In a matter of days, Bala Town and Caernarfon Town will know their first opponents in this season’s UEFA Conference League.
Olympiacos became the third team to win this new European competition, which enters its fourth year in July.
The final this season will be held in the Polish city of Wrocław and the journey begins with the draw for the first qualifying round on June 18th.
Bala and Caernarfon will enter the draw as unseeded teams, which in essence means a trickier draw. But who exactly could they face off against next month?
Breiðablik (Iceland)
One of the highest seeded teams in this year’s Conference League is Breiðablik of Iceland.
Despite being a club with a storied history, Breiðablik aren’t exactly serial trophy winners. They’ve only won the Icelandic league twice and the Icelandic Cup once. In fact, they’ve won the second tier more times than the top tier. We are currently in the middle of the Icelandic season, and at the moment, the team sit second.
One thing Breiðablik are known is their great academy. So many Icelandic stars have come through their doors, including Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson and Alfreð Finnbogason. Attacking midfielder Jason Daði Svanþórsson has been recently involved with the national team and shows the pulling power the club has.
However, the reason why this is a team to keep an eye on is because of last year’s European adventure. Having started out in the preliminary rounds of the Champions League, Breiðablik managed to become the first Icelandic team to ever reach a European group stage, as they defeated North Macedonian side Struga to reach the Conference League group stages. They lost all their games to Gent, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Zorya, but now they’ve had a taste of it, they want to get back there again.
F91 Dudelange (Luxembourg)
Another team with a rich European history are F91 Dudelange of Luxembourg.
F91 are one of Luxembourg’s most successful sides, having lifted the BGL League title on 16 occasions, and the Luxembourg Cup eight times. However, they haven’t won a trophy since 2022, and they finished the latest league campaign in third behind Differdange 03 and Swift Hesperange.
The squad is a mix of European and African talent. Belgian defender Kino Delorge came through the youth system at Genk, Congolese striker Herman Moussaki has played in Ligue 1, while goalkeeper Didier Desprez has played for all of France’s age group teams.
Without a doubt, F91’s greatest achievements is reaching back-to-back Europa League group stages in 2018 and 2019. In the 2018, they faced off against Olympiacos, AC Milan, and Real Betis, getting a draw with the Spanish giants. A year later, they played against Sevilla, APOEL and Qarabag, picking up four points in the group.
Their latest attempts at getting back into the group stages haven’t been stellar, and last season saw them knocked out in the second qualifying round of the Conference League by Maltese side Gzira United.
Shkendija (North Macedonia)
A club that will be familiar to a few here in Wales will be Shkendija of North Macedonia.
The club’s dominant period in their league occurred during the late 2010s, where in the space of four years they won the title on three occasions. Their last triumph came back in 2021, but they haven’t challenged the leaders since. That was until this past season, where they finished second behind winners Struga on their head-to-head.
Shkendija have also faced off against some of Europe’s most established clubs in the past. They took Aberdeen to a penalty shootout, faced off against AC Milan at the San Siro, were narrowly defeated against Red Bull Salzburg, and gave Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham a scare.
But the reason why Welsh fans will be aware of the club is because of last season’s antics, where they faced off against Haverfordwest County. Having won the first leg 1-0, Shkendija lost the second leg by the same scoreline at Cardiff City Stadium, and then lost on penalties to the Bluebirds in what was a memorable night for Welsh football.
FK Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Another team that could be lining up against Bala or Caernarfon might be FK Sarajevo of Bosnia.
One of the biggest clubs in the capital of Bosnia, FK Sarejevo are five-time Bosnian League winners and seven-time Bosnian Cup winners, a record. For all their success, FK Sarajevo finished fourth this season in the league, 25 points behind the winners.
Their squad is an interesting blend of Bosnian and international talents. Goalkeeper Dejan Iliev came through the youth system at Arsenal, Edin Julardžija came through the famous Dinamo Zagreb academy, while Venezuelan international striker Adalberto Peñaranda has 20 caps for his country and spent time playing for Watford and Udinese.
But perhaps the most interesting figure in the club is their joint majority shareholder. The man who bought the club in 2013 was one Vincent Tan. Under Tan, Sarajevo won five trophies.
When it comes to Europe, in a way, Sarajevo have been the near men on a couple of occasions. In 1968, they almost dumped Manchester United out of the European Cup, a competition United would go on to win. In 1980, they almost knocked Hamburg out of the UEFA Cup, while in 2021, they were one goal away from reaching the Champions League group stage, only for Celtic to stop them.
The past two seasons have seen Sarajevo in the Conference League, and they’ve been knocked out in the first qualifying round each time. They were first dumped out by Milsami Orhei of Moldova, before losing on penalties last year to Torpedo Kutaisi of Georgia.
Every team Bala Town and Caernarfon Town could face
Žalgiris (Lithuania), Linfield (Northern Ireland), KuPS (Finland), Breiðablik (Iceland), F91 Dudelange (Luxembourg), Budućnost (Montenegro), Dinamo Tbilisi (Georgia), Shkendija (North Macedonia), B36 Torshavn (Faroe Islands), Partizani (Albania), FK Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Inter Club d’Escaldes (Andorra), FCI Levadia (Estonia), Tirana (Albania), Tre Penne (San Marino), Paide Linnameeskond (Estonia), Milsami Orhei (Moldova), Crusaders (Northern Ireland), La Fiorita (San Marino), Liepaja (Latvia), Derry City (Republic of Ireland), Vllanzia (Albania), St. Joseph’s (Gibraltar), Urartu (Armenia)
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