YEREVAN — Four Armenian soccer [“football”] clubs played in the second round of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Europa Conference League, a third-tier annual soccer competition organized by the UEFA for eligible European soccer clubs. Alashkert of Yerevan was hosted by Hungary’s Debrecen. As the July 27 match in Yerevan was lost to the Hungarian squad 0:1, the Armenian team needed a two goals margin for the August 3 game in Hungary for victory and advance to the third round of the Conference league games. With the 1:2 score in favor of Alashkert, the result of the two matches equaled to 2:2. No goals were recorded during the additional time, after which the Hungarians won the game 3:4 as the result of penalties.
On July 27, Ararat-Armenia hosted Greece’s Aris. The game ended in a draw, 1:1. The Thessaloniki squad won the second qualifying game with a minimum 1:0 score when hosting the Armenian soccer players on August 3.
On July 27, the 2022 champion of Armenia, Urartu-Yerevan, was hosted by Romania’s top team Farul. The guests lost 3:2. The same result was recorded in the August 3 second-round game in Yerevan’s Urartu stadium. It is noteworthy that the Armenian squad scored five goals in total during this match; however, three of them were revoked by the referees because the Armenian players violated the rule before the final strike. The Romanian fans in the stadium supported Armenia by holding a sign reading “Artsakh is Armenia” during the game.
The only Armenian squad to advance to the third round of the qualifying European games is Pyunik. On July 27, Pyunik defeated Sweden’s Kalmar FC in the Baltic sea-port town of Kalmar in Sweden. The hosts scored first on the 44th minute; however, Armenia’s vice-champion first leveled then won the game during the second half. On August 3, the competition in Abovyan town of Armenia again resulted in an Armenian 2:1 victory. As the same day Czechia’s Bohemians FC lost to Norway’s Bogo Glint. The latter will be Pyunik’s opposing team in the third round of the European tournament. The two squads will compete in Yerevan’s Republican Stadium on August 17.
