The league phase of the 2025/26 UEFA Conference League kicks-off on Thursday with Hamrun Spartans making their debut in this phase with a clash with Jagiellonia Białystok at the Stadion Miejski w Białymstoku in Bialystok, kick-off at 18:45.
The Spartans reached this stage after eliminating FK Zalgiris from the first qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League and after being eliminated by Dynamo Kyiv from the second qualifying round and by Maccabi Tel Aviv from the UEFA Europa League third qualifying round, Hamrun beat RFS 1-0 at Ta’ Qali and held them in a 2-2 draw in Latvia in the play-off round of the UEFA Conference League to become the first Maltese club to enter the league/group stage of a UEFA club competition.
This will definitely be no easy match for Giacomo Modica’s side but the Spartans will be aiming at giving their opponents a hard time.
Jagiellonia Białystok, who were founded in 1920, are based in the city of Białystok. The club won the Polish Cup and Super Cup in 2010 and qualified to play in the third round qualification of the UEFA Europa League, their first appearance in European tournaments. The club’s most successful season was the 2023–24 Ekstraklasa when they were crowned champions for the first time in the club’s history.
This season, they eliminated Novi Pazar of Serbia with a 5-2 aggregate score, Silkeborg of Denmark with a 3-2 aggregate score and Dinamo City of Albania with a 4-1 aggregate score.
Last season, Jagiellonia reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Conference League last season after finishing ninth and eliminating TSC Backa Topola and Cercle Brugge in the next two rounds, losing out to Real Betis. It was the first time they made it to the league/group stage of a UEFA competition after entering the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League and eliminating Panevezys of Lithuania, losing out to Bodo/Glimt in the third qualifying round and then to Ajax in the play-off round of the UEFA Europa League.
Jagiellonia are currently joint-second in the Ekstraklasa after collecting 18 points from nine matches – five wins, three draws and a defeat. However, they collected just two points from the last two matches after two draws with Lech Poznan and Legia Warsaw.
Hamrun also currently share the second spot in the YoHealth Malta Premier with 15 points from seven matches, obtaining four wins and three draws.
The match will be controlled by referee Igor Stojchevski, assisted by Goce Petreski and Darko Vidinic and fourth official Fatmir Bafto from North Macedonia. The Video Assistant Referee is Erwin Blank, assisted by Richard Martens from the Netherlands.