CFR Cluj in European football

CFR Cluj in European football
CFR Cluj on Stamford Bridge in December 2008 in a UEFA Champions League match against Chelsea
ClubCFR 1907 Cluj
First entry2005 UEFA Intertoto Cup
Latest entry2024–25 UEFA Conference League
Titles
Champions League0 (Best result: Group stage, 3rd place)
Europa League0 (Best result: Round of 32 twice in 2013 and 2020)
Intertoto Cup0 (Best result: Runners-up)

Fotbal Club CFR 1907 Cluj (or CFR Cluj for short) is a Romanian professional football club based in Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, Transylvania which was initially founded in 1907 as Kolozsvári Vasutas Sport Club (i.e. Railway Sport Club of Cluj originally in Hungarian) during the late period of Austria-Hungary.

The first ever involvement of the club in an official UEFA European competition dates back to 2005, more specifically to that season's UEFA Intertoto Cup in which CFR Cluj (then officially known as CFR Ecomax Cluj) finished as runners-up, losing to French side RC Lens (one of the joint winners alongside Olympique de Marseille and Hamburger SV) 4–2 (aggregate) in the finale.

Furthermore, thus far, throughout all the seasons played in the UEFA competitions, CFR Cluj established three solid records for the Romanian clubs which have participated along the passing of time in these continental competitions.

Records established in UEFA competitions amongst Romanian football clubs

During the 2012–13 UEFA Champions League season, CFR accumulated 10 points in a Champions League group, with the previous record being held by Unirea Urziceni with 8 points during the 2009–10 season. Moreover, subsequently, in the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League season, CFR accumulated as many as 12 points in the group stage, with the previous record being held by FCSB with 11 points during the 2012–13 season. In addition, the club also managed to qualify for the KPOs of the 2022–23 edition of the UEFA Europa Conference League, after gaining 10 points in Group G, being the only Romanian football club to do so thus far.

Recent history (2021–present)

During the 2021–22 season, CFR Cluj was also the first Romanian football club qualified in the group stage of UEFA Europa Conference League during the first season of the competition's existence, in which they debuted with an away 1–0 loss at Jablonec nad Nisou in the Czech Republic against Czech side FK Jablonec on 16 September 2021 and consequently on the fourth place in the group after the first fixture.[1] The club finished fourth in Group D of the first edition of UEFA Europa Conference League, with only 1 victory, 1 draw, and 4 losses, totalling 4 points.

During the 2022–23 season, CFR Cluj was eliminated from the first qualifying round of the ongoing UEFA Champions League edition by Armenian side Pyunik. This negative performance re-directed them towards the qualifying stages of the current UEFA Europa Conference League season which they had all successfully passed in the meantime, thereby entering the group stage of this UEFA competition consecutively for the second time. The club started their second UEFA Europa Conference League season rather modestly, with only a last minute 1–1 draw against Kosovar side FC Ballkani.[2]

Subsequently, they lost 1–0 to Sivasspor at home and 3–0 away, but they surprisingly went on to win over the group's top favourite[a] Slavia Prague both home and away (3–0 overall). At the end of the 6 fixtures of the group stage, CFR managed to finish second with 10 points and thereby qualify for the knockout round play-offs in February 2023 when they are about to face Italian side Lazio Rome which finished third in their group (i.e. Group F) in the current edition of UEFA Europa League.

During the 2023–24 season, CFR Cluj did not qualify for the group stage of the ongoing edition of the UEFA Europa Conference League, being eliminated by Turkish side Adana Demirspor in the second qualifying round (2–3 overall score).

Total statistics

As of home match played against Maccabi Petah Tikva on 15 August 2024.
Competition S Pld W D L GF GA GD
UEFA Champions League 8 42 16 10 16 54 54 0
UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League 8 38 12 7 19 34 50 −16
UEFA Conference League 4 26 10 8 8 24 17 +7
UEFA Intertoto Cup 1 10 5 3 2 20 13 +7
Total 21 116 43 28 45 132 134 −2

Statistics by country

As of 15 August 2024
Country Pld W D L GF GA GD
Andorra Andorra 2 1 1 0 4 1 +3
Armenia Armenia 4 2 2 0 9 2 +7
Belarus Belarus 6 2 2 2 6 3 +3
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina 4 2 1 1 7 5 +2
Bulgaria Bulgaria 2 1 1 0 2 0 +2
Croatia Croatia 1 0 1 0 2 2 0
Cyprus Cyprus 2 0 1 1 1 3 –2
Czech Republic Czech Republic 10 5 0 5 8 8 0
Denmark Denmark 4 1 1 2 2 2 –1
England England 4 1 1 2 3 4 –1
Finland Finland 1 1 0 0 3 1 +2
France France 8 2 3 3 8 10 –2
Germany Germany 2 0 0 2 2 7 –5
Gibraltar Gibraltar 2 2 0 0 4 1 +3
Italy Italy 12 2 2 8 7 22 –15
Israel Israel 4 3 1 0 5 2 +3
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan 2 1 0 1 3 2 +1
Kosovo Kosovo 2 1 1 0 2 1 +1
Lithuania Lithuania 4 4 0 0 14 5 +9
Luxembourg Luxembourg 2 0 0 2 2 5 –3
Malta Malta 1 1 0 0 2 0 +2
Netherlands Netherlands 4 0 0 4 0 6 –6
Portugal Portugal 2 2 0 0 5 1 +4
Scotland Scotland 4 2 1 1 7 6 +1
Serbia Serbia 4 1 1 2 2 6 –4
Slovenia Slovenia 2 1 1 0 1 0 +1
Spain Spain 4 1 2 1 2 2 0
Sweden Sweden 3 1 1 1 2 2 0
Switzerland Switzerland 8 3 2 3 9 10 –1
Turkey Turkey 6 0 2 4 4 11 –7

UEFA club ranking

In the table below, the current UEFA club ranking position for CFR Cluj is shown based on its current UEFA coefficient for the 2024–25 season.

As of 8 November 2024[3][4]

Statistics by competition

Notes for the abbreviations in the table below:

  • 1R: First round
  • 2R: Second round
  • 3R: Third round
  • SF: Semi-finals
  • F: Final
  • 1QR: First qualifying round
  • 2QR: Second qualifying round
  • 3QR: Third qualifying round
  • PO: Play-off round
  • R32: Round of 32
  • KPO: Knockout round play-offs
Season Competition Round Opponents Home Away Aggregate
2005 UEFA Intertoto Cup 1R Lithuania Vėtra 3–2 4–1 7–3
2R Spain Athletic Bilbao 1–0 0–1 (a.e.t.) 1–1 (5–3 p)
3R France Saint-Étienne 1–1 2–2 3–3 (a)
SF Lithuania Žalgiris Vilnius 5–1 2–1 7–2
F France Lens 1–1 1–3 2–4
2007–08 UEFA Cup 2QR Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta 1–3 0–0 1–3
2008–09 UEFA Champions League Group A Italy Roma 1–3 2–1 4th place
England Chelsea 0–0 1–2
France Bordeaux 1–2 0–1
2009–10 UEFA Europa League PO Bosnia and Herzegovina Sarajevo 2–1 1–1 3–2
Group K Denmark Copenhagen 2–0 0–2 4th place
Netherlands PSV Eindhoven 0–2 0–1
Czech Republic Sparta Prague 2–3 0–2
2010–11 UEFA Champions League Group E Switzerland Basel 2–1 0–1 4th place
Italy Roma 1–1 1–2
Germany Bayern Munich 0–4 2–3
2012–13 UEFA Champions League 3QR Czech Republic Slovan Liberec 1–0 2–1 3–1
PO Switzerland Basel 1–0 2–1 3–1
Group H Portugal Braga 3–1 2–0 3rd place
England Manchester United 1–2 1–0
Turkey Galatasaray 1–3 1–1
UEFA Europa League R32 Italy Internazionale 0–3 0–2 0–5
2014–15 UEFA Europa League 2QR Serbia Jagodina 0–0 1–0 1–0
3QR Belarus Dinamo Minsk 0–2 0–1 0–3
2018–19 UEFA Champions League 2QR Sweden Malmö FF 0–1 1−1 1–2
UEFA Europa League 3QR Armenia Alashkert 5−0 2−0 7–0
PO Luxembourg F91 Dudelange 2–3 0–2 2–5
2019–20 UEFA Champions League 1QR Kazakhstan Astana 3−1 0–1 3–2
2QR Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv 1–0 2–2 3–2
3QR Scotland Celtic 1–1 4–3 5–4
PO Czech Republic Slavia Prague 0–1 0–1 0–2
UEFA Europa League Group E Italy Lazio 2–1 0–1 2nd place
Scotland Celtic 2–0 0–2
France Rennes 1–0 1–0
R32 Spain Sevilla 1–1 0–0 1–1 (a)
2020–21 UEFA Champions League 1QR Malta Floriana — 2–0 —
2QR Croatia Dinamo Zagreb 2–2 (5–6 p) — —
UEFA Europa League 3QR Sweden Djurgårdens IF — 1–0 —
PO Finland KuPS 3–1 — —
Group A Italy Roma 0–2 0–5 3rd place
Switzerland Young Boys 1–1 1–2
Bulgaria CSKA Sofia 0–0 2–0
2021–22 UEFA Champions League 1QR Bosnia and Herzegovina Borac Banja Luka 3–1 1–2 (a.e.t.) 4–3
2QR Gibraltar Lincoln Red Imps 2–0 2–1 4–1
3QR Switzerland Young Boys 1–1 1–3 2–4
UEFA Europa League PO Serbia Red Star Belgrade 0–4 1–2 1–6
UEFA Europa Conference League Group D Netherlands AZ 0–2 0–1 4th place
Czech Republic Jablonec 0–1 2–0
Denmark Randers 1–2 1–1
2022–23 UEFA Champions League 1QR Armenia Pyunik 2–2 (a.e.t.) 0–0 2–2 (3–4 p)
UEFA Europa Conference League 2QR Andorra Inter Club d'Escaldes 3–0 1–1 4–1
3QR Belarus Shakhtyor Soligorsk 1–0 0–0 1–0
PO Slovenia Maribor 1–0 0–0 1–0
Group G Czech Republic Slavia Prague 2–0 1–0 2nd place
Turkey Sivasspor 0–1 0–3
Kosovo Ballkani 1–0 1–1
KPO Italy Lazio 0–0 0–1 0–1
2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference League 2QR Turkey Adana Demirspor 1–1 1–2 2–3
2024–25 UEFA Conference League 2QR Belarus Neman Grodno 0–0 5–0 5–0
3QR Israel Maccabi Petah Tikva 1–0 1–0 2–0
PO Cyprus Pafos 1–0 0–3 1–3

Notes

  1. ^ i.e. for winning the group and qualifying first afterwards to the Round of 16 or the Knockout round play-offs (KPO round for short)

References

  1. ^ Mihai Alecu (16 September 2021). "LIVE TEXT Jablonec - CFR Cluj 1-0. Cehii înscriu din penalty după ce Camora a fost eliminat pentru henț în careu. Ocazie uriașă Bouhenna". DigiSport.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  2. ^ Digi Sport (8 September 2022). "FC Ballkani - CFR Cluj 1-1, în Grupa G din Conference League. Joc modest prestat de elevii lui Dan Petrescu". DigiSport.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  3. ^ "UEFA Club Coefficient Ranking". RankingandPrize.Com. n.d. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
  4. ^ "CFR 1907 Cluj UEFA Coefficient Ranking". RankingandPrize.Com. n.d. Retrieved 8 November 2024.