European Cups: Tre Fiori drawn against Northern Ireland's Larne

The UEFA Champions League and Conference League draws for the 2026-27 season took place today in Nyon, UEFA headquarters. Three Sammarinese clubs were involved – Tre Fiori, Virtus and La Fiorita – and have now discovered their next opponents in the two European club competitions.

The first team drawn was Tre Fiori, who will compete in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League: the champions of San Marino will face Northern Ireland’s Larne, who themselves won the Danske Bank Premiership at home (their third title in the last four seasons). The first leg will be played at the Stadium on Tuesday 7 July, with the return leg scheduled a week later (Tuesday 14 July) at Larne’s Inver Park Stadium. For Tre Fiori – in their fifth Champions League campaign and ninth in European competitions overall – this will be their second tie against a club from Northern Ireland, after meeting Linfield in 2020. Should the club from Fiorentino – who have already progressed in both the Europa League and the Conference League in the past – win, the Gialloblù will advance to Champions League Q2. In the event of defeat, they would drop into the Conference League: the additional draw has favoured the Gialloblù, who, instead of re-entering at Q2, have been drawn to go straight into the third qualifying round – just as Virtus did last year. It was then the turn of Acquaviva’s Neroverdi and La Fiorita in the draw for the first qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League. Virtus have been paired with Georgia’s Dila Gori, winners of their national cup. This is Virtus’ third appearance in European competitions and, despite limited experience, last year the Neroverdi came within a whisker of reaching the Main Round of the Conference League (knocked out in the play-offs by Breidablik). This will be the third meeting between Sammarinese and Georgian clubs, after ties with Zestafoni (Faetano, 2010) and Dinamo Batumi (Tre Penne, 2021). Far more seasoned are La Fiorita, making their fifteenth consecutive appearance in European competitions (a record for a Sammarinese club). The Montegiardino side have been drawn against UNA Strassen, a team from Luxembourg who finished fourth in the BGL Ligue (the top domestic division). This will be La Fiorita’s sixth participation in the Conference League, a competition in which, in 2024, they also managed to progress by eliminating Isloch Minsk. A record also for Stefano Ceci: the Gialloblù coach has already clocked up 19 appearances in European competitions (the best among Sammarinese club coaches) but has never managed to win a match. This will be the third encounter between clubs from San Marino and Luxembourg, following those against Dudelange (Tre Penne, 2012) and Fola Esch (Tre Fiori, 2022, when the Gialloblù went through).

The first qualifying round Conference League fixtures for Virtus and La Fiorita will be played on 9 July (first leg) and 16 July (second leg). In the coming days it will be decided which team will play the first match at home.