-0 victory in Kosovo. In this way he has become part of the great history of his country and will try to make the best possible performance on his debut in the group stage.