CFR Cluj in European football explained

Continent:Europe
CFR Cluj in European football
Club:CFR 1907 Cluj
First Entry:2005 UEFA Intertoto Cup
Last Entry:2024–25 UEFA Conference League
Intertoto Cup:0 (Best result: Runners-up)
European Cup:0 (Best result: Group stage, 3rd place)
Uefa Cup:0 (Best result: Round of 32 twice in 2013 and 2020)

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 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

.

Competition
UEFA Champions League8 42 16 10 16 54 54 0
UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League8 38 12 7 19 34 50 −16
align=left UEFA Conference League4 26 10 8 8 24 17 +7
UEFA Intertoto Cup1 10 5 3 2 20 13 +7
Total 21 116 43 28 45 132 134 −2

Statistics by country

Country
Andorra2 1 1 0 4 1 +3
Armenia4 2 2 0 9 2 +7
Belarus6 2 2 2 6 3 +3
Bosnia and Herzegovina4 2 1 1 7 5 +2
Bulgaria2 1 1 0 2 0 +2
Croatia1 0 1 0 2 2 0
Cyprus2 0 1 1 1 3 –2
Czech Republic10 5 0 5 8 8 0
Denmark4 1 1 2 2 2 –1
England4 1 1 2 3 4 –1
Finland1 1 0 0 3 1 +2
France8 2 3 3 8 10 –2
Germany2 0 0 2 2 7 –5
Gibraltar2 2 0 0 4 1 +3
Italy12 2 2 8 7 22
Israel4 3 1 0 5 2 +3
Kazakhstan2 1 0 1 3 2 +1
Kosovo2 1 1 0 2 1 +1
Lithuania4 4 0 0 14 5 +9
Luxembourg2 0 0 2 2 5 –3
Malta1 1 0 0 2 0 +2
Netherlands4 0 0 4 0 6 –6
Portugal2 2 0 0 5 1 +4
Scotland4 2 1 1 7 6 +1
Serbia4 1 1 2 2 6 –4
Slovenia2 1 1 0 1 0 +1
Spain4 1 2 1 2 2 0
Sweden3 1 1 1 2 2 0
Switzerland8 3 2 3 9 10 –1
Turkey6 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 2022–23 season.[3] [4] [5]

UEFA Club Ranking (2022–2023)
scope=col style="color:#fffafa; background:#8D2642;" Positionscope=col style="color:#fffafa; background:#8D2642;" Clubscope=col style="color:#fffafa; background:#8D2642;" Coefficient
60 Monaco29.000
61 CFR Cluj 27.500
62 Ferencváros27.000
63 Midtjylland25.500

Statistics by competition

Notes for the abbreviations in the table below:

SeasonCompetitionRoundOpponentsHomeAwayAggregate
2005UEFA Intertoto Cup1R Vėtra3–24–1bgcolor=lightgreen style="text-align:center;"7–3
2R Athletic Bilbao1–00–1 bgcolor=lightgreen style="text-align:center;"1–1
3R Saint-Étienne1–12–2bgcolor=lightgreen style="text-align:center;"3–3 (a)
SF Žalgiris Vilnius5–12–1bgcolor=lightgreen style="text-align:center;"7–2
F Lens1–11–3bgcolor=pink style="text-align:center;"2–4
2007–08UEFA Cup2QR Anorthosis Famagusta1–30–0bgcolor=pink style="text-align:center;"1–3
2008–09UEFA Champions LeagueGroup A Roma1–32–14th place
Chelsea0–01–2
Bordeaux1–20–1
2009–10UEFA Europa LeaguePO Sarajevo2–11–1bgcolor=lightgreen style="text-align:center;"3–2
Group K Copenhagen2–00–24th place
PSV Eindhoven0–20–1
Sparta Prague2–30–2
2010–11UEFA Champions LeagueGroup E Basel2–10–14th place
Roma1–11–2
Bayern Munich0–42–3
2012–13UEFA Champions League3QR Slovan Liberec1–02–1bgcolor=lightgreen style="text-align:center;"3–1
PO1–02–1bgcolor=lightgreen style="text-align:center;"3–1
Group H Braga3–12–03rd place
Manchester United1–21–0
Galatasaray1–31–1
UEFA Europa LeagueR32 Internazionale0–30–2bgcolor=pink style="text-align:center;"0–5
2014–15UEFA Europa League2QR Jagodina0–01–0bgcolor=lightgreen style="text-align:center;"1–0
3QR Dinamo Minsk0–20–1bgcolor=pink style="text-align:center;"0–3
2018–19UEFA Champions League2QR0–11−1bgcolor=pink style="text-align:center;"1–2
UEFA Europa League3QR5−02−0bgcolor=lightgreen style="text-align:center;"7–0
PO F91 Dudelange2–30–2bgcolor=pink style="text-align:center;"2–5
2019–20UEFA Champions League1QR3−10–1 bgcolor=lightgreen style="text-align:center;"3–2
2QR1–02–2bgcolor=lightgreen style="text-align:center;"3–2
3QR1–14–3bgcolor=lightgreen style="text-align:center;"5–4
PO0–10–1bgcolor=pink style="text-align:center;"0–2
UEFA Europa LeagueGroup E Lazio2–10–12nd place
Celtic2–00–2
Rennes1–01–0
R321–10–0bgcolor=pink style="text-align:center;"1–1 (a)
2020–21UEFA Champions League1QR Florianabgcolor=lightgreen style="text-align:center;"2–0
2QR Dinamo Zagrebbgcolor=pink style="text-align:center;"2–2
UEFA Europa League3QR Djurgårdens IFbgcolor=lightgreen style="text-align:center;"1–0
PO KuPSbgcolor=lightgreen style="text-align:center;"3–1
Group A0–20–53rd place
Young Boys1–11–2
CSKA Sofia0–02–0
2021–22UEFA Champions League1QR Borac Banja Luka3–1 1–2 bgcolor=lightgreen style="text-align:center;"4–3
2QR Lincoln Red Imps2–02–1bgcolor=lightgreen style="text-align:center;"4–1
3QR Young Boys1–11–3bgcolor=pink style="text-align:center;"2–4
UEFA Europa LeaguePO Red Star Belgrade0–41–2bgcolor=pink style="text-align:center;"1–6
UEFA Europa Conference LeagueGroup D AZ0–20–14th place
Jablonec0–12–0
Randers1–21–1
2022–23UEFA Champions League1QR Pyunik2–2 0–0bgcolor=pink style="text-align:center;"2–2
UEFA Europa Conference League2QR Inter Club d'Escaldes3–01–1bgcolor=lightgreen style="text-align:center;"4–1
3QR Shakhtyor Soligorsk1–00–0bgcolor=lightgreen style="text-align:center;"1–0
PO Maribor1–00–0bgcolor=lightgreen style="text-align:center;"1–0
Group G Slavia Prague2–01–02nd place
Sivasspor0–10–3
Ballkani1–01–1
KPO Lazio0–00–1bgcolor=pink style="text-align:center;"0–1
2023–24UEFA Europa Conference League2QR Adana Demirspor1–11–2bgcolor=pink style="text-align:center;"2–3
2024–25UEFA Conference League2QR Neman Grodno0–05–0bgcolor=lightgreen style="text-align:center;"5–0
3QR Maccabi Petah Tikva1–01–0bgcolor=lightgreen style="text-align:center;"2–0
PO Pafos

Notes and References

  1. Web site: ro. 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. Mihai Alecu. 16 September 2021. 16 September 2021.
  2. Web site: ro. FC Ballkani - CFR Cluj 1-1, în Grupa G din Conference League. Joc modest prestat de elevii lui Dan Petrescu. Digi Sport. DigiSport.ro. 8 September 2022. 8 September 2022.
  3. Web site: UEFA Club coefficients. UEFA. 2022. 15 October 2022.
  4. Web site: UEFA Team Ranking 2023. kassiesa.net. 14 July 2022.
  5. Web site: Current statistics for UEFA cups season 2022/23. UEFA Coefficient. 15 October 2022.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "CFR Cluj in European football".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.