The top three teams of the Welsh football pyramid will kick off their European campaigns this week.
Haverfordwest County and Pen-y-bont travel to Malta and Lithuania in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League, while The New Saints welcome Macedonian champions to Oswestry in the first qualifying round of the Champions League.
The New Saints v KF Shkëndija (Macedonia) | Tuesday, 8 July – 19:00 (Live on S4C)
(Park Hall, Oswestry – First Leg of Champions League First Qualifying Round 2025/26)
The New Saints have won the championship for the 17th time in their history and for the fourth consecutive season, securing a place in the Champions League qualifying rounds.
The New Saints are Wales’ most successful club in Europe as the club from Oswestry has played regularly in Europe since 1996.
Last year the Saints managed to get past the qualifying rounds for the first time ever and competed in the UEFA Conference League where they played against the likes of Panathinaikos and Fiorentina.
This year, the Saints will begin their campaign against KF Shkëndija, a club that won the Macedonian championship for the fifth time last season.
Despite their domestic success, Shkëndija have never managed to get past the qualifying rounds in European competitions.
This is the second time that TNS have been drawn to face Shkëndija in the first qualifying round of the Champions League, and it was a very close contest last time in 2018.
Shkëndija eased to a 5-0 victory in the first leg in Skopje, but the Saints fought back in the second leg at Park Hall with the game ending 4-0, and the Macedonian champions scraping their way to the next round with a 5-4 aggregate win.
Five years later and Shkëndija faced Haverfordwest County in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League, and the Pembrokeshire Bluebirds managed to beat the Macedonians on penalties at Cardiff City Stadium at the start of the 2023/24 season.
The Saints are certain to play two rounds in Europe again this year, and the club will be determined to repeat their feats and reach the UEFA Conference League once more.
The second leg will be played in the capital city of Macedonia at the Toše Proeski Arena on Tuesday, 15 July, which is the national stadium where Wales drew 1-1 against North Macedonia in March 2025.
The winners of this tie will face FCSB (Romania) or Inter Club d’Escaldes (Andorra) in the second qualifying round, while the losers will drop to the UEFA Conference League to face FC Drita (Kosovo) or FC Differdange (Luxembourg).
Floriana (Malta) v Haverfordwest County | Tuesday, 8 July – 18:30 (Live online)
(MFA Centenary Stadium, Malta – First Leg of UEFA Conference League First Qualifying Round 2025/26)
Haverfordwest County have qualified for Europe for the third time in their history after beating Caernarfon Town 3-1 in the 2024/25 play-off final.
Haverfordwest County secured their highest league finish in 21 years by claiming 3rd place, mainly down to their impressive defensive record.
The Bluebirds also won the play-offs in 2023 and went on to defeat Shkëndija (Macedonia) on penalties at Cardiff City Stadium in 2023 before losing after extra time against B36 Torshavn (Faroe Islands) in the second qualifying round.
Before 2023 Haverfordwest County had only played one European round and that was in the summer of 2004 losing both legs against Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar (Iceland).
This year Haverfordwest County will challenge one of Malta’s most successful clubs, Floriana, who have won the championship on 26 occasions.
Floriana won 4-3 over two legs against Aberystwyth Town in the 1999 Intertoto Cup, but since then the club have only won two of their 11 rounds in Europe.
The second leg will be played at Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli on Thursday night, 17 July with the winners progressing to face Ballkani (Kosovo) in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League.
Kauno Žalgiris (Lithuania) v Pen-y-bont | Thursday, 10 July – 17:00 (Live online)
(Jonava Stadium, Lithuania – First Leg of UEFA Conference League First Qualifying Round 2025/26)
After finishing in second place last year, which was their highest ever position in the JD Cymru Premier, Pen-y-bont are preparing for another adventure in Europe.
Pen-y-bont have only played in Europe once in the past, and that was in the summer of 2023 after finishing 3rd in the table.
Pen-y-bont played their first ever European match against Santa Coloma from Andorra at Brewery Field and got a draw (1-1) before losing after extra time a week later in the second leg.
This year Rhys Griffiths’ team will start their campaign away from home against the current league leaders of Lithuania, Kauno Žalgiris.
The club from the city of Kaunas, which is the second largest city in Lithuania, have never won the championship, but have shown consistency by finishing in the top four in each of the last six seasons.
Kauno Žalgiris have not experienced much success on the European stage, summarised by their 10-1 aggregate defeat against The New Saints four years ago.
The second leg will be played at Leckwith Stadium, Cardiff on Thursday, 17 July with the winners advancing to face Valur (Iceland) or Flora Tallinn (Estonia) in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League.
