Nogometni klub Maribor, also simply known as NK Maribor, is a Slovenian professional football club based in Maribor. The club have participated in 43 editions of the club competitions governed by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), the chief authority for football across Europe. These include 16 seasons in the UEFA Champions League, 17 seasons in the UEFA Cup and Europa League, five seasons in the UEFA Conference League, two seasons in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, and three seasons in the UEFA Intertoto Cup. Counting all of the 195 games the side have played in European competitions since their first entry into the Mitropa Cup in the 1970–71 season, the team's record stands at 68 wins, 48 draws, and 79 defeats as of match played 31 July 2025. The club's most recent participation in a continental competition was in the 2025–26 season, when they played in the qualifying rounds of the 2025–26 UEFA Conference League.
Maribor's 10–0 victory over Norma Tallinn of Estonia in the 1994–95 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup is the club's most decisive win in European competitions, while the team's heaviest defeat is 9–1, against the Dutch club Ajax in the 1997–98 UEFA Cup. Brazilian striker Marcos Tavares holds the club record for most appearances with 94, and is the club's record goalscorer in European competitions with 31 goals.
As of the 2026–27 season, Maribor is the only Slovenian club to have qualified for the group stage (rebranded as the league phase in 2024) of the UEFA Champions League, and is one of five clubs from the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to have participated in this phase of the competition since the breakup of the country in 1992. Maribor won their only European honour in 2006, when they defeated Villarreal in the third round of the 2006 UEFA Intertoto Cup, becoming one of the eleven co-winners of the competition.
Background Club competitions between teams from European countries can trace their origins as far back as 1897, when the Challenge Cup was created for clubs in Austria-Hungary. The Mitropa Cup, a competition modelled after the Challenge Cup, was created in 1927 and played between Central European clubs. The first continental competition organised by UEFA was the European Cup in 1955. Established as a competition for winners of the European national football leagues, it is considered the most prestigious European football competition. The European Cup was re-branded in 1992 as the UEFA Champions League. In the 1950s, two further competitions were created: the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. Established in 1955, the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was later re-branded as the UEFA Cup when it came under the auspices of UEFA in 1971. Since the 2009–10 season, the competition has been known as UEFA Europa League. The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was inaugurated in 1960 for the winners of domestic cup competitions.
History
Yugoslav period: 1960–1991 Before Slovenia's independence in 1991, Maribor competed in the Yugoslav football league system. When playing in the Yugoslav First League, Maribor never finished in positions which assured competing in UEFA competitions; the closest they came was in the 1969–70 season, when they finished tenth. Maribor made its debut in European competitions in the 1970–71 season, when it competed in the Mitropa Cup, a non-UEFA competition for Central European teams. Maribor were eliminated in the first round by the Austrian side Grazer AK on away goals rule, having won 3–1 at home and lost 2–0 away.
New country and UEFA debut: 1992–1996 After the breakup of Yugoslavia, the Football Association of Slovenia established their own competitions. Maribor were the inaugural winners of the Slovenian Cup, where they defeated their biggest rivals Olimpija in the final. As the national cup winners, they qualified for the 1992–93 European Cup Winners' Cup. In the qualifying round, they played against Ħamrun Spartans from Malta. The first match was played on 19 August 1992 at Ljudski vrt, where Maribor won 4–0. This was the first ever match for Maribor in the official UEFA competitions. Fourteen days later they lost the second leg 2–1, but still managed to qualify for the first round with an aggregate score of 5–2. In the first round, they were drawn against the Spanish side Atlético Madrid. Maribor lost the first leg 3–0 at the home turf in front of 8,000 spectators, and later suffered a heavy defeat in the second leg in Madrid, where Atlético won 6–1. In the next season, Maribor played in the UEFA Cup for the first time. They reached the second round, where they were eliminated by Borussia Dortmund, 2–1 on aggregate. On 25 August 1994, Maribor played a historic game against Norma Tallinn from Estonia in the Cup Winners' Cup. This was the first match at Ljudski vrt under the floodlights, and also the biggest ever victory for Maribor in European competitions (10–0). In 1996, Maribor competed in the group stage of the 1996 UEFA Intertoto Cup. They defeated Austria Wien 3–0 at home in the first round, but in the next three games, they only managed to get one point, against Keflavík. Maribor lost the remaining two matches against two Scandinavian teams, København and Örebro, and finished in third place with four points.
Champions League: 1997–1999
In the 1996–97 season, Maribor won the national league for the first time. As the Slovenian champions, they started in the second qualifying round of the 1997–98 Champions League, where they eliminated Derry City from Ireland. In the last qualifying round before the group stages, they were drawn against the Turkish side Beşiktaş. Beşiktaş did not manage to win the first game at their own ground, as the game ended 0–0. However, Maribor lost the home leg 3–1 and were eliminated. They continued their European journey in the UEFA Cup, where they were eliminated by Ajax. The first game in Maribor ended with 1–1. In the return leg in Amsterdam, Maribor suffered their heaviest defeat in the European football, as Ajax won the match 9–1. In the next season, Maribor came very close to the group stages. After eliminating Kareda Šiauliai in the second qualifying round, they again reached the last qualifying round before the group stages. This time, they were drawn against another Dutch side, PSV Eindhoven. At Ljudski vrt, Peter Breznik scored in the 83rd minute for 2–1, and gave Maribor one goal advantage before visiting the Philips Stadion in Eindhoven. In the second leg, Dalibor Filipović scored in the fifth minute to give Maribor a 1–0 lead, but PSV responded immediately and equalised in the ninth minute. PSV scored another goal half an hour before the end, and the match went to extra time. Maribor eventually lost the game 4–2 and were eliminated. Again, they continued in the UEFA Cup, and as in the previous season were eliminated in the first round, this time by Wisła Kraków, losing both games.
In the 1999–2000 season, Maribor finally reached the group stages of the elite UEFA Champions League. They started their European triumph with a 5–1 home win against Racing Genk in the second qualifying round. In the second leg in Belgium, Genk were leading 3–0 and Maribor were down to ten players as Amir Karić was sent off, but the team managed to hold on and advanced 5–4 on aggregate. In the third qualifying round, Maribor faced Olympique Lyonnais. In the first leg in France, Filipović scored the only goal of the match two minutes before full-time. The demand for tickets for the second leg was so high that dozens of fans waited in line all night in front of the stadium to secure their tickets, as the capacity of the stadium at the time was only 7,500. In the second leg, Maribor defeated the French side 2–0, with goals from Ante Šimundža and Stipe Balajić in the first half, and the club reached the group stages for the first time. Maribor played in Group A with Bayer Leverkusen, Dynamo Kyiv, and Lazio. In the first round, Maribor defeated Dynamo 1–0 in Kyiv and topped the table; Šimundža became the first goal scorer for Maribor in the Champions League group stage after scoring in the 72nd minute. In the second round, Maribor lost 2–0 at home to Bayer Leverkusen; both goals were scored in the last eight minutes. Lazio then defeated Maribor twice, in the third and the fourth round. Both matches ended 4–0 for the Italian team. In the fifth round, Maribor lost 2–1 to Dynamo at home. In the final round, Maribor prevented Bayer from qualifying to the further stages; the match ended in a goalless draw, while Bayer needed a win to secure the second place in the group. Maribor were eliminated from the competition, finishing in the fourth and last place with four points.
Decline and Intertoto success: 2000–2008 In each of the next four seasons, Maribor were eliminated in the second qualifying round of the Champions League. The decline of the club in European competitions started in the 2000–01 season, when Maribor were surprisingly knocked out of the Champions League in the second qualifying round by Zimbru Chişinău from Moldova. Maribor lost the first leg 2–0. In the return leg, Nastja Čeh scored the only goal of the game in the third minute, and Zimbru eliminated Maribor 2–1 on aggregate. In the 2001–02 season, Maribor were drawn against the Scottish side Rangers. The tie was already decided after the first match in Maribor, where Rangers won 3–0. In the second leg, Maribor took the lead at Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow, but Rangers then scored three times for 3–1, eliminating Maribor 6–1 on aggregate. In the 2002–03 season, Maribor were eliminated by APOEL. The first match in Maribor ended 2–1 for the home side, but APOEL won the return leg 4–2 in Cyprus, and Maribor were again eliminated in the second qualifying round. In the next year, they were eliminated by Dinamo Zagreb, 3–2 on aggregate. The match in Maribor ended 1–1, while in the second leg in Zagreb, the Croatian champions won 2–1 and advanced to the third qualifying round.
In the 2003–04 season, Maribor failed to win the national title for the first time since 1996, and therefore competed in the UEFA Cup for the 2004–05 season. They reached the first round, but were stopped by Parma. To reach the first round, Maribor eliminated Sileks from Macedonia and Budućnost Banatski Dvor from Serbia and Montenegro in the qualifying stages. Maribor did not qualify for European competitions for the 2005–06 season, having previously appeared in Europe in every season since the independence of Slovenia in 1991.
Maribor have returned to European football in the 2006–07 season, when the team won its first European honour, becoming one of the eleven co-winners of the 2006 UEFA Intertoto Cup. In the first round, Maribor defeated Sant Julià from Andorra, before eliminating Zeta who competed under the flag of newly established Montenegro. In the last round, Maribor played against Villarreal. The Spanish side played in the semi-finals of the Champions League just four months before the match between the two sides took place. In the first match in Spain, Rene Mihelič scored in the 83rd minute for a 2–1 win. Ljudski vrt was filled with fans in the second leg, as 9,500 people gathered to see the match. Villarreal, who had three players sent off during the game, took the lead in the 85th minute, but Gorazd Zajc equalized just four minutes later to make it 3–2 on aggregate. On their official website, UEFA states that Maribor were one of the winners of the competition. However, the trophy itself was awarded to Newcastle United, the team that advanced the farthest in the UEFA Cup in that season. As one of the winners of the Intertoto Cup, Maribor continued their European campaign in the UEFA Cup, where they were eliminated by Partizan in the second qualifying round.