# FK Željezničar Sarajevo in European football

Fudbalski klub Željezničar Sarajevo is a professional football club based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The first ever involvement of the club in European competitions was in the 1963 Mitropa Cup.

## History

FK Željezničar Sarajevo is a professional football club based in Grbavica in Novo Sarajevo; a municipality in the capital city Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The club's first ever European match was against Austria Wien in the 1963 Mitropa Cup. Željezničar is most famous for becoming the first Bosnian football club to reach both the UEFA Cup (now named UEFA Europa League) semi-finals during the 1984–85 season and the quarter-finals during the 1971–72 season, and one of the first few clubs ever to do so from the former Yugoslavia.
In modern times, the clubs best finish in European competitions was reaching the 2002–03 Champions League third qualifying round, losing to Newcastle United.
From 1998 to 2015, Željezničar played its home European matches at the nation's largest Olympic stadium, Asim Ferhatović Hase Stadium (also known as the Koševo Stadium), as their traditional home stadium, Grbavica Stadium, did not meet UEFA requirements. Since recent renovations at Grbavica, the club has been playing its home matches back at their home ground since July 2017.

## European record

    As of 3 August 2023
| Competition | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
| European Cup / Champions League | 16 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 13 | 31 | −18 |
| UEFA Cup / Europa League | 55 | 21 | 14 | 20 | 71 | 67 | +4 |
| Europa Conference League | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 7 | –1 |
| Total | 75 | 26 | 17 | 32 | 90 | 105 | −15 |
P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goals difference. Defunct competitions indicated in italics.

### Best results in European competitions
## List of matches
### 1960s–1990

| Season | Competition | Round | Opponent | Home | Away | Agg. |
| 1963 | Mitropa Cup | QF | Austria Wien | 4–1 | 0–2 | 4–3 |
| 1963 | Mitropa Cup | SF | MTK | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 |
| 1964 | Mitropa Cup | QF | Slovan Bratislava | 2–1 | 1–3 | 3–4 |
| 1965–66 | International Football Cup (UEFA Intertoto Cup) | Group B3 | Gwardia Warszawa | 2–1 | 1–2 | — |
| 1965–66 | International Football Cup (UEFA Intertoto Cup) | Group B3 | Baník Ostrava | 3–1 | 1–1 | — |
| 1965–66 | International Football Cup (UEFA Intertoto Cup) | Group B3 | Lokomotive Leipzig | 2–2 | 0–0 | — |
| 1967–68 | Mitropa Cup | 1R | Jednota Trenčín | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| 1967–68 | Mitropa Cup | QF | Spartak Trnava | 2–2 | 1–2 | 3–4 |
| 1968–69 | Mitropa Cup | 1R | Budapesti Honvéd SE | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| 1968–69 | Mitropa Cup | QF | Baník Ostrava | 4–0 | 1–1 | 5–1 |
| 1968–69 | Mitropa Cup | SF | Sklo Union Teplice | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–3 |
| 1970–71 | Inter-Cities Fairs Cup | 1R | Anderlecht | 3–4 | 4–5 | 7–9 |
| 1971–72 | UEFA Cup | 1R | Club Brugge | 3–0 | 1–3 | 4–3 |
| 1971–72 | UEFA Cup | 2R | Bologna | 1–1 | 2–2 | 3–3 (a) |
| 1971–72 | UEFA Cup | 3R | St. Johnstone | 5–1 | 0–1 | 5–2 |
| 1971–72 | UEFA Cup | QF | Ferencváros | 1–2 | 2–1 | 3–3 (p) |
| 1972–73 | European Cup | 1R | Derby County | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–4 |
| 1984–85 | UEFA Cup | 1R | Sliven | 5–1 | 0–1 | 5–2 |
| 1984–85 | UEFA Cup | 2R | Sion | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 |
| 1984–85 | UEFA Cup | 3R | Universitatea Craiova | 4–0 | 0–2 | 4–2 |
| 1984–85 | UEFA Cup | QF | Dinamo Minsk | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 |
| 1984–85 | UEFA Cup | SF | Videoton | 2–1 | 1–3 | 3–4 |

### 1990–present

| Season | Competition | Round | Opponent | Home | Away | Agg. |
| 1998–99 | UEFA Cup | 1Q | Kilmarnock | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 |
| 2000–01 | UEFA Cup | QR | Wisła Kraków | 0–0 | 1–3 | 1–3 |
| 2001–02 | UEFA Champions League | 1Q | Levski Sofia | 0–0 | 0–4 | 0–4 |
| 2002–03 | UEFA Champions League | 1Q | Akranes | 3–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 |
| 2002–03 | UEFA Champions League | 2Q | Lillestrøm | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| 2002–03 | UEFA Champions League | 3Q | Newcastle United | 0–1 | 0–4 | 0–5 |
| 2002–03 | UEFA Cup | 1R | Málaga | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 |
| 2003–04 | UEFA Cup | QR | Anorthosis Famagusta | 1–0 | 3–1 | 4–1 |
| 2003–04 | UEFA Cup | 1R | Heart of Midlothian | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 |
| 2004–05 | UEFA Cup | 1Q | Pennarossa | 4–0 | 5–1 | 9–1 |
| 2004–05 | UEFA Cup | 2Q | Litex Lovech | 1–2 | 0–7 | 1–9 |
| 2010–11 | UEFA Champions League | 2Q | Hapoel Tel Aviv | 0–1 | 0–5 | 0–6 |
| 2011–12 | UEFA Europa League | 2Q | Sheriff Tiraspol | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| 2011–12 | UEFA Europa League | 3Q | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 0–2 | 0–6 | 0–8 |
| 2012–13 | UEFA Champions League | 2Q | Maribor | 1–2 | 1–4 | 2–6 |
| 2013–14 | UEFA Champions League | 2Q | Viktoria Plzeň | 1–2 | 3–4 | 4–6 |
| 2014–15 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q | Lovćen Cetinje | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| 2014–15 | UEFA Europa League | 2Q | Metalurg Skopje | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–2 (a) |
| 2015–16 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q | Balzan | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 |
| 2015–16 | UEFA Europa League | 2Q | Ferencváros | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 |
| 2015–16 | UEFA Europa League | 3Q | Standard Liège | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–3 |
| 2017–18 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q | Zeta | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–2 |
| 2017–18 | UEFA Europa League | 2Q | AIK | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 |
| 2018–19 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q | Narva Trans | 3−1 | 2–0 | 5–1 |
| 2018–19 | UEFA Europa League | 2Q | Apollon Limassol | 1–2 | 1–3 | 2–5 |
| 2020–21 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q | Maccabi Haifa | — | 1–3 | — |
| 2023–24 | UEFA Europa Conference League | 1Q | Dinamo Minsk | 2–2 | 2–1 | 4–3 |
| 2023–24 | UEFA Europa Conference League | 2Q | Neftçi | 2–2 | 0−2 | 2−4 |