Baltic Power Rankings: Pre-season begins!

As Baltic clubs have put their first full week of pre-season behind them, so it is time to prepare the power rankings for 2026!

In this update, there are two things worth noting: 1) a change in how initial coefficients are derived and 2) calculation of power rankings after the first week of friendlies.

Starting at the top, we changed the formula by which initial coefficient is calculated. Last year, starting coefficient was a function of base score, which was slightly different for each league to reflect their relative strength as per the UEFA association rankings, and individual club UEFA coefficient score, plus additional bonuses or penalties for Championship, Cup or relegation respectively.

The problem with this way was that it was too reliant on UEFA coefficients, both for club and country. However, starting from a blank slate, we accepted the limitations of this method for the time being (indeed, there is no perfect method for this).

This year, with a whole season behind us, we wanted to make more use of actual competitive balance from 2025, so we reduced the impact of UEFA rankings. The way starting coefficients are now calculated consists of a baseline score (now same for everyone), individual club UEFA coefficient moderated by average league coefficient, and individual Power rating from last year moderated by average power rating for all 30 clubs. Bonuses for Cup and League win, as well as penalties for relegation, have also been adjusted.

So, what we are starting 2026 with is a slightly adjusted coefficient for all 27 clubs that competed in 2025 and an entirely brand new coefficient for the three newly promoted clubs – TransINVEST, Ogre United, and Nõmme United.

Second, here are the Baltic Power Rankings after the first week of pre-season. There were many draws but also a couple of upsets, including Nõmme United defeating FCI Levadia 4-2 (which helped their coefficient mightily) and Flora holding Vaprus to a 2-2 draw. Another exciting match from the north was Tammeka pulling off a 3-2 win over Narva Trans, although there was not a large exchange of coefficient there.

A few international games also took place, including RFS getting their revenge for last season over Kalju (2-0) and Liepāja, somewhat unexpectedly, pulling Paide apart 3-1. Full list of results, as well as upcoming friendlies can be found here.

Having said all that, please behold the first 2026 Baltic Power Rankings update!