HNK Rijeka in European football

HNK Rijeka in European football

Club	Rijeka
Seasons played	25
First entry	1978–79 European Cup Winners' Cup
Latest entry	2025–26 UEFA Conference League

HNK Rijeka are a Croatian football club. This article details their record in UEFA club competitions.

History

HNK Rijeka has participated in UEFA competitions on 25 occasions, with 21 appearances since 1999 and 13 consecutive appearances since 2013–14. The club's greatest achievement was the 1978–79 European Cup Winners' Cup quarter-final, where they lost 2–0 on aggregate against Juventus. Among other notable continental successes, Rijeka qualified for the group stage of the UEFA Europa League in two consecutive seasons, in 2013–14 and 2014–15, keeping an undefeated run for 12 consecutive home matches. They also qualified for the group stages in 2017–18 and 2020–21. Rijeka is one of only three Croatian clubs that have qualified for the group stages of UEFA Champions League or Europa League. In 2014–15, Rijeka became the first club from former Yugoslavia to win eight European fixtures in one season. Rijeka faced eventual competition winners on two occasions, Real Madrid in the 1984–85 UEFA Cup and Sevilla in the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League.

Matches in Europe

By competition

Competition	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Last season played
UEFA Champions League	10	2	3	5	11	14	2025–26
UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League	75	29	19	28	105	97	2025–26
UEFA Conference League	16	7	4	5	25	20	2024–25
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	10	3	3	4	8	9	1979–80
UEFA Intertoto Cup	4	1	1	2	3	5	2008
Total	115	42	30	44	152	145	+7

Source: uefa.com, Fully up to date on 31 August 2025.
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against. Defunct competitions indicated in italics.

By ground

Ground	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Home	58	29	15	14	91	54	+37
Away	57	13	15	30	61	91	−30
Total	115	42	30	44	152	145	+7

Source: uefa.com, Fully up to date on 31 August 2025.
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against.

By season

Non-UEFA competitions are listed in italics.

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Home	Away	Agg.
1962–63	Intertoto Cup	Group B3	Rot-Weiß Oberhausen	2–1	3–4	1st out of 4
			Basel	5–1	2–2
			PSV Eindhoven	3–1	3–2
		QF	Dozsa Pecs	2–2	1–2	3–4
1965–66	Intertoto Cup	Group B1	Motor Jena	0–3	1–3	4th out of 4
			Tatran Prešov	0–0	1–3
			Szombierki Bytom	0–3	1–0
1974–75	Mitropa Cup	Group A	Tatabánya	3–1	1–3	2nd out of 3
			Wacker Innsbruck	1–3	0–0
1977–78	Intertoto Cup	Group 6	Frem Kobenhavn	2–2	0–2	3rd out of 4
			Ruch Chorzów	0–1	4–2
			Grazer AK	1–1	3–0
1978–79	Balkans Cup	Group B	Skënderbeu	6–0	0–1	1st out of 3
			Aris Thessaloniki	2–0	2–1
		Final	Jiul Petroșani	4–1	0–1	4–2
1978–79	Cup Winners' Cup	R1	Wrexham	3–0	0–2	3–2
		R2	Beveren	0–0	0–2	0–2
1979–80	Balkans Cup	Group A	PAS Giannina	2–1	3–1	1st out of 3
			Partizani Tirana	3–0	1–4
		Final	Sportul Studențesc	1–1	0–2	1–3
1979–80	Cup Winners' Cup	R1	Germinal Beerschot	2–1	0–0	2–1
		R2	Lokomotíva Košice	3–0	0–2	3–2
		QF	Juventus	0–0	0–2	0–2
1984–85	UEFA Cup	R1	Valladolid	4–1	0–1	4–2
		R2	Real Madrid	3–1	0–3	3–4
1985–86	Mitropa Cup	SF	Debreceni	0–1†		–
		3rd Pl.	Sigma Olomouc	3–2†		–
1986–87	UEFA Cup	R1	Standard Liège	0–1	1–1	1–2
1999–2000	Champions League	QR2	Partizan	0–3	1–3	1–6
2000–01	UEFA Cup	QR	Valletta	3–2	5–4 (a.e.t.)	8–6
		R1	Celta Vigo	0–1 (a.e.t.)	0–0	0–1
2002–03	Intertoto Cup	R1	St Patrick's Athletic	3–2	0–1	3–3 (a)
2004–05	UEFA Cup	QR2	Gençlerbirliği	2–1	0–1	2–2 (a)
2005–06	UEFA Cup	QR2	Litex Lovech	2–1	0–1	2–2 (a)
2006–07	UEFA Cup	QR1	Omonia	2–2	1–2	3–4
2008–09	Intertoto Cup	R1	Renova	0–0	0–2	0–2
2009–10	Europa League	QR2	Differdange	3–0	0–1	3–1
		QR3	Metalist Kharkiv	1–2	0–2	1–4
2013–14	Europa League	QR2	Prestatyn Town	5–0	3–0	8–0
		QR3	Žilina	2–1	1–1	3–2
		PO	VfB Stuttgart	2–1	2–2	4–3
		Group I	Vitória de Guimarães	0–0	0–4	4th out of 4
			Real Betis	1–1	0–0
			Lyon	1–1	0–1
2014–15	Europa League	QR2	Ferencváros	1–0	2–1	3–1
		QR3	Víkingur	4–0	5–1	9–1
		PO	Sheriff Tiraspol	1–0	3–0	4–0
		Group G	Standard Liège	2–0	0–2	3rd out of 4
			Sevilla	2–2	0–1
			Feyenoord	3–1	0–2
2015–16	Europa League	QR2	Aberdeen	0–3	2–2	2–5
2016–17	Europa League	QR3	İstanbul Başakşehir	2–2	0–0	2–2 (a)
2017–18	Champions League	QR2	The New Saints	2–0	5–1	7–1
		QR3	Red Bull Salzburg	0–0	1–1	1–1 (a)
		PO	Olympiacos	0–1	1–2	1–3
	Europa League	Group D	AEK Athens	1–2	2–2	3rd out of 4
			Milan	2–0	2–3
			Austria Wien	1–4	3–1
2018–19	Europa League	QR3	Sarpsborg 08	0–1	1–1	1–2
2019–20	Europa League	QR3	Aberdeen	2–0	2–0	4–0
		PO	Gent	1–1	1–2	2–3
2020–21	Europa League	QR3	Kolos Kovalivka	2–0 ( a.e.t. )
		PO	Copenhagen		1–0
		Group F	Napoli	1–2	0–2	4th out of 4
			Real Sociedad	0–1	2–2
			AZ	2–1	1–4
2021–22	Europa Conference League	QR2	Gżira United	1–0	2–0	3–0
		QR3	Hibernian	4–1	1–1	5–2
		PO	PAOK	0–2	1–1	1–3
2022–23	Europa Conference League	QR2	Djurgården	1–2	0–2	1–4
2023–24	Europa Conference League	QR2	Dukagjini	6–1	1–0	7–1
		QR3	B36 Tórshavn	2–0	3–1	5–1
		PO	Lille	1–1 ( a.e.t. )	1–2	2–3
2024–25	Europa League	QR2	Corvinul Hunedoara	1–0	0–0	1–0
		QR3	IF Elfsborg	1–1	0–2	1–3
	Conference League	PO	Olimpija Ljubljana	1–1	0–5	1–6
2025–26	Champions League	QR2	Ludogorets Razgrad	0–0	1–3 ( a.e.t. )	1–3
	Europa League	QR3	Shelbourne	1–2	3–1	4–3
		PO	PAOK	1–0	0–5	1–5
	UEFA Conference League	LS	Noah	—
			Sparta Prague		—
			Lincoln Red Imps	—
			AEK Larnaca		—
			Celje		—
			Shakhtar Donetsk	—

Last updated on 31 August 2025.

Records and statistics

Record wins and defeats

• Home win
  • 6–1 v. Dukagjini, 2023–24, 3 August 2023.
  • 5–0 v. Prestatyn Town, 2013–14, 18 July 2013.
• Away win
  • 5–1 v. Víkingur, 2014–15, 31 July 2014.
  • 5–1 v. The New Saints, 2017–18, 18 July 2017.
• Home defeat
  • 0–3 v. Partizan, 1999–2000, 4 August 1999.
  • 0–3 v. Aberdeen, 2015–16, 16 July 2015.
  • 1–4 v. Austria Wien, 2017–18, 2 November 2017.
• Away defeat
  • 0–5 v. Olimpija Ljubljana, 2024–25, 29 November 2024.

Record by country of opposition

Updated on 21 August 2025.

Country	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Win%
Austria	4	1	2	1	5	6	−1	025.00
Belgium	10	2	4	4	7	10	−3	020.00
Bulgaria	4	1	1	2	3	5	−2	025.00
Cyprus	2	0	1	1	2	4	−2	000.00
Denmark	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	100.00
Faroe Islands	4	4	0	0	14	2	+12	100.00
France	4	0	2	2	3	5	−2	000.00
Germany	2	1	1	0	4	3	+1	050.00
Greece	7	1	2	4	6	10	−4	014.29
Hungary	2	2	0	0	3	1	+2	100.00
Ireland	4	2	0	2	7	6	+1	050.00
Italy	6	1	1	4	5	9	−4	016.67
Kosovo	2	2	0	0	7	1	+6	100.00
Luxembourg	2	1	0	1	3	1	+2	050.00
Macedonia	2	0	1	1	0	2	−2	000.00
Malta	4	4	0	0	11	6	+5	100.00
Moldova	2	2	0	0	4	0	+4	100.00
Netherlands	4	2	0	2	6	8	−2	050.00
Norway	2	0	1	1	1	2	−1	000.00
Portugal	2	0	1	1	0	4	−4	000.00
Romania	2	1	1	0	1	0	+1	050.00
Scotland	6	3	2	1	11	7	+4	050.00
Serbia	2	0	0	2	1	6	−5	000.00
Slovakia	4	2	1	1	6	4	+2	050.00
Slovenia	2	0	1	1	1	6	−5	000.00
Spain	12	2	5	5	12	14	−2	016.67
Sweden	4	0	1	3	2	7	−5	000.00
Turkey	4	1	2	1	4	4	+0	025.00
Ukraine	3	1	0	2	3	4	−1	033.33
Wales	6	5	0	1	18	3	+15	083.33

Player and manager statistics

Updated on 21 August 2025. ^[1]

Players with most European appearances Player App Zoran Kvržić 38 Ivan Tomečak Mate Maleš 24 Ivan Vargić 23 Anas Sharbini 22 Domagoj Pavičić 19 Marko Vešović Dario Župarić 18 Niko Janković 17 Toni Fruk 16 Vedran Jugović Andrej Kramarić Lindon Selahi

Top-scoring players in European competitions Player Goals Andrej Kramarić 8 Zoran Kvržić 7 Leon Benko 6 Mario Gavranović Damir Desnica 4 Adriano Fegic Alexander Gorgon Franjo Ivanović Adis Jahović Niko Janković 3 Marco Pašalić

Managers with most European appearances Coach App Matjaž Kek 42 Radomir Đalović 8 Simon Rožman Miroslav Blažević 6 Nenad Gračan Josip Skoblar Goran Tomić Željko Sopić 5 Igor Bišćan 4 Sergej Jakirović Robert Rubčić Elvis Scoria Dragutin Spasojević

Players and manager in bold are currently active for Rijeka.

• Most goals in a single match:
  • 3 goals:
    • Damir Desnica (7 November 1979 v Lokomotíva Košice)
    • Leon Benko (18 July 2013 v Prestatyn Town)
    • Adis Jahović (7 August 2014 v Víkingur)
    • Andrej Kramarić (23 October 2014 v Feyenoord)
    • Franjo Ivanović (3 August 2023 v Dukagjini)

UEFA coefficient history (2013–)

Updated on 12 August 2025.

In European football, UEFA coefficients are used to rank and seed teams in club competitions. The coefficients are calculated by UEFA, who administer football within Europe. ^[2]

2013–2018

Source: Bert Kassies website

Accumulated	Valid	Rank	Movement	Coefficient	Change
2008–09 to 2012–13	2013–14	241	–12	4.916	+0.142
2009–10 to 2013–14	2014–15	178	+63	8.925	+4.009
2010–11 to 2014–15	2015–16	131	+47	13.700	+4.775
2011–12 to 2015–16	2016–17	127	+4	14.275	+0.575
2012–13 to 2016–17	2017–18	125	+2	15.550	+1.275

2018–

5-year calculation

Source: Bert Kassies website

Accumulated	Valid	Rank	Movement	Coefficient	Change
2013–14 to 2017–18	2018–19	91	+34	15.500	—
2014–15 to 2018–19	2019–20	104	–13	13.500	–2.000
2015–16 to 2019–20	2020–21	121	–17	11.000	–2.500
2016–17 to 2020–21	2021–22	113	+8	13.500	+2.500
2017–18 to 2021–22	2022–23	104	+9	15.000	+1.500
2018–19 to 2022–23	2023–24	127	–23	11.500	–3.500
2019–20 to 2023–24	2024–25	123	+4	12.000	+0.500
2020–21 to 2024–25	2025–26	134	–11	12.000
2021–22 to 2025–26	2026–27	140	–6	11.500	–0.500

10-year calculation

Source: Bert Kassies website

Accumulated	Valid	Rank	Movement	Coefficient	Change
2008–09 to 2017–18	2018–19	173	—	16.500	—
2009–10 to 2018–19	2019–20	161	+12	18.500	+2.000
2010–11 to 2019–20	2020–21	150	+11	20.000	+1.500
2011–12 to 2020–21	2021–22	130	+20	23.000	+3.000
2012–13 to 2021–22	2022–23	124	+6	25.500	+2.500
2013–14 to 2022–23	2023–24	123	+1	27.000	+1.500
2014–15 to 2023–24	2024–25	126	–3	25.500	–1.500
2015–16 to 2024–25	2025–26	141	–15	23.000	–2.500
2016–17 to 2025–26	2026–27	130	+11	25.000	+2.000

References

1. "Rijeka profile". UEFA.com . Retrieved 25 August 2021.
2. See column Team Ranking in "UEFA European Cup Coefficients Database". Bert Kassies. Archived from the original on 13 April 2016. Retrieved 18 November 2015.

External links

• European Profile – UEFA.com