Baltic football returns tomorrow, as both Lithuania and Estonia kick off their seasons with Latvia following suite next week, and you may be wondering which of the 30 top-tier clubs between the three national competitions to support or follow. So, whether you are after the glam of Riga FC, the perkiness of Hegelmann, the relentless struggle against the odds of Kalev, or, perhaps, something entirely different, we have put together a comprehensive guide to help you navigate the who-is-who of Baltic football.
First, a note on the methodology. Our guide, in the form of a flow chart, is split into three broad thematic categories – winners, developers and challengers – with some clubs qualifying for more than a single category or sub-category. The resulting allocation has been validated by our team of in-house Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian football experts and, while it is not completely perfect, it, nonetheless, represents the most accurate typology of clubs out there.
So, whether you are completely new to the football in the region and are looking for a club to get started, or you would like to expand your scope to one (or two!) of the other Baltic countries, please allow us to help you make your decision.
The winners
Winning is the name of the game in football, but some clubs are better at it than others. If you prefer consistent and reliable winners who dominate their domestic leagues most of the time, consider:
FK Žalgiris in Lithuania or FC RFS in Latvia. Unlike their Latvian counterparts, Žalgiris have been around for a while (by Baltic standards, anyway) and, in this, time, developed both football history and traditions. Named after the Battle of Grunwald in 1410 (Žalgiris means Grunwald in Lithuanian – “green forest”), FK Žalgiris are 11-time national champions, 14-time national cup winners and 9-time super cup winners among a range of other accolades. They played in the UEFA Conference League groups stages in 2022 and generally aspire for main stages of European football every year. Among all the clubs from the Baltics, they have the (marginally) highest UEFA club coefficient (11.5) and their fans are also some of the best. Called “Pietų IV“, the fan movement of Lithuanian Champions are active both in the stands and in their communities. Their colours are green and white.
FC RFS, on the other hand, are a significantly newer club. Founded, by some accounts, only as recently as 2011, RFS have just now risen to dominance not only in Latvia but in the Baltics as well. 3-times Latvian Champions and 3-times Cup winners, RFS are the only club in the region to qualify for the final stages of a major European competition not once but twice, having played both in the Conference league (in 2022) and in the Europa league (in 2024). Despite this, the club is small and modest, owing their success to hard work and perseverance, progressing step by step rather than spending large on the transfer markets. Their fans – Riverside Lions – may be less numerous than those of Žalgiris, but they are just as enthusiastic both on and off the stands, participating and leading various community initiatives. RFS also have the benefit of having an arch-rival in their domestic competition – Riga FC. The match between these two clubs, called the Big Riga Derby, is one of the largest and most anticipated football parties in the region. RFS wear dark blue kit.
There are, however, also clubs that win consistently but don’t dominate their leagues as much as the two above. Either this is because they are stuck with a Žalgiris or an RFS that they are unable to outcompete, or because of the natural up-and-down fortunes of football, these are the clubs that win a lot but either inconsistently or not quite as much:
Riga FC – the other large club from Riga and, arguably, the largest one (certainly in terms of their annual budget, and not just in Latvia – in the region!). Riga FC are level with their arc-rivals RFS on primary titles but haven’t won the league since 2020. Still, they are a constant challenger for the title and a relentless opponent that spares no expense in trying to get what they perceive as rightfully theirs – the Latvian title and a debut in the main stages of a major European tournament. They play at one of the most iconic stadiums in the Baltics – Skonto Stadium – have a numerically large fan group famous for their affinity for drums and their colours are light blue and white. Riga FC are certainly the wealthiest club in the Baltics and they carry that glamour with them. Unfortunately, lack of internal stability and (very) frequent managerial changes hold them back from their true potential of emerging as a Baltic grand.
In Estonia, the situation is a little different. There, two Tallinn-based clubs have been competing for dominance in Estonia for the last 27 years – FC Flora and FCI Levadia. Levadia holds 11 Estonian titles, including the current one, while Flora has 15. The two clubs share the same stadium – A. Le Coq Arena in Tallinn – and meet in the Tallinn Derby, which is steeped in tradition and decades of rivalry. Both are sporting green and white colours (of slightly different shades). The major difference between the clubs lies in the philosophy – Flora are unique in that they are dedicated nationalists, only playing with domestic players, while Levadia have no such limitation. Because of this, in the early days of their rivalry, back in the late 90s and early 2000s, Levadia had the reputation of being more of a club of/for ethnic minorities rather than native Estonians. This is no longer the obvious case, although some remnants of this legacy do echo through the times.
The developers
Football in the Baltics, as exciting as it is, is also, on average, cash-poor. Because of this, many clubs opt to focus on player development to sustain themselves with the help of their academy system or by selling hot prospects abroad. There is no shortage of such clubs to choose from, inlcuding:
FK Metta from Latvia. Founded 20 years ago, Metta’s stated purpose of existence is to grow Latvian players for the Latvian national team. In this, they have been broadly successful while also having the honours of being the longest-tenured club in the competitively fierce Latvian domestic championship (although not without their fair share of very close calls with relegation!). Sporting green and white colours, they are a perky club with a highly developed group of organised fans called ‘Metta Ultras’. Much like Flora in Estonia, they are also heavily nationally-oriented, although Metta does not shy away from injecting foreign players into their top-tier team in efforts to bolster in-squad competition.
FA Šiauliai from Lithuania is another exciting development club. While lacking an official policy to focus on local youth, the northern Lithuanian side do so in practice anyway albeit without major international success on the transfer market. In this, they are similar to Estonian Vaprus, Kalev and Harju, all three of whom can be characterised as the working horses of their respective leagues – not really aiming to find the next football unicorn but rather focused on maintaining the standard of football and producing a steady stream of youngsters for the league. Šiauliai and Vaprus wear yellow and black and, interestingly, both feature a bear on their crest (brown bear for Lithuanians and black bear for Estonians), while Kalev sport blue and white, and Harju are all red.
There are also clubs that do try to find the best talent they can anywhere they can get it, develop it and sell it on to larger leagues. The two most noteworthy are Estonian Paide Linnameeskond and Lithuanian FK Riteriai. Paide, in particular, are doing an excellent job of scouting and developing foreign players. In 2021, they signed a collaboration agreement with the Gambian football club Real de Banjul and have, since then, developed and sold on players such as, for example, Abdoulie Ceesay, who was sold to German Bundesliga side St. Pauli. They sport black and blue colours and their crest, if only seen in passing, very much resembles that of FC Barcelona. Lithuanian Riteriai, are similar in concept but do not have as clear of a focus on foreign players, or players from any particular country, as Paide do. Still, the ‘knights’ have an enviable track record of working with talent development. Oscar Dorley, Liberia’s national team captain and starting player for Slavia Praha, and Terem Moffi, who plays for OGC Nice and for Nigeria, have both also kickstarted their careers at Riteriai. The club is based in Vilnius, sports neon green/yellow kit and has just been acquired by investors from Singapore, potentially opening a new chapter in their history.
The challengers
There is no shortage of exciting challenger teams in the Baltics – either those that are attempting to upset the status quo through hard work and/or generous investments, or those clubs that used to be grand but have now fallen on tougher times.
The two Lithuanian sides, FC Hegelmann and Kauno Žalgiris, certainly fall within the category of new clubs that do not shy away from trading cash for time as they attempt to challenge for the A Lyga title. Interestingly, both are also based in Kaunas. Their stories, however, are very different. Whereas Kauno Žalgiris is a football spin-off of the highly successful Žalgiris Kaunas basketball club, Hegelmann is a project of Hegelmann Transporte – a German-owned freight forwarding and logistics company. With support of their owners, be it a basketball club or a logistics company, both clubs have been steadily growing and it only seems a matter of time until one of them will upset the power balance in the Lithuanian championship. Hegelmann wear blue and silver, whereas Kauno Žalgiris are all green.
Nõmme Kalju, from Estonia, is a different story. Having won the Premium liiga title back in 2012 and in 2018, Kalju have been a persistent challenger in the Estonian championship for years. Not enjoying significant financial backing from any one source, they are just pushing through on hard work and sound management. Also based in Tallinn, Kalju is part of the ‘Railway derby’, which they contest with their fiercest rival – FC Flora. Kalju wear black (and pink) and are a phoenix club of Nõmme Kalju from the pre-occupation times, which ceased to exist in 1944 when their club building was destroyed by the first Soviet tank that had reached Nõmme.
Banga, from Lithuania, and Narva Trans, from Estonia, are two further examples of teams that challenge the status quo, even if from further behind or via the national Cup route. Banga, in particular, are noteworthy because of their extremely passionate fans. They wear orange (and their fans are called ‘the Tiger Army’ as a result) whereas Narva, who represent the eastern-most city in Estonia, wear red.
FK Auda, from Latvia, sit somewhere in between. This oldest still-active club in the country has been around since 1969 and, as a club that emerged from the fishing cooperatives in Riga, has fascinating history tucked away in their attic somewhere. Since their return to the top-tier in 2022, however, Auda have secured new financial backing which saw the club we see today break almost all continuity with Auda of before. In joining an obscure multi-ownership arrangement with Riga FC, Auda have enjoyed a meteoric rise in competitiveness over the past three years and are now beginning to, slowly, re-engage with their traditional fan-base and to acquire new fans. Since returning to the Latvian championship, they won the Cup once and finished third twice, regularly causing headache to RFS and even to their ‘big brother’ club – Riga FC. Last season also saw them progress to the third qualifying round of the Conference League, so the club is becoming very competitive internationally as well. Auda wear green and black.
And then there are the ‘sleeping giants’ – clubs that used to be large and dominant but have since fallen on harder times, only waiting for resurgence. Of such, there are two:
In Lithuania one such club is FK Sūduva from the southern city of Marijampole, not far from the Polish border. They have been around since 1968 and reached their peak, to date, in the late 2010s, when they won the A Lyga title for three years in a row between 2017 and 2019. Last season was disastrous for the Marijampole club who only narrowly avoided relegation by winning the relegation playoff’s. Still, Sūduva are not out of the fight yet by any means, having won the Super Cup in 2022. It may look like a long road ahead for this sleeping giant, but they’ve done it before and there is no reason why they can’t do it again. Sūduva wear all red.
In Latvia, FK Liepāja bear the proud and long heritage of Latvian football. As a phoenix club of the famous Liepājas Metalurgs and, before that, Sarkanais Metalurgs, they have a lot of responsibility riding on their shoulders. However, since winning the title in 2015 and Latvian Cup in 2017 and 2020, the club continues to struggle to meaningfully challenge for the title. A succession of squad rebuilds of recent years, which saw as many as almost 50 different players take to the pitch for them one year, have left the club in desperate need of stability and long-term vision. After some long-overdue changes at the top and a very exciting winter transfer window, 2025 might be the year when this sleeping giant finally decides to wake up! Liepāja wear red and white kit.
But not all challengers are challengers for the title – some are just very sympathetic underdogs. Smaller clubs that are able to pull off an occasional upset despite normally occupying the bottom end of the table.
In Latvia, such clubs are BFC Daugavpils and FK Grobiņa. Daugavpils, solely representing the entire eastern region of Latgale in the Latvian top flight, are also known for their strong academy and for a good track record of developing foreign players. Despite their highest ever finish being number 5 last season and usually well below that, the club is, nevertheless, considered to be a difficult and uncompromising opponent. Playing physical football with one of they youngest squads by average age out there, there are many things to like about them. And you can count on them to always put up a fight, even if most of the time it will be in vain. Daugavpils wear an all blue kit.
FK Grobiņa, on the other hand, earn their ‘sympathetic underdog’ status chiefly on account of their performance against their much larger local rivals FK Liepāja, where they managed to pull of two major upsets against this sleeping giant. Additionally, they are known for their extensive use of local players. They struggled last season but managed to avoid relegation in a dramatic playoff session against JDFS Albers, where they lost the first leg but they managed to recover in the second, away match. This season might bring major changes to the club though, as they have secured significant additional funding which may well kick-start the development of the club and elevate them to a higher level.
In Lithuania, the sympathetic underdogs are DFK Dainava and FK Panevėžys. Dainava, from the south of the country, are only in their third season in A Lyga, and only second consecutive season. Last year, they shocked everyone by finishing 4th in the league, especially after finishing 8th the season prior. The club is clearly on the rise and, supported by some of the most passionate fans in the country, they are going to be very interesting to follow in 2025. Dainava wear red and blue kit.
Panevėžys are a much younger club from the north of the country, only founded in 2015. Playing in the top flight since 2019, they were a stable mid-table club until suddenly winning the championship in 2023. The season that followed, however, saw the club endure an embarrassing collapse, finishing 8th, only 2 points clear of the relegation play-offs. An unpredictable side at their core, Panevėžys will be keen to regain their face in 2025 and might be an exciting side to follow. They wear all red.
Finally, is Estonia, Tartu Tammeka proved that they can exceed any and all expectations last year. Widely considered to be the prime candidate for relegation, the club from Tartu finished fifth – equalling their best ever finish for the third time. Continuously in the top flight since 2005, Tammeka seldom finish above 7th but are, nevertheless, a tough nut to crack. Steeped in the ethos of Estonian struggle for independence and benefiting from a dynamic University town, Tammeka wear blue in tribute to the blue of Estonian flag.
Local clubs
Finally, some clubs are there just to represent their localities and the cities or regions that they hail from, which is beautiful in it’s own right.
In Estonia, such club is FC Kuressaare from the island of Saaremaa in the Baltic sea. Dubbed ‘The Vikings’, Kuressaare was founded and exists with the sole purpose of representing Saaremaa in Estonian top flight. A typical yo-yo club in the 2010s, Kuressaare have now stabilised in the Premium liiga and have managed to avoid relegation since 2018, recording their highest-ever finish to date in the fifth place in 2022. The Vikings are certainly a unique club to follow, not least due to being the only island club in the Baltics. They wear all yellow and (sometimes) viking hats.
In Latvia, the two clubs that most fit this category are FS Jelgava and FK Tukums 2000/TELMS. Whereas Jelgava could also be considered a ‘sleeping giant’ in their own way, being the phoenix club of FK Jelgava that won numerous Latvian Cups and played in Europe and, even prior to that RAF Jelgava, Tukums are there to represent the beautiful city of Tukums. Both teams rely heavily on own academy players and on loanees from the larger clubs. Jelgava wear carmine red kit – the same shade of red that is found on the Latvia flag – whereas Tukums are green, in reference to the deep pine forests that envelop the city.
In Lithuania, FC Džiugas are a phoenix club of two prior incarnations of Džiugas, dating back to 1923. Based in the north-west city of Telšiai, this latest incarnation of Džiugas is playing in A Lyga since 2021, usually occupying the bottom of the table. Last season, they recorded their best-ever finish – number 6. Džiugas, of course, is also a famous Lithuanian aged hard cheese, so maybe the club is also like that and will only get more competitive with age!
The blank slate
Finally, there is one club that does not fit easily in any of the above categories – SK Super Nova from Latvia. As a nation-wide football academy, they do not really represent any one city. Since their debut in the top flight in 2022, the club has struggled to find their identity, first playing with academy only players, then with experienced former internationals and now, with a mix of academy and prospective local youngsters with prior Virslīga experience in the ranks of other clubs. Now back to the top flight after a year’s absence, the latest iteration of Super Nova is very exciting indeed. So, if a club that is still trying to figure itself out feels right to you, Super Nova is the best in the Baltics at it!
To see what to expect from the 2025 season, please also refer to our season previews for Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Download the flowchart here.