2026 Esiliiga

Esiliiga

Season	2026
Dates	5 March – 8 November 2026
← 2025 2027 →

The 2026 Esiliiga is the 36th season of the Esiliiga. The season began on 5 March 2026 and is set to conclude on 8 November 2026.

Teams

The league consisted of ten teams; seven teams remaining from the previous season, two teams promoted from the Esiliiga B, and one team relegated from the Meistriliiga.

The promoted teams were the 2025 Esiliiga B champions Maardu Linnameeskond and runners-up Nõmme United U21. They replaced the 2025 Esiliiga bottom two teams Tallinna Kalev U21 and Tammeka U21.

The relegated team was the 2025 Meistriliiga bottom-placed team Tallinna Kalev. They replaced the 2025 Esiliiga champions Nõmme United.

Stadiums and locations

Tallinn

Tallinn teams:
FCI Levadia U21
Flora U21
Nõmme Kalju U21
Nõmme United U21
Tallinn
Tallinna Kalev

Elva

Maardu Linnameeskond

Viimsi

Welco

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Locations of the 2026 Esiliiga teams

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Elva	Otepää	Tehvandi Stadium	3,144 [1]
FCI Levadia U21	Tallinn	Maarjamäe Stadium	30 [2]
Flora U21		Lilleküla Training Ground I	150 [3]
Maardu Linnameeskond	Maardu	Maardu linnastaadion	500 [4]
Nõmme Kalju U21	Tallinn	Hiiu Stadium	570 [5]
Nõmme United U21		Männiku Stadium	500 [6]
Tallinn		Lasnamäe Sports Complex Stadium	200 [7]
Tallinna Kalev		Sportland Arena	1,172 [8]
Viimsi	Haabneeme	Viimsi Stadium	1,006 [9]
Welco	Tartu	Holm Park	580 [10]

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Elva	Kaido Koppel		Nike
FCI Levadia U21	Dmitri Kruglov		Macron [11]
Flora U21	Ats Sillaste		Nike
Maardu Linnameeskond	Deniss Kovtun		Givova
Nõmme Kalju U21	Erik Šteinberg		Adidas
Nõmme United U21	Eero Maling		Adidas
Tallinn	Andrei Kalimullin	Vladislav Tšurilkin	Adidas
Tallinna Kalev	Ivan Stojković	Vadim Mihhailov	Macron
Viimsi	Andres Oper Arli Salm		Joma
Welco	Alo Bärengrub	Taijo Teniste	Adidas	Holm Bank

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in the table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Welco	Jaanus Reitel	Mutual consent	9 November 2025 [12]	Pre-season	Alo Bärengrub	22 December 2025 [13]
FCI Levadia U21	Santi García	End of contract	4 December 2025 [14]		Dmitri Kruglov	11 December 2025 [15]
Viimsi	Ivo Lehtmets	Resigned	5 December 2025 [16]		Andres Oper Arli Salm	8 December 2025 [17]
Flora U21	Taavi Viik	Signed by Vaprus	19 December 2025 [18]		Ats Sillaste	2 January 2026 [19]
Tallinna Kalev	Alo Bärengrub	Signed by Welco	22 December 2025 [13]		Ivan Stojković	22 December 2025 [20]
Nõmme United U21	Risto Sarapik	Resigned	14 January 2026 [21]		Eero Maling	16 January 2026 [22]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Nõmme United U21	1	1	0	0	4	1	+3	3	Not eligible for promotion [Note]
2	Welco	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3	3	Promotion to the Meistriliiga
3	FCI Levadia U21	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	3	Not eligible for promotion [Note]
4	Viimsi	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1	3	Qualification for the Meistriliiga play-off
5	Elva	1	0	1	0	1	1	0	1
6	Tallinn	1	0	1	0	1	1	0	1
7	Flora U21	1	0	0	1	1	2	−1	0	Not eligible for promotion [Note]
8	Nõmme Kalju U21	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2	0	Qualification for the Esiliiga play-off
9	Maardu Linnameeskond	1	0	0	1	1	4	−3	0	Relegation to Esiliiga B
10	Tallinna Kalev	1	0	0	1	0	3	−3	0

Updated to match(es) played on 8 March 2026. Source: Esiliiga
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Less matches awarded against; 3) Head-to-head points; 4) Head-to-head goal difference; 5) Matches won; 6) Goal difference; 7) Goals scored; 8) Away goals scored; 9) Fair-play points; 10) Draw ^[23]

Notes

1. ^
   Ineligible for promotion as a division below senior team.

Results

Home \ Away	ELV	FCI	FLO	MLM	NÕK	NÕM	TAL	TLK	VII	WEL	ELV	FCI	FLO	MLM	NÕK	NÕM	TAL	TLK	VII	WEL
Elva
FCI Levadia U21					2–0
Flora U21
Maardu Linnameeskond
Nõmme Kalju U21
Nõmme United U21				4–1
Tallinn	1–1
Tallinna Kalev
Viimsi			2–1
Welco								3–0

Updated to match(es) played on 8 March 2026. Source: Esiliiga
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

See also

• 2026 Meistriliiga
• 2026 Esiliiga B
• 2025–26 Estonian Cup
• 2026–27 Estonian Cup

References

1. "Tehvandi Spordikeskuse staadion". Spordiregister.ee (in Estonian). Retrieved 1 January 2026.
2. "Maarjamäe jalgpallikeskus". Spordiregister.ee (in Estonian). Retrieved 1 January 2026.
3. "A. Le Coq Arena I ja II muruväljak". Spordiregister.ee (in Estonian). Retrieved 1 January 2026.
4. "Maardu linna spordiväljakud". Spordiregister.ee (in Estonian). Retrieved 1 January 2026.
5. "Hiiu Staadioni spordiväljakud". Spordiregister.ee (in Estonian). Retrieved 1 January 2026.
6. "Männiku Jalgpallikeskuse jalgpalliväljakud". Spordiregister.ee (in Estonian). Retrieved 1 January 2026.
7. "Lasnamäe Spordikompleksi staadion ja palliväljakud". Spordiregister.ee (in Estonian). Retrieved 1 January 2026.
8. "Sportland Arena". Spordiregister.ee (in Estonian). Retrieved 1 January 2026.
9. "Viimsi staadion". Spordiregister.ee (in Estonian). Retrieved 1 January 2026.
10. "Holm Jalgpallipark". Spordiregister.ee (in Estonian). Retrieved 1 January 2026.
11. "FCI Levadia uueks tehniliseks partneriks on hooajast 2023 Itaalia spordirõivaste bränd Macron, mida esindab Eestis 4Teams". fcilevadia.ee. 12 January 2023.
12. "Reiteli jaoks jääb tänavune hooaeg Welcos viimaseks". Soccernet.ee (in Estonian). 24 October 2025. Retrieved 24 October 2025.
13. "Kalevist Welcosse kolinud Bärengrub: siht on tõusta suurte poiste sekka". Soccernet.ee (in Estonian). 22 December 2025. Retrieved 22 December 2025.
14. "Levadia duubli peatreener lahkus klubist suure rahuloluga". Soccernet.ee (in Estonian). 4 December 2025. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
15. "Levadia noored uuele tasemele viinud Dmitri Kruglov sai ametikõrgendust". Soccernet.ee (in Estonian). 11 December 2025. Retrieved 11 December 2025.
16. "Lehtmets astus Viimsi peatreenerikohalt tagasi". Soccernet.ee (in Estonian). 5 December 2025. Retrieved 5 December 2025.
17. "Viimsit juhendavad edaspidi kaks kaaspeatreenerit, nende seas koondise rekordväravakütt". Soccernet.ee (in Estonian). 8 December 2025. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
18. "Ametlik: Vaprus tõi Prinsi abiliseks endise Flora peatreeneri". Soccernet.ee (in Estonian). 19 December 2025. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
19. "Paidest lahkunud Sillaste sai peatreeneriks endale tuttavas esiliigasatsis". Soccernet.ee (in Estonian). 2 January 2026. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
20. "Tagasi tüüri juures! Kalevi uueks peatreeneriks nimetati Stojkovic". Soccernet.ee (in Estonian). 22 December 2025. Retrieved 22 December 2025.
21. "Nõmme Unitedi duubli Esiliigasse tõstnud Sarapik võttis jalgpallist pausi". Soccernet.ee (in Estonian). 14 January 2026. Retrieved 14 January 2026.
22. "Sarapiku töö Esiliigasse tõusnud tiimis võtab üle senine abitreener". Soccernet.ee (in Estonian). 16 January 2026. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
23. "Eesti 2026. a jalgpalli meistrivõistluste A. Le Coq Premium liiga ja Esiliigade juhend" (PDF) (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association. pp. 17–18. Retrieved 1 February 2026.