Zrinjski eliminated from Europe after drama against Valur, Bilbija missed a penalty for extra time
HŠK Zrinjski Mostar ended its European season in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League after drawing 2:2 against Icelandic side Valur at its home stadium on 30 July 2026. Since Valur had won 1:0 in Reykjavík seven days earlier, the Icelandic club advanced with a 3:2 aggregate score. The Mostar team twice restored hope of a comeback in the return leg, created a large number of chances and pressured its opponent until the final minutes, but failed to convert its territorial dominance into the result required to advance. The decisive moment occurred late in the match, when captain Nemanja Bilbija took his second penalty of the game, but Valur goalkeeper Frederik Schram saved the attempt that would have taken Zrinjski into extra time. The final 2:2 score was therefore enough for the visitors, while the home side was left without a continuation in the competition despite an extremely attacking performance.
The match in Mostar offered almost every element of European knockout drama: an early lead, a sudden turnaround, two goals by the same visiting player late in the first half, a home comeback and a missed penalty shortly before the end. Before the match, Zrinjski knew it had to overturn the narrow deficit from Iceland, and Simon Rožman's team attempted to impose a high tempo from the beginning. The first objective was achieved as early as the 11th minute, but two rare yet exceptionally effective Valur attacks completely changed the balance of the tie. After the break, the home side launched a prolonged siege of the visitors' goal, but Schram turned into the key figure of the entire match. Zrinjski was ultimately left with the impression that it had done enough in terms of play in both matches, but not in its finishing, while Valur made the most of almost every serious opportunity.
Bilbija's Panenka cancelled out the deficit from Reykjavík
Zrinjski received its first major opportunity after only around ten minutes, when the ball struck Birkir Heimisson's hand inside the penalty area. Georgian referee Aleko Aptsiauri pointed to the spot, and Bilbija took responsibility. The home captain opted for an attractive Panenka and calmly sent the ball down the middle of the goal as Schram dived to the side. The goal in the 11th minute made it 1:0 in the return leg and levelled the aggregate score at 1:1. It was an ideal start for Zrinjski, which increased the pressure further after taking the early lead and kept Valur far away from its goal for most of the first half.
After scoring, the home side controlled possession and continuously searched for a second goal, while the Icelandic defence was forced to defend in a deep block. Mario Ćuže, Viktor Grbić and Zrinjski's other attacking players managed to reach dangerous areas, but Schram preserved the score with well-timed interventions. One important situation occurred near the end of the half, when Ćuže advanced towards goal after a pass from his own half, but the move was stopped for offside. The Icelandic report by the Vísir portal stated that the assistant referee had made a mistake in that situation because the attacker was in his own half when the ball was played. Instead of a potential opportunity to make it 2:0, the first major blow for the home team followed only moments later. Valur reached the equaliser virtually from one of its first serious transitions.
Haraldsson completely turned the match around within minutes
Tryggvi Hrafn Haraldsson, the scorer of the only goal in the first match in Iceland, was once again Valur's decisive player. In the 44th minute, he received the ball on the left side of the attack, moved towards the centre and struck precisely into the opposite corner of Zvonimir Šubarić's goal. With that goal, Zrinjski lost its lead in the return leg, while Valur once again held a two-goal aggregate advantage. The home players had not yet managed to fully recover from the equaliser when Haraldsson was given space in a similar position again in the second minute of first-half stoppage time. After an individual run, he once again found the far corner and gave the visitors a 2:1 lead in the match, or 3:1 on aggregate.
The two goals in a short period were particularly difficult for Zrinjski because they did not reflect the balance of play on the pitch. The home side had held the initiative for most of the half, while Valur displayed exceptional efficiency during its rare advances towards the opposing goal. Haraldsson thus scored all three goals for the Icelandic club across the two matches, confirming his status as the most dangerous player in the tie. His finishing was the complete opposite of Zrinjski's problems, as the Mostar side produced a large number of shots in both matches but struggled to find a way past Schram. The half-time score left the home side with a very demanding task: it needed two goals in the second half, without conceding another, to force extra time.
The woodwork and Schram stopped the home side's attacks
Zrinjski entered the second half without calculation and directed almost the entire team towards the visitors' half. The home side came close to equalising within the opening minutes after the restart, when one of Valur's defenders reacted awkwardly to a cross from Karlo Abramović and struck his own post. Shortly afterwards, Bilbija hit the crossbar from a free kick, meaning Schram also had assistance from the woodwork in those situations. The pressure did not stop, and chances followed through Slobodan Jakovljević, Dano Lagumdžija, Abramović and Bilbija. The Icelandic goalkeeper saved close-range shots, came out to claim crosses and, with his composure, introduced increasing nervousness into the final phases of the home side's attacks.
The statistics published by FotMob show how one-sided the return leg was in terms of territorial control and the number of attempts. Zrinjski had 67 percent possession, registered 25 shots towards goal, 12 of them on target, and took eight corners. According to the same source, Valur finished the match with three shots, two on target and one corner. Such figures were nevertheless insufficient for a comeback because the visiting team converted two of its three attempts into goals. Schram, on the other hand, kept Valur ahead with his saves and followed up his excellent performance from the first match, in which he had also stopped a large number of Zrinjski attempts.
Finishing problems followed the Mostar team throughout the entire tie. According to Zrinjski's official report, the visitors in Reykjavík had 16 shots towards goal, ten on target and as many as 12 corners, while Valur scored the only goal from seven attempts. Zrinjski hit the post twice in that match through Marko Vranjković and Darick Morris, while Schram saved a series of attempts by Bilbija, Ćuže, Adi Nalić, Antonio Ilić and other players. The return leg in Mostar continued in almost the same pattern: Zrinjski created chances, Valur defended, and the Icelandic goalkeeper remained the final and strongest obstacle. The difference was that the visitors once again converted their rare attacking activity into two goals in the second match.
Šakota restored hope with his first touch
Rožman turned to substitutions during the final phase of the match to increase the number of players in the penalty area, and his move involving Matej Šakota immediately produced a result. The young forward entered the match in the 74th minute and scored to make it 2:2 only two minutes later. It was his first serious involvement in an attack, and that goal immediately raised the energy in the stands and on the pitch. The aggregate score was then 3:2 for Valur, meaning Zrinjski needed only one more goal to force extra time. After equalising, the home side attacked the goal with even greater intensity, while the visitors withdrew completely and attempted to withstand the final pressure.
Abramović was among the most active players during that period, creating overloads on the right side and sending balls towards Bilbija and the other attackers. In one move, he also managed to take a shot himself after a scramble in the penalty area, but Schram responded again. Bilbija had a close-range opportunity following Abramović's cross but failed to hit the target. Each new home attack increased the pressure on the Icelandic team, which appeared tired after a long period of defending. Nevertheless, Valur maintained its narrow aggregate advantage until a foul inside the penalty area gave Zrinjski the best possible opportunity to level the tie.
The second penalty became the decisive moment
In the 87th minute, Bjarni Antonsson brought down Abramović inside the penalty area, and Aptsiauri awarded Zrinjski its second penalty of the match. Bilbija took the ball again, despite having already converted the first penalty. This time, he did not attempt a Panenka but directed the shot towards one side, yet Schram read his intention and made the save. UEFA recorded the missed penalty in the 89th minute, and the Icelandic goalkeeper's save remained the defining image of the match. Had the ball ended up in the net, the score would have been 3:2 for Zrinjski and 3:3 on aggregate, sending the tie into extra time.
The missed penalty was particularly painful for Bilbija because the captain had been at the centre of almost every important event throughout the match. His early goal brought Zrinjski back into the tie, he hit the crossbar from a free kick, participated in numerous attacks and finally received another opportunity to change the outcome. Schram's save, however, stopped the home side's comeback at the most important moment. Zrinjski continued trying to score a third goal afterwards, and Tomi Jurić had a close-range opportunity in stoppage time, but the Icelandic goalkeeper was successful again. In the final seconds, Valur also had an opportunity to punish the home side's completely open formation, but Šubarić prevented another goal.
Great dominance without a reward
Zrinjski's elimination can hardly be explained by a lack of initiative or a shortage of created opportunities. In both matches, the Bosnian and Herzegovinian club had more possession, more shots and more corners, but Valur was considerably more effective in the final third. The Icelandic team scored three goals through the same player, while Schram compensated with a series of saves across the two matches for the periods in which his team was under intense pressure. Zrinjski, by contrast, hit several posts and crossbars in addition to scoring two goals and missed its second penalty in the return leg. In knockout matches, such a difference in efficiency often carries more weight than the overall impression or statistical dominance.
For Rožman's team, the defeat means an abrupt end to the club's landmark twentieth European season, as Zrinjski had announced it before the first match. The Mostar club has gained significant experience in UEFA competitions in recent years and twice within a short period qualified for the league phase, or the former group stage, of the Conference League. For that reason, elimination in the second qualifying round is particularly unpleasant, especially after a tie in which the team had enough opportunities in both matches to change the outcome. Instead of continuing its European journey in August, the focus now shifts entirely to domestic competitions. The coaching staff will have to analyse not only the finishing of attacks but also the way the team conceded two almost identical goals within only a few minutes in Mostar.
By advancing, Valur confirmed that the result in European qualifying matches often depends on a team's ability to survive long periods without the ball and exploit a small number of opportunities. The Icelandic club did not attempt to outplay Zrinjski in possession but remained disciplined, relying on transitions, Haraldsson's individual quality and Schram's form. According to the UEFA draw, the winner of the Valur – Zrinjski tie will face the winner of GAIS – FC Nordsjælland in the third qualifying round, with the first legs of that stage scheduled for 6 August and the return legs for 13 August 2026. For Zrinjski, however, the European calendar ended on 30 July. What remained was a 2:2 result, a 3:2 aggregate victory for Valur and a missed opportunity from the penalty spot that will be remembered longest after a dramatic evening in Mostar.
Sources:
- UEFA – official result, scorers, course of the return leg and aggregate result of the tie (link)
- HŠK Zrinjski Mostar – official report from the first match in Reykjavík and the statistical context of the tie (link)
- FotMob – line-ups, possession, number of shots, shots on target and corners in the return match (link)
- Vísir – match report, description of Haraldsson's goals, Schram's saves and the key situations (link)
- UEFA – Conference League third qualifying round draw and match dates for the next stage (link)