KF Tirana in European football

KF Tirana are the Albanian football club with the best performance through all European competitions. They have the most participations, matches, wins, points and experience in Europe among all other Albanian clubs.

Tirana holds the record for the most ties won (14) (once directly by draw) along their road. They are the most successful Albanian team in European competitions, since making their European debut in the 1965–66 European Cup and the first Albanian squad to win a tie in European performances. They reached Round of 16 four times, of which three times in the European Cup (now Champions League) alone in 1980s, making it the Albanian team to have progressed farthest in any European competition. Tirana is the team that were able to overturn the first leg negative result to their advantage in at least four occasions; worth to remember their great second legs wins against Ħamrun Spartans, FC Bobruisk, Dinamo Tbilisi, ND Gorica; additionally good overturns against Apollon Limassol and Ferencvarosi TC. Even though at 14 attempts they have not passed more than one round, KF Tirana are the Albanian team which has won more ties in Europe throughout their long history. Another significant international result comes at Balkans Cup of season 1981 where they went on the final, but lost both matches against Beroe Stara Zagora.

Along their European road, KF Tirana has met many famous squads in Europe, such as: FC Bayern Munich, Standard Liège, AFC Ajax, Malmö FF, IFK Göteborg, Ferencvárosi TC, PFC CSKA Sofia, Red Star, Besiktas JK. etc., and in many of such matches has given unforgettable performances.

Additionally, white and blues hold the all-time record for the highest IFFHS ranking of an Albanian football club, being ranked as high as 31st in the world in 1987, as result of good performances preceded 1986–87.[1][2] KF Tirana started competing for the first time in the European Cup 1965–66. Below are all matches played and up-to-date rankings.

European performance table

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Season Competition Round Country Opposition Home Away
1964–66 Balkans Cup Group B   Cherno More Varna 0–0 0–1
  Beşiktaş J.K. 2–0 1–1
  Rapid București 1–2 1–3  
1965–66 European Champion Clubs' Cup 1R   Kilmarnock F.C. 0–0 0–1  
1966–67 European Champion Clubs' Cup 1R   Vålerenga n.p n.p  
1969–70 European Champion Clubs' Cup 1R   Standard Liège 1–1 0–3  
1970–71 European Champion Clubs' Cup 1R   AFC Ajax 2–2 0–2  
1975 Balkans Cup Group B   Panionios 6–0 1–2
  Radnički Niš 0–0 0–3  
1981-83 Balkans Cup Group B   Larissa 3–0 1–3  
  Sloboda Tuzla n.d n.d  
Final   Beroe Stara Zagora 0-1 0-3  
1982–83 European Champion Clubs' Cup 1R   Linfield 1–0 1–2  
Round of 16   Dynamo Kyiv n.p n.p  
1983–84 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1R   Hammarby IF 2–1 0–3  
1986–87 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1R   FC Dinamo București 1–0 2–1  
Round of 16   Malmö FF 0–3 0–0  
1988–89 European Champion Clubs' Cup 1R   Ħamrun Spartans 2–0 1–2  
Round of 16   IFK Göteborg 0–3 0–1  
1989–90 European Champion Clubs' Cup 1R   Sliema Wanderers 5–0 0–1  
Round of 16   FC Bayern Munich 0–3 1–3  
1990–91 Balkans Cup QF   Budućnost Titograd 0–0 1–2  
1994–95 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup QR   FC Bobruisk 3–0 1–4  
1R   Brøndby IF 0–1 0–3  
1995–96 UEFA Cup QR   Hapoel Be'er Sheva FC 0–1 0–2  
1996–97 UEFA Cup 1QR   NK Croatia Zagreb 2–6 0–4  
1998–99 UEFA Cup 1QR   FK Inter Bratislava 0–2 0–2  
1999–00 UEFA Champions League 1QR   Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja 1–2 0–1  
2000–01 UEFA Champions League 1QR   FC Zimbru Chisinau 2–3 2–3  
2001–02 UEFA Cup QR   Apollon Limassol 3–2 1–3  
2002–03 UEFA Cup QR   Național București 0–1 2–2  
2003–04 UEFA Champions League 1Q   Dinamo Tbilisi 3–0 (4:2 p) 0–3  
2QR   Grazer AK 1–5 1–2  
2004–05 UEFA Champions League 1QR   FC Gomel 0–1 2–0  
2QR   Ferencvárosi TC 2–3 1–0  
2005–06 UEFA Champions League 1QR   ND Gorica 3–0 0–2  
2QR   PFC CSKA Sofia 0–2 0–2  
2006–07 UEFA Cup 1QR   NK Varteks 2–0 1–1  
2QR   Kayserispor 0–2 1–3  
2007–08 UEFA Champions League 1QR   NK Domžale 1–2 0–1  
2009–10 UEFA Champions League 2QR   Stabæk 1–1 0–4  
2010–11 UEFA Europa League 1QR   Zalaegerszegi TE 0–0 1–0 (aet)  
2QR   FC Utrecht 1–1 0–4  
2011–12 UEFA Europa League 2QR   FC Spartak Trnava 0–0 1–3  
2012–13 UEFA Europa League 1QR   CS Grevenmacher 2–0 0–0  
2QR   Aalesunds FK 1–1 0–5  
2017–18 UEFA Europa League 1QR   Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. 0–3 0–2  
2020–21 UEFA Champions League 1QR   Dinamo Tbilisi 2–0  
2QR   Red Star Belgrade 0−1  
UEFA Europa League 3QR BYE  
PO   Young Boys 0−3  
2022–23 UEFA Champions League 1QR   F91 Dudelange 1−2 0–1  
UEFA Europa Conference League 2QR   HŠK Zrinjski 0–1 2–3  
2023–24 UEFA Conference League 1QR   Dinamo Batumi 1–1 2–1  
2QR   Besiktas JK 1-3 0-2  

Balkans Cup performance

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Season Round Country Country Home Away Qual/Elim
Balkans Cup 1964–66 1R   PFC Cherno More Varna 0–0 0–1
Balkans Cup 1964–66 1R   Beşiktaş J.K. 2–0 1–1
Balkans Cup 1964–66 1R   FC Rapid București 1–2 1–3  
Balkans Cup 1975 1R   Panionios G.S.S. 6–0 1–2
Balkans Cup 1975 1R   FK Radnički Niš 0–0 0–3  
Balkans Cup 1981 1R   Larissa F.C. 3–0 1–3
Balkans Cup 1981 2R   FK Sloboda Tuzla 3–0 3–0  
Balkans Cup 1981 Final   PFC Beroe Stara Zagora 1–3 0–3  
Balkans Cup 1990 1R   FK Budućnost Podgorica 0–0 0–1  
  • QR = Qualifying Round
  • 1R = 1st round
  • 2R = 2nd round
  • n.p = non participation
Overall GP W D L GF GA GD
Home 9 4 3 2 16 5 +11
Away 9 1 1 7 7 17 −10
Total 18 5 4 9 23 22 +1

By country

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Country Pld W D L GF GA GD Q E
  Austria 2 0 0 2 2 7 −5 0 1
  Belarus 4 2 0 2 6 5 +1 2 0
  Belgium 2 0 1 1 1 4 −3 0 1
  Bosnia 6 2 0 2 8 4 +4 1 1
  Bulgaria 6 0 1 5 1 11 −10 0 3
  Croatia 4 1 1 2 5 11 −6 1 1
  Cyprus 2 1 0 1 4 5 −1 0 1
  Denmark 2 0 0 2 0 4 −4 0 1
  Germany 2 0 0 2 1 6 −5 0 1
  Georgia 5 3 1 1 8 5 +3 3 0
  Greece 4 2 0 2 11 5 +6 2 0
  Hungary 4 2 1 1 4 3 +1 1 1
  Iceland 2 0 0 2 1 3 −2 0 1
  Israel 4 0 0 4 0 8 −8 0 2
  Luxembourg 6 1 1 2 3 3 0 1 1
  Malta 4 2 0 2 8 3 +5 2 0
  Moldova 2 0 0 2 4 6 −2 0 1
  Montenegro 2 0 1 1 0 1 −1 0 0
  Netherlands 4 0 2 2 3 9 −6 0 2
  Northern Ireland 2 1 0 1 2 2 0 1 0
  Norway 4 0 2 2 2 11 −9 0 2
  Romania 6 2 1 3 7 9 −2 1 2
  Scotland 2 0 1 1 0 1 −1 0 1
  Serbia 3 0 1 2 0 4 −4 0 1
  Slovakia 4 0 1 3 1 7 −6 0 2
  Slovenia 4 1 0 3 4 5 −1 1 1
  Sweden 6 1 1 4 2 11 −3 0 3
   Switzerland 1 0 0 1 0 3 −3 0 1
  Turkey 6 1 1 4 5 -10 −5 1 2
  Ukraine 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
  • Q = Qualified
  • E = Eliminated

Last Update: 03 August 2023

UEFA club competition record

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Competition GP PP W D L GF GA GD P
Champions League 40 16 8 4 28 37 65 −28
Cup Winners' Cup 10 3 4 1 5 9 16 −7
UEFA Cup / Europa League 28 11 5 7 16 20 54 −34
UEFA Europa Conference League 6 2 1 1 4 6 11 −5
Intertoto Cup 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
UEFA Super Cup 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Intercontinental Cup 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 84 32 18 13 53 72 146 −74 67
Overall GP W D L GF GA GD
Home 41 11 9 21 45 59 −14
Away 43 7 4 32 27 87 −60
Total 84 18 13 53 72 146 −74

Europe and Balkan total

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Overall GP W D L GF GA GD
Home 50 15 12 23 61 64 -3
Away 52 8 5 39 34 104 −70
Total 102 23 17 62 95 168 −73

World and European rankings

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Last Update: 4 August 2023

References

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  1. ^ "UEFA Rannking". Kassiessa.
  2. ^ "Skenderbeu 178th but Tirana 31st". Archived from the original on 2014-03-16.
  3. ^ "Club coefficients". Bert Kassies. Retrieved 4 August 2023.