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

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

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

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

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

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

UEFA club coefficient ranking (As of 4 August 2023)[3] Rank Team Points 222 Sepsi OSK 5.500 223 Levski Sofia 5.500 224 Valmieras FK 5.500 225 KF Tirana 5.500 226 FK Borac Banja Luka 5.500 227 Tre Penne 5.500 228 Hammarby IF 5.500

Last Update: 4 August 2023

References

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.