Riga FC – FK Jablonec, UEFA Conference League football match

This marks a historic debut for Riga FC in the group stage of a European competition. To reach this stage, Riga FC went through a gruelling and long qualifying campaign, demonstrating their character on the European football stage.

Starting this season, the traditional group stage has been replaced by a single league phase involving 36 teams. All teams play six matches against different opponents (three at home, three away), and points are tallied in a single table. The match against FK Jablonec will be Riga FC’s second home match of this season’s UEFA Conference League group stage.

Riga FC’s path to the UEFA Conference League group stage:

Second qualifying round: North Macedonian side FK Vardar were defeated 8–4 on aggregate over two legs.

Third qualifying round: Hungarian side ETO FC Győr were beaten 2–1 on aggregate in a hard-fought tie.

Play-off round: In the decisive stage, the Riga side beat the Faroe Islands champions, Klaksvíkar Ítróttarfelag (KÍ), 2–1 on aggregate, securing a place amongst the top teams.

Riga FC’s opponents, FK Jablonec, are a professional Czech football club from Jablonec near Nisa, founded in 1945. Although the club has always been in the shadow of the Prague giants (Sparta and Slavia) and Viktoria Plzeň in the Czech league, its trophy cabinet is by no means empty. It has won the Czech Cup twice, as well as the Czech Super Cup once.

The Czech football club has already visited Riga this season, defeating Riga’s RFS 2–1 (4–1 on aggregate) in the third qualifying round of this very same Conference League tournament. Subsequently, in the play-off round, they pulled off an unexpected victory over Scottish giants Glasgow Rangers.

On the “Riga FC” website, you can purchase a ticket package for all three of “Riga FC’s” home matches in the UEFA Conference League group stage. Tickets cannot be purchased for individual matches.