Hamrun Spartans will be facing Hungarian giants Ferencvaros while Gzira United will be meeting Viktoria Plzen of Czechia in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa Conference League.

The Spartans reached this stage after eliminating Georgian champions Dinamo Tbilisi from the second qualifying round with a 3-1 aggregate score.

The Maroons, on the other hand, made it to this round after eliminating Glentoran 14-13 on penalties following a 3-3 aggregate score in the first qualifying round and beating F91 Diddeleng 3-2 on aggregate in the second qualifying round.

Hamrun’s opponents in the next round are Ferencvaros who already faced four Maltese clubs in UEFA club competitions.

In 1972, they eliminated Floriana with a 6-1 aggregate score in the Cup Winners Cup. In 2003, they eliminated Birkirkara from the first qualifying round of the UEFA Cup with a 6-0 aggregate score. In 2014, Sliema Wanderers held Ferencvaros in a 1-1 draw at home but lost 2-1 away from home to bow out of the UEFA Europa League while in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League in 2019, Ferencvaros defeated Valletta 3-1 in Budapest with Valletta holding them in a 1-1 draw at home.

Ferencvárosi Torna Club, commonly known as Ferencváros, were founded in 1899 and are based in Budapest.

Ferencvaros won the championship 34 times, including the last five championships and the Magyar Kupa 24 times. They won the 1964–65 edition of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and reached the final of the same competition in 1968, when they lost to Leeds United, as well as the final in the 1974–75 season of the European Cup Winners’ Cup, losing to Dynamo Kyiv.

They reached the group stage of the UEFA Champions League in 1995/96 and 2020/21, the UEFA Cup 2004/05, the UEFA Europa League 2019/20 and 2020/21 and the Round of 16 of the UEFA Europa League in 2022/23.

Like Hamrun Spartans, Ferencvaros entered the UEFA Champions League 2023/24 first qualifying round but after a goalless draw with KI in the Faroe Islands, they suffered a shock 0-3 defeat at home. They entered the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa Conference League, defeating Shamrock Rovers 4-0 at home and 2-0 away from home.

Gzira United’s opponents are Viktoria Plzen of Czechia.

Football Club Viktoria Plzeň are based in Plzeň, Czechia. They won the championship six times, the Czech Cup once and the Super Cup twice.

As losing finalists in the 1970/71 Czechoslovak Cup, the club made its first appearance in European football in the following season’s Cup Winners’ Cup. They returned to European football in 2010 and have been representing Czechia on a regular basis since then.

In 2011/12, they reached the group stage of the UEFA Champions League and were then eliminated from the Round of 32 of the UEFA Europa League. In 2012/13 and 2013/14, they were eliminated from the Round of 16 of the UEFA Europa League. In 2015/16 and 2016/17, they were eliminated from the group stage of the UEFA Europa League and in 2017/18, they reached the Round of 16 of the Europa League. The following season, they reached the Round of 32 of the Europa League. Last year, they made it to the group stage of the UEFA Champions League.

After finishing third in the Czech Liga last season, Viktoria Plzeň entered the UEFA Europa Conference League second qualifying round and following a goalless draw at home, they registered a dramatic 2-1 win over Drita of Kosovo in the second leg.