Historic Europa Conference League result as San Marino’s Tre Fiori pick up rare win
- Seb Sternik
- 8 July 2022
For just the third time in a decade, a club from San Marino has picked up a victory in a European qualifying match.
Tre Fiori are one of San Marino's most decorated clubs having won eight league titles and eight national cups since their formation in 1949.
The club is based in the small village of Fiorentino, which has a population of just 2,566.
Despite this, Tre Fiori made European history on Thursday night as they picked up a rare 1-0 victory over Luxembourg's Fola Esch in the first qualifying round of the Europa Conference League.
Joel Tomas Nunez scored the winning goal in the 85th minute as the club ranked 344th in the UEFA coefficient picked up just their second ever win in a European competition.
San Marino's Tre Fiori have celebrated only their second European win against Luxembourg’s Fola Esch in the #UECL pic.twitter.com/a35OPC7ALR
— VBET News (@VBETnews) July 7, 2022
Tre Fiori last won a European game back in 2018 when they thrashed Welsh outfit Bala Town 3-0 in a home leg of a Europa League preliminary qualifying tie.
The San Marino representatives lost the second leg 1-0, meaning they became the first club from their country to progress to the next qualifying round of a European competition.
Next Thursday, Tre Fiori will look to replicate that achievement when they host Fola Esch in the second leg.
Considering San Marino is the lowest ranked nation in Europe, successes have understandably been rare on the international scene.
Since 2012, only two clubs have ever won games in European qualifying fixtures, with Tre Penne following in Tre Fiori's footsteps back in 2013, and winning a first-leg match against Armenia's Shirak.
