The new European Cup group was released, with Liechtenstein side Vaduz entering Group C with opponents including Alkmaar in the Dutch League, Limassol in Cyprus and Dnipro in Ukraine. This is a historic moment in Liechtenstein football, Vaduz became the first team in the country to enter the European competition, usually they participate in the Swiss secondary league, as their own cup champions to impact the European competition, after 30 years of repeated defeats and finally realize the European dream.
Liechtenstein is a miniature country in central Europe, bordering Switzerland and Austria, with a land area of 160 square kilometers, ranking fourth from the bottom in Europe, with a population of 38,000. Liechtenstein is politically and economically dependent on Switzerland, but their football has a unique history, the country established its own Football Association as early as 1934, and the first Liechtenstein League was founded in the same year, but due to the small number of participating teams, it was finally completely abandoned in 1937.
Founded in 1932 in Vaduz, the capital of Liesdom, Vaduz is one of the oldest teams in the region, and after World War II, Vaduz joined the Swiss Football Association of St. Gallen to sign up for the more lively Swiss league. Today, there are 7 domestic football clubs in Liechtenstein, all of which are in the Swiss league system next door, from the 2nd to the 8th division.
The most competitive of the 7 teams is Vaduz, the only professional team in the country, whose home stadium is the Rhine Park, which can accommodate 7,500 spectators, which is also the only home of the Liechtenstein national team. Vaduz is now a long-standing Swiss First Division in the Swiss second division. Vaduz won the Swiss First Division three times in 2002-03, 2007-08 and 2013-14 to promote to the Swiss Super League, but has never been able to gain a long-term foothold in the Swiss Super.
It is not uncommon for clubs to participate in leagues across borders, but unlike Monaco in Ligue 1 and San Marino in the Italian league, Vaduz is a true "second-class citizen", paying 150,000 euros a year to the Swiss Football Association and not qualifying for European competition from the Swiss League. Controversy has always existed, but one of the reasons why the Swiss side is adamant about not letting up is that Vaduz is unwilling to give up his own cup, and the Liechtenstein Cup champion can provide a stable ticket to the European qualifying round.
When all seven of the following Chidenstein football teams participate in the Swiss League, but they will return to participate in the Liechtenstein Cup, Vaduz is naturally the absolute hegemon, and since the 1946 season, Vaduz has won 48 titles, setting a record for the world football domestic cup. In recent years, Vaduz has been qualifying for Europe for a long time, but there has also been a missed hand during this period, in the 2011-12 season they lost the usv.
From the initial League Cup qualification rounds to the later Europa League and Europa League qualification matches, although the seats were stable, Vaduz performed dismal in the european journey of the past 30 years. In the first UEFA Cup qualifier in 1992-93, Vaduz's best result in the European tournament was only to reach the third round of the Europa League qualification, and in the 2019-20 season they met Frankfurt in the third round of the Europa League qualification, resulting in a 0-6 defeat in both legs.
Fortunately, in the 2021 UEFA reform, the emergence of a more junior European Cup, the difficulty of European qualifying has dropped significantly, and this season Vaduz has won consecutive victories over Koper, Konya Sport and Vienna to quickly reach the main European Cup, achieving a historic breakthrough for Liechtenstein teams in Europe. As the team's Austrian midfielder Dobras said: "Small countries also have football dreams, where football can inspire enthusiasm, I believe that more people will want to watch our games in the future." ”