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Swedish football clubs in European competitions
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This is a list of Swedish football clubs in European competition. Swedish clubs have participated since 1955, when Djurgårdens IF entered the 1955–56 European Cup and played Gwardia Warszawa of Poland in the first round. A total of 25 clubs have participated in UEFA competitions throughout the years.
In results, IFK Göteborg has won the UEFA Cup on two occasions, by beating Hamburger SV in the 1982 UEFA Cup final and Dundee United in the 1987 UEFA Cup final. Further on, Malmö FF reached the 1979 European Cup final, which they lost to Nottingham Forest. IFK Göteborg also reached the semi-finals of the 1985–86 European Cup, which they lost to Barcelona and Swedish teams reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup on four occasions.
Swedish teams have also competed internationally in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup[1] and the pre-UEFA Intertoto Cup.[2] Further on, eight teams competed in the 1959–62 Nordic Cup[3] and four teams competed in each of three editions of the Royal League.[4] After the 1979 European Cup final, Nottingham Forest declined to play in the 1979 Intercontinental Cup, and runners-up Malmö FF took their spot, losing to Club Olimpia of Paraguay.[5]
Swedish teams have met teams from present Germany the most, 70 times, followed by Italy on 67 times. Swedish clubs are unbeaten against teams from present Belarus, Gibraltar, Kosovo, Liechtenstein and San Marino.
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Statistics
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- Most European Cup/Champions League competitions appeared in: 20 – Malmö FF
- Most UEFA Cup/Europa League competitions appeared in: 19 – Malmö FF
- Most Conference League competitions appeared in: 3 – Djurgårdens IF
- Most Cup Winners' Cup competitions appeared in: 5, joint record – AIK, Malmö FF and IFK Norrköping
- Most Intertoto Cup competitions appeared in: 3 – Örgryte IS
- Most competitions appeared in overall: 45 – Malmö FF
- First match played: Djurgårdens IF 0–0 Gwardia Warszawa, 20 September 1955 (1955–56 European Cup first round)
- Most matches played: 221 – Malmö FF
- Most match wins: 81 – Malmö FF
- Most match draws: 48 – Malmö FF
- Most match losses: 92 – Malmö FF
- Biggest win (match): 11 goals – Malmö FF 11–0 Pezoporikos Larnaca (1973–74 European Cup Winners' Cup first round)
- Biggest win (aggregate): 17 goals – IFK Göteborg 17–0 Avenir Beggen (1984–85 European Cup first round)
- Biggest defeat (match): 8 goals – Real Madrid 8–0 Malmö FF (2015–16 UEFA Champions League group stage)
- Biggest defeat (aggregate): 9 goals – IFK Göteborg 2–11 Feyenoord (1961–62 European Cup preliminary round)
UEFA coefficient and ranking
For the 2023–24 UEFA competitions, the associations will be allocated places according to their 2022 UEFA country coefficients, which take into account their performance in European competitions from 2017–18 to 2021–22. In the 2022 rankings used for the 2023–24 European competitions, Sweden's coefficient points total is 22.875. After earning a score of 5.125 during the 2021–22 European campaign, Sweden is ranked by UEFA as the 23rd best association in Europe out of 55 – staying in the same position as the previous season.
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Appearances in UEFA competitions
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- As of 20 April 2025
Legend: (bold) – currently in indicated competition; EC – European Cup; ECWC – European Cup Winner's Cup; UIC – UEFA Intertoto Cup, UC – UEFA Cup; UCL – UEFA Champions League, UEL – UEFA Europa League; UECL – UEFA Europa Conference League.
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Active competitions
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UEFA Champions League
Djurgårdens IF became the first Swedish team to enter the European Cup, by contesting in the 1955–56 inaugural edition.[1] Malmö FF reached the 1979 European Cup final, which they lost to Nottingham Forest.[1]
These are the appearances of Swedish football clubs in the European Cup and the UEFA Champions League:[1][6]
UEFA Europa League


Djurgårdens IF and IF Elfsborg became the first Swedish teams to enter the UEFA Cup, by contesting in the 1971–72 inaugural edition.[1] IFK Göteborg has won the tournament on two occasions, by beating Hamburger SV in the 1982 UEFA Cup final and Dundee United in the 1987 UEFA Cup final.[1]
These are the appearances of Swedish football clubs in the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Europa League:[1][6]
UEFA Conference League
IF Elfsborg, BK Häcken, and Hammarby IF became the first Swedish teams to enter the UEFA Europa Conference League in its inaugural edition in 2021–22.[1] Djurgårdens IF reached the round of 16 in the 2022–23 and 2024–25 editions.[1][6]
These are the appearances of Swedish football clubs in the UEFA Europa Conference League and the UEFA Conference League:[1][6]
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Defunct competitions
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UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
Svenska cupen was on hiatus before the 1967 edition.[7] IFK Norrköping became the first Swedish entrant in the European Cup Winners' Cup, by contesting in the 1968–69 edition.[1] Swedish teams reached the quarter-finals on four occasions: Åtvidabergs FF, against Dynamo Berlin in the 1971–72 edition; Malmö FF, against Ferencváros in the 1971–72 edition; IFK Göteborg, against Arsenal in the 1971–72 edition; and AIK, against Barcelona in the 1996–97 edition.[1]
These are the appearances of Swedish football clubs in the European Cup Winners' Cup and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup:[1]
UEFA Intertoto Cup
These are the appearances of Swedish football clubs in the UEFA Intertoto Cup:
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Non-UEFA competitions
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
These are the appearances of Swedish football clubs in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup:[1]
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References
External links
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