Birkirkara and Floriana will be hoping to retain their narrow lead as they face FC Petrocub of Moldova and Haverfordwest County of Wales in the second legs of the UEFA Conference League first qualifying round on Thursday.

At the Stadionul Zimbru in Chisinau, Birkirkara will be aiming to reach a second round of a European club competition for the fifth time in the history of the club by overcoming the challenge of FC Petrocub following the 1-0 win at the Centenary Stadium last week, courtesy of a goal by Geoffrey Acheampong.

The Stripes had eliminated Lokomotiv Tbilisi in 2001, FC Santa Coloma in 2010, Ulisses in 2015, Siroki Brijeg and Hearts in 2016 and La Fiorita in 2021.

Petrocub made their European debut in 2018, only to be eliminated from the first qualifying round by Osijek of Croatia. Since then, they have been participating regularly, reaching the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa Conference League in 2021 and the third qualifying round of the same competition in 2022. That season, they had eliminated Floriana with a 1-0 aggregate score in the first round. Last season, they made it to the league phase of the UEFA Conference League, placing 36th with two points from six matches.

The team which emerges as winner from this two-legged tie will be facing the loser of the UEFA Europa League clash between Sabah FC of Azerbaijan and NK Celje of Slovenia. Celje won the first leg away from home 3-2.

Meanwhile at the Parc Y Scarlets in Llanelli, Floriana take on Haverfordwest County hoping to retain their slender lead in order to reach the second round. Last week, the Greens came from behind to win 2-1 thanks to goals by Gonzalo Gamarra and Jake Grech.

Floriana made it to a second round of a UEFA competition four times, eliminating Ekranas in 1993, another Welsh side Aberystwyth Town in 1999 and Tre Penne in 2024, reaching the third round of the Europa League in 2020 after eliminating Linfield.

On the other hand, for Haverfordwest County, this is only their third participation in European competitions. In 2004 they were eliminated from the UEFA Cup first qualifying round by FH of Iceland with a 1-4 aggregate score. Then in 2023, they qualified for the UEFA Europa Conference League and after eliminating Shkendija of North Macedonia on penalties, they were eliminated by B36 of the Faroe Islands with a 3-2 aggregate score.

KF Ballkani await the winner of the clash between Floriana and Haverfordwest County.

Second qualifying round matches are scheduled for July 24 and 31.