Who are Shamrock Rovers’ Europa Conference League qualifier opponents Ferencvaros?

 Shamrock Rovers will face Ferencváros in their Europa Conference League second qualifying round first-leg tie on Thursday in the Ferencváros Stadion (Groupama Arena).

The game kicks off at 6pm Irish time with the second leg set for Tallaght Stadium with an 8pm kick-off on Thursday 3^rd August.

So who exactly are Ferencvaros?

Like their previous European opponents in Europe this season Breidablik, Ferencvárosi TC are a multi-sport club. They were founded in Budapest in 1899. In addition to men's football, the club has successful teams in women's football, handball, netball and ice hockey. 

The Green Eagles are Hungary's most successful club domestically and have won the Nemzeti Bajnokság I (national championship) on 34 occasions, including the last five editions. 

Have Rovers faced Ferencvaros before?

Yes, just 12 months ago the teams met in the Europa League play-off.

Rovers lost the first leg in Budapest 4-0, with Stephen Bradley's side winning the return leg in Tallaght 1-0 with Andy Lyons scoring the Hoops goal.

How have they ended up facing Rovers?

Playing the first qualifying round of the Champions League, Ferencvaros were expected to go through against Kl Klaksvik.

There was a scoreless draw in the first leg in the Faroe Islands before they suffered a shock 3-0 home loss in the return leg in Budapest to be dumped out of the Champions League qualifiers.

What European pedigree do they have?

As well as domestically, Ferencváros are Hungary’s most successful team in European competitions. 

They finished runner-up in the 1974–75 Cup Winners Cup, losing out to Dynamo Kyiv in the final. Prior to that, they won the 1964–65 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (considered the precursor to the Uefa Cup) defeating Juventus in the final 1-0.

The Budapest club have also played Irish opposition that isn’t Shamrock Rovers before. They defeated Bohemians 6-0 on aggregate in the Uefa Cup First qualifying round in 1997.

The Hungarian champions have played group stage football in each of the last four seasons - Champions League in 2020 and Europa League on the other three occasions.

Last year they reached the last 16 of the Europa League where they were eliminated by Bayer Leverkusen.

What are their recent results?

The only competitive games they have played this season have been in the Champions League qualifiers. Their first league game is not till the weekend after the second leg against Rovers.

They have played five friendlies including a 3-0 win over Botosani in their most recent game

Which players should we watch out for?

Winger Adama Traore scored twice in Budapest against the Hoops last year in his debut season having signed FC Sheriff that summer. He got 11 league goals last year.

Eldar Ćivić also scored against Rovers – the left back has 25 caps with Bosnia and Herzegovina. His fellow Bosnian international Muhamed Bešić spent a couple of seasons as a teammate of Seamus Coleman at Everton. He is close to 50 international caps with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The club captain and goalkeeper is 28-time-capped Hungarian international Dénes Dibusz.

Norwegian international Kristoffer Zachariassen got six league goals from central midfield last season.

They have just signed Ecuadorian international Cristian Ramirez who played with the club previously before his most recent time with Krasnodar. 

Who is their manager?

Up until last week Ferencváros were led by head coach Stanislav Cherchesov who represented Russia at the World Cup and European Championships as a player and manager. He was sacked after their Champions League qualifier defeat.

Ferencváros quickly made an in-house managerial appointment with Csaba Máté now their head coach. He has been promoted from managing the club’s B team.

Who is the match official for this tie?

Ashot Ghaltakhchyan will lead an all Armenia match official team. Artur Gdlyan and Sargis Hovhannisyan will run the line while Zaven Hovhannisyan is the fourth official.

While Rovers had VAR in use in last week’s Champions League qualifier (handing them a VAR penalty for handball converted by Graham Burke), there is no VAR in this match.

For the UEFA Europa Conference League in 2023/24, VAR will be used in the UEFA Europa Conference League play-offs and beyond.

How much money have the clubs earned so far and how much can they earn?

The losers of this tie will earn €810,000 in total. This breaks down as €350k for second round elimination plus €200k (€100k for each round they played in) and an additional €260,000 as domestic champions eliminated before reaching the group stages.

The winners of the tie will see their total earnings go to €1.11m.

Progression one round further into the play-off round would guarantee them €1.41m, while the prize of group stage qualification would be worth a minimum of €3.34 m.

Who will the winner play in the next round?

The winners of the tie between Hamrun Spartans (Malta) and Dinamo Tbilisi (Georgia) in the third qualifying round.

Who do the losers play?

The loses of the tie exit Europe.

Additional reporting by Ryan Kilbane 

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