Clubs from Bosnia and Herzegovina have competed in European competitions since the 1967–68 season. Before 1992, Bosnia and Herzegovina was a part of Yugoslavia. Therefore, Bosnian teams represented this country and did not always have a guaranteed spot in European competitions. Željezničar's 1984–85 UEFA Cup semi-final elimination remains the most successful European campaign by any club from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
History Pre-independence Sarajevo were the first club from Bosnia and Herzegovina to compete in a European competition. As Yugoslav champions, the side took part in the 1967–68 European Cup, defeating Cypriot side Olympiakos Nicosia in the first round, before losing to Manchester United in the second round.
Besides Sarajevo, four other teams from Bosnia and Herzegovina appeared in European competitions while the country was part of Yugoslavia, with Željezničar achieving the best result by reaching the semi-finals of the 1984–85 UEFA Cup, where they lost 4–3 on aggregate to Hungarian side Videoton.
Post-independence Since independence, a further fourteen Bosnian clubs have competed in Europe.
The 2023–24 season marked a historic breakthrough, as Zrinjski became the first team from the country to reach the group stage of a UEFA club competition. They overcame Icelandic champions Breiðablik in the Europa League third qualifying round, but were defeated by Austrian side LASK in the play-offs, which redirected them to the Europa Conference League group stage. Zrinjski were drawn into Group E alongside Aston Villa of England, Polish side Legia Warsaw, and AZ from the Netherlands. On 21 September 2023, they secured their first-ever group stage victory in a dramatic comeback against AZ, overturning a 0–3 halftime deficit to win 4–3, with goals from Zvonimir Kožulj, Josip Ćorluka, and Aldin Hrvanović. Zrinjski also drew 1–1 at home against Aston Villa, ultimately finishing fourth in the group with 1 win, 1 draw, and 4 defeats, scoring 6 goals and conceding 10.
The following season, Borac qualified for the league phase under UEFA’s new competition format. After defeating Faroese champions KÍ in the Europa League third qualifying round, they were eliminated on penalties by Ferencváros in the play-offs, but still secured a place in the Conference League league phase. Drawn against Panathinaikos, APOEL, LASK, Omonia, Víkingur Reykjavík, and Shamrock Rovers, Borac began their campaign with a spirited 1–1 home draw against Panathinaikos, followed by a 1–0 away victory over APOEL. They went on to defeat LASK 2–1 and held Omonia to a goalless draw in Banja Luka, while suffering away losses to Víkingur and Shamrock Rovers. These results placed them 20th out of 36 teams, enough to progress to the knockout phase play-offs, where they edged Olimpija Ljubljana 1–0 on aggregate. In the round of 16, Borac faced Rapid Wien, drawing 1–1 at home before a narrow 2–1 extra-time defeat in Vienna ended their run.
In 2025–26 Europa League third qualifying round, Zrinjski once again defeated Breiðablik to secure another season in European club competition. In the play-off, they faced Dutch side Utrecht, losing 2–0 at home in Mostar before holding their opponents to a goalless draw in the return leg. The aggregate defeat denied Zrinjski a historic first appearance in the Europa League league phase, but they subsequently qualified for the League phase of the Conference League. They were drawn alongside Rapid Wien, Dynamo Kyiv, Mainz, Lincoln Red Imps, Raków Częstochowa, and Häcken. Zrinjski opened their league phase campaign with a 5–0 home victory over Lincoln Red Imps. This was followed by a 1–0 away defeat to Mainz and a 6–0 loss to Dynamo Kyiv in Lublin, the club’s worst result in European competition. They then secured a 2–1 win against Häcken in Mostar, and lost 1–0 away to Raków. In the final matchday, a 1–1 home draw against Rapid confirmed their first-ever qualification for the knockout phase play-offs.
Qualification for European competitions Four teams from Bosnia and Herzegovina qualify for European competitions.
Premier League champions qualify for the UEFA Champions League, while three other teams (one being the national Cup winner) qualify for the UEFA Conference League. Champions League teams start in the first qualifying round while teams in Conference League start in first or second qualifying round.
UEFA country coefficient At the end of the 2025–26 season, Bosnia and Herzegovina was ranked 38th. The table below shows UEFA coefficients for Bosnia and Herzegovina, former Yugoslav associations, and other relevant UEFA members.
RankMember association2021–222022–232023–242024–252025–26Coeff.20Ex-Yu6.0003.3755.8755.8757.03128.15624Ex-Yu9.5005.3751.4003.7255.75025.75026Ex-Yu3.0002.1253.8759.0936.37524.46836Ex-Yu2.3332.8753.0002.0003.78113.989372.8751.1253.1253.0003.62513.750381.6252.0002.2504.5313.31213.718392.6252.7501.6253.8752.00012.87545Ex-Yu0.6251.6251.5000.6663.3437.75952Ex-Yu0.7501.0001.3332.5001.0006.583
Updated: 28 July 2026
Ranking records Record-high ranking: 29 out of 53 after 2000–11 season Record-low ranking: 49 out of 50 after 1999–00 season
Pre-war period A total of five teams from Bosnia and Herzegovina participated in the three major European competitions at the time: the European Cup, the Fairs Cup/UEFA Cup, and the now-abolished UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.
European Cup Sarajevo was the only team to win a tie and advance to the next round, achieving this in 1967–68 before losing in the second round to Manchester United. Their second participation in 1985–86 ended in a 4–2 aggregate loss to Finnish champions Kuusysi Lahti. Sarajevo's fierce city rival, Željezničar, lost to English side Derby County in the first round of their sole European Cup appearance.
Team Participations Round wins Games Wins Draws Losses Goals for Goals against FK Sarajevo 2 1 6 1 2 3 8 9 FK Željezničar Sarajevo 1 0 2 0 0 2 1 4 TOTAL 3 1 8 1 2 5 9 13
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup This competition, abolished in 1999, featured two teams from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Both Velež Mostar and Borac Banja Luka participated twice.
Team Participations Round wins Games Wins Draws Losses Goals for Goals against FK Velež Mostar 2 2 8 3 4 1 18 13 FK Borac Banja Luka 2 1 6 4 0 2 17 8 TOTAL 4 3 14 7 4 3 35 21
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Željezničar was the only club from Bosnia and Herzegovina to participate in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. They competed in its final season before the tournament was officially sanctioned by UEFA and rebranded as the UEFA Cup. Željezničar were eliminated in the first round by Belgian powerhouse Anderlecht.
Team Participations Round wins Games Wins Draws Losses Goals for Goals against FK Željezničar Sarajevo 1 0 2 0 0 2 7 9 TOTAL 1 0 2 0 0 2 2 7
UEFA Cup The UEFA Cup was introduced in the 1971–72 season. Clubs from Bosnia and Herzegovina began playing significantly more matches in European competitions than before. The most notable campaign was Željezničar’s run to the semifinals in 1984–85, where they lost to Hungarian Videoton. Velež participated in four seasons, Sarajevo and Željezničar in two each, and Sloboda Tuzla in one season.
Team Participations Round wins Games Wins Draws Losses Goals for Goals against FK Velež Mostar 4 6 20 9 5 6 30 28 FK Željezničar Sarajevo 2 7 18 8 4 6 33 23 FK Sarajevo 2 2 8 3 3 2 21 21 FK Sloboda Tuzla 1 0 2 1 0 1 4 8 TOTAL 9 15 48 21 13 14 88 80
Statistics Team Participations Round wins Games Wins Draws Losses Goals for Goals against FK Velež Mostar 6 8 28 12 9 7 48 41 FK Željezničar 5 7 22 8 4 10 41 36 FK Sarajevo 4 3 14 4 5 5 29 30 FK Borac Banja Luka 2 1 6 4 0 2 17 8 FK Sloboda Tuzla 1 0 2 1 0 1 4 8 TOTAL 18 19 72 29 18 25 139 123
Records
Biggest win 1975–76 Cup Winners' Cup Borac – Rumelange 9–0
Biggest aggregate win 1975–76 Cup Winners' Cup Borac – Rumelange 14–1 (9–0 H, 5–1 A)
Biggest loss 1982–83 UEFA Cup Anderlecht – Sarajevo 6–1
Biggest aggregate loss 1982–83 UEFA Cup Sarajevo – Anderlecht 2–6 (1-6 A, 1-0 H)
Furthest in a competition 1984–85 UEFA Cup Željezničar reached the semifinals
Post-war period Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, like other newly independent countries, established its own football league. Bosnian clubs first appeared in European competitions in 1998, when two Sarajevo teams competed in the UEFA Cup. In 1999, Jedinstvo Bihać participated in the (now defunct) UEFA Intertoto Cup. The country’s debut in the UEFA Champions League came in 2000, with Brotnjo Čitluk taking part after winning the Bosniak–Croatian playoff. No Bosnian clubs competed in Europe during the 1999–2000 season aside from Jedinstvo’s Intertoto campaign.
UEFA Champions League Since the 2000–01 season, eight teams from Bosnia and Herzegovina have participated in the UEFA Champions League, but none have reached the group stage or league phase. Two clubs advanced to the third qualifying round, where they suffered hard defeats.
In the 2002–03 season, Željezničar defeated the Icelandic and Norwegian champions before facing English side Newcastle United in the third qualifying round. They lost 0–1 at home and 0–4 away. In the 2007–08 season, Sarajevo progressed past the Maltese champions and caused a surprise by defeating Genk, advancing to the third qualifying round against Ukrainian giants Dynamo Kyiv, where they lost both matches.
Among other Bosnian clubs, Zrinjski holds the record for the most Champions League appearances, having competed on nine occasions. Borac followed with three campaigns, while Široki Brijeg competed twice. Single appearances were made by Brotnjo, Modriča, and Leotar Trebinje, highlighting the sporadic yet persistent presence of Bosnian football on Europe’s biggest club stage.
Team Participations Round wins Games Wins Draws Losses Goals for Goals against HŠK Zrinjski Mostar 9 2 22 5 7 10 17 32 FK Željezničar Sarajevo 5 2 14 4 1 9 12 27 FK Sarajevo 4 3 12 4 0 8 16 17 FK Borac Banja Luka 3 1 8 3 0 5 11 17 NK Široki Brijeg 2 1 6 3 1 2 4 5 FK Modriča 1 1 4 2 0 2 5 8 FK Leotar Trebinje 1 1 4 1 1 2 3 4 HNK Brotnjo 1 0 2 1 0 1 3 4 TOTAL 26 11 72 23 10 39 71 114
Updated: 15 August 2025
UEFA Cup / Europa League As in the Champions League, no team from Bosnia and Herzegovina has yet reached the group stage or league phase. Sarajevo came closest in several seasons, reaching the play-off round before being eliminated by Cluj in 2009–10, Borussia Mönchengladbach in 2014–15, and Celtic in 2019–20. Zrinjski reached the play-off round twice: in 2023–24, where they were knocked out by LASK, and in 2025–26, losing to Utrecht. Borac reached the play-off in 2024–25, where they were defeated by Ferencváros.
Team Participations Round wins Games Wins Draws Losses Goals for Goals against FK Sarajevo 15 14 60 21 13 26 85 110 NK Široki Brijeg 14 10 48 16 11 26 60 78 FK Željezničar Sarajevo 11 8 37 13 10 14 38 45 HŠK Zrinjski Mostar 10 12 41 19 10 13 67 57 FK Borac Banja Luka 4 2 10 2 5 3 10 11 FK Radnik Bijeljina 2 0 4 1 1 2 2 4 FK Modriča 1 1 4 2 0 2 4 8 FK Slavija Istočno Sarajevo 1 1 4 1 1 2 4 6 FK Olimpik 1 0 2 0 1 0 1 1 HNK Brotnjo 1 0 2 0 1 1 1 2 FK Sloboda Tuzla 1 0 2 0 1 1 0 1 NK Žepče 1 0 2 0 1 1 1 4 FK Budućnost Banovići 1 0 2 0 0 2 0 4 HNK Orašje 1 0 2 0 0 2 0 7 TOTAL 64 48 219 75 55 94 273 336
Updated: 2 September 2025
UEFA Conference League
Since the competition’s inception in 2021–22, two clubs from Bosnia and Herzegovina have appeared in the UEFA Conference League group stage or league phase. Zrinjski became the first and only Bosnian club to reach the group stage in the 2023–24 season. They later qualified for the league phase in the 2025–26 season and advanced to the knockout round play-offs. Borac meanwhile became the first club from the country to reach the round of 16 in the 2024–25 season, before losing to Rapid Wien.