Who are Shamrock Rovers' Conference League knockout phase play-off opponents Molde?

Shamrock Rovers are the first League of Ireland side to qualify for the knockout stages of a UEFA European competition, with the Hoops set to play in the knockout phase play-off of the Conference League in 2025.

After their 5-1 defeat to Chelsea on Thursday, Rovers missed out on going directly into the round of 16 on goal difference but soon after the final whistle in Stamford Bridge they knew they would face either the Norwegian team Molde or Serbian side TSC in the play-off after Christmas.

So who will Rovers face in February’s knockout phase play-off?

On Friday, the Hoops were drawn against Molde with the play-off tie scheduled over two legs. Rovers as seeds will travel away in the first match to play on Thursday 13 February 2025 in Norway.

The return leg at Tallaght Stadium will be a week later. In between, the Hoops will start their 2025 League of Ireland campaign against Bohemians in the Aviva Stadium on Sunday 17 February (kick-off 2pm).

Who are Molde? 

Molde are the five time Norwegian champions. They last won the Eliteserien title in 2022 and prior to that 2019 – recent seasons has seen them finish runners up in the 2021, 2020, 2018 and 2017 campaigns.

They are the former club of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Erling Haaland (who was the club’s top league goalscorer in 2018). Solksjaer was manager between 2011 and 2014.

How have Molde progressed to this point in Europe in this 2024/25 season?

They entered Europe in the second qualifying round of the Europa League. They had a 5-4 aggregate win over Silkeborg of Denmark and followed that up with a 3-1 aggregate win over Cercle Brugge (winning at home 3-0).

They lost on penalties to Swedish side Elfsborg in the play-off to drop straight into the league stage of the revamped Conference League.

They finished 23rd in the league stage having started their campaign with a 3-0 over Irish League side Larne (who the Hoops beat 4-1 in Belfast in the league stage).

That was followed by defeats to Gent (2-1 away), Jagiellonia (3-0 away) and 1-0 at home to an APOEL side that the Hoops drew with 1-1 in Tallaght. 

A 2-2 draw away to HJK Helsinki was followed on Thursday by a dramatic 4-3 home win over Mlada Boleslav which saw the Norwegian team scrape into the play-off place penultimate play-off position.

Have Rovers played Molde before?

Yes, the teams met in the group stage of the 2022/23 Europa Conference League. Molde won 2-0 in Tallaght and 3-0 in Norway. Rovers played a slightly weakened side in the away game – with Pico Lopes, Dylan Watts, Graham Burke, Jack Byrne, Rory Gaffney and Neil Farrugia all named on the bench.

When they returned to Dublin after that Thursday night match, the Hoops beat Shelbourne the following Sunday with Gaffney getting the injury time winner which proved crucial in Rovers winning their third title in a row.

When have Molde played other League of Ireland clubs?

In 2020 Molde came up against a Dundalk squad in Europe that contained two players that are currently under contract with the Hoops - Daniel Cleary and Sean Hoare. 

In a Europa League group stage covid-clash, Molde played in an empty Tallaght Stadium winning 3-1 and they won 2-1 at home against the Lilywhites.

They finished runners up to Arsenal in that group, beat Hoffenheim 5-3 on aggregate in the last 16 before being knocked out by Granada 3-2 on aggregate in the last 16.

They also faced League of Ireland opposition in 2013. Sligo Rovers welcomed Molde to the Showgrounds for the Bit O’ Red’s first ever Champions League night with the visitors winning 1-0. The second-leg saw Molde win 2-0.

Overall what European pedigree do Molde have?

The club reached the group stages of the Champions League but that was back in the 1999/2000 season.

They were in the Europa League group stages in 2012, 2015 and 2020, along with the Europa Conference League in 2022, 2023 and this year’s league stage of the Conference League.

When they last played Rovers in 2022, Molde progressed through three rounds to make the group stages of the Europa Conference League. They entered in the second qualifying round and defeated Swedish side Elfsborg (4-1 home and 2-1 away) followed by a 4-2 aggregate win over Hungarian team Kisvarda (winning 3-0 at home).

In the play-off round they defeated Wolfsberger from Austria 4-1 on aggregate (winning 4-1 away).

They played out a scoreless draw with Gent at home but lost 4-0 away. They lost 3-2 both home and away to Djurgarden. Their two wins over Rovers weren’t enough to qualify for the knock-out stages back then.

But they did manage that feat in the following season. They qualified out of their Europa League group to beat Legia Warsaw 6-2 on aggregate in the knockout round play-off (including a 3-0 win away) before losing 4-2 on aggregate to Club Brugge (having won 2-1 at home). 

How did they do in the domestic action this year?

They had a disappointing campaign finishing fifth, ten points off league winners Bodo/Glimt. They ended their ‘summer’ season outside of the European places so their only football in Europe in 2025 will be in this 2024/25 Conference League. 

They lost the Norwegian Cup Final on penalties to Fredrikstad.

Where do they play? 

The club play on an artificial surface out of quite the picturesque location of the 11,250 capacity Aker Stadion.

The venue is named after Aker which is a company controlled by the club’s owner Kjell Inge Rokke. Norwegian media named him the richest man in Norway in 2018 with a reported fortune of over €2 billion.

Rokke was previously a part owner of Wimbledon FC and was involved in the controversial move to Milton Keynes.

Dermot Desmond, who owns a 25% share of Shamrock Rovers and is the largest shareholder at Celtic, also has a reported estimated worth of €2 billion. 

What formation do they play?

They split pretty evenly between 3-5-2 (44%) and 5-3-2 (43%). They have used 4-4-2 just 5% of the time in the last calendar year but that was the formation they used in their last two Conference League games.

Who will the winners of this tie face?

The knockout phase play-off winner will play either Cercle Brugge or Legia Warsaw in the round of 16 for a place in the quarter-finals.

Can the Hoops face Chelsea again before the final in Wroclaw on 28 May?

Yes they could face Chelsea again at the quarter-final stage.

The Premier League side went straight through to the round of 16 where, based on a further draw, either they or Vitesse will play the winner of the knock-out round tie between Copenhagen and Heidenheim. 

The winner of that tie will play in the quarter-final against Cercle Brugge/Legia Warsaw v the winner of Rovers/Molde.

Following the play-offs, the round of 16 matches will take place in March, with quarter-finals in April, semi-finals in May, and the final scheduled for 28 May in Wrocław, Poland.