FK Sarajevo
The club
FK Sarajevo were founded on 24 October 1946 as FD Torpedo, formed by city residents, and took the name FK Sarajevo in 1949. They are one of two major clubs from the Bosnian capital and are a completely separate institution from FK Zeljeznicar Sarajevo, who were established earlier, on 19 September 1921, by railway workers. The two are fierce city rivals, not the same club under different names: FK Sarajevo is the club covered in this dossier, and any reference to "Zeljeznicar" or "FK Zeljeznicar Sarajevo" elsewhere is that separate, older club. No other club sharing "Sarajevo" in its name was found to plausibly cause confusion in the sources read here.
The club plays at the Asim Ferhatovic Hase Stadium, commonly known as the Kosevo City Stadium, opened in 1947 in the Sarajevo neighbourhood of Kosevo. Its capacity is 34,700, the largest of any ground in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and it has been renovated several times, for the 1966 Balkan Games, for the 1984 Winter Olympics (it hosted the opening ceremony), and again after the Bosnian War in 1998. FK Sarajevo originally played in sky blue and white; the club switched to maroon in the summer of 1962 after former player Lav Mantula suggested adopting the maroon of Servette, on the grounds that no Yugoslav club at the time played in that colour. The nickname Bordo-bijeli (the Maroon-Whites) follows from that switch; the club is also known as Age Sarajlije and as Divovi (the Giants), the latter drawn from a football ballad by Benjamin Isovic. The main ultras group is Horde zla (Horde of Evil).
Ownership has changed hands repeatedly in the modern era. The Malaysian businessman Vincent Tan took majority control in December 2013 with a reported two million dollar investment, before the Vietnamese businessman Nguyen Hoai Nam bought a majority stake in March 2019. The Bosnian-American Ismir Mirvic joined as a majority investor in August 2021 and became club president, then acquired full ownership in December 2025. The Mirvic period has been marked by heavy transfer spending and rapid managerial turnover. The current head coach is the Croatian Zoran Zekic, assisted by Zeljimir Mesnjak and Luka Sarlija.
Recent seasons
FK Sarajevo finished second in 2020/21 with 65 points from 33 matches and also won the Bosnian Cup that season. They were fourth in 2021/22 on 46 points and were league runners-up in the Cup that year, fourth again in 2022/23 on 52 points, and fourth in 2023/24 on 53 points after a three-point deduction. In 2024/25 they improved to third with 65 points and won the Bosnian Cup, ending a run of seasons without a domestic trophy. In 2025/26 they finished third again with 65 points from 36 matches and reached the Bosnian Cup quarter-finals. Across this stretch the club has been a consistent top-four side without recapturing the league title it last held in 2019/20.
Honours and landmarks
FK Sarajevo won the Yugoslav First League twice, in 1966/67 and 1984/85, and were beaten Yugoslav Cup finalists twice, losing 3-2 to Hajduk Split in the 1966/67 final and 3-2 to Dinamo Zagreb in the 1982/83 final, both played in Belgrade. Since Bosnian independence the club has won the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina four times, in 2006/07, 2014/15, 2018/19 and 2019/20, and has won the Bosnian Cup eight times, in 1996/97 (beating Zeljeznicar 2-0), 1997/98 (beating Sloboda Tuzla 1-0 after extra time), 2001/02 (beating Zeljeznicar 2-1), 2004/05 (beating Siroki Brijeg 2-1 on aggregate), 2013/14 (beating Celik 5-1 on aggregate), 2018/19 (beating Siroki Brijeg 3-1 on aggregate), 2020/21 (beating Borac on penalties after a 0-0 draw) and 2024/25 (beating Siroki Brijeg 5-1 on aggregate). The club has also won the Bosnian Supercup once, though the specific year was not established from the sources read here. The 1967/68 European Cup run, in which Sarajevo reached the second round before losing to Manchester United, and the club's role as a founder member of the post-war Yugoslav football landscape, both stand as landmarks in the club's history.
Notable scorelines
FK Sarajevo's heaviest recorded defeat in the Sarajevo derby came right at the start of the rivalry, a 9-1 loss to Zeljeznicar (then playing as Torpedo's opponents) on 29 December 1946, still cited as the biggest win by either side in the derby's history. In European competition the club's best-known win came in the 2007/08 Champions League qualifying, a 9-1 aggregate victory over Marsaxlokk of Malta, while in the 1982/83 UEFA Cup they beat Slavia Sofia 6-4 and Corvinul Hunedoara 8-4 on aggregate. Their heaviest European defeat came in the 2014/15 Europa League play-off round against Borussia Monchengladbach, lost 2-3 at home and 0-7 away for an aggregate of 2-10. The club's all-time domestic record win and record defeat outside the derby context were not established from the sources read here.
European record
FK Sarajevo's first European involvement came in the 1960 Mitropa Cup. In the 1967/68 European Cup they beat Olympiakos Nicosia 5-3 on aggregate before losing to Manchester United in the second round, a goalless draw at home followed by a 1-2 defeat away, going out 1-2 on aggregate. Their worst European campaign of the 1980s came in the 1985/86 European Cup, when they were eliminated by the Finnish side Kuusysi Lahti after losing both legs. In the 2007/08 Champions League qualifying they drew 2-2 on aggregate with Genk, losing 0-1 at home and winning 2-1 away, and progressed on away goals, before the wider run that season also included the 9-1 aggregate win over Marsaxlokk. The 2014/15 Europa League play-off brought the heavy 2-10 aggregate defeat to Borussia Monchengladbach. In 2020/21 they beat Buducnost Podgorica 2-1 in Europa League qualifying before losing 0-1 to Celtic in the play-off round. As of July 2026 the club's overall European record across all competitions stood at 90 matches played, 28 wins, 20 draws and 42 losses, with a goal difference of minus 37.
Head-to-head notes
The Sarajevo derby against Zeljeznicar, known as the Vjecni derbi (Eternal Derby), is regarded as the biggest derby in Bosnia and Herzegovina and one of FourFourTwo's fifty biggest derbies in the world. As of 25 May 2026 the all-time record across all competitions stood level at 48 wins apiece from 159 meetings, with 63 draws. In league matches specifically, 139 of those meetings, FK Sarajevo lead 21 wins to 19 with 36 draws, and lead on goals scored 76-68. The first official league meeting, in 1954, was won 6-1 by FK Sarajevo. Recent derby results have been tight: Zeljeznicar won 3-0 on 3 March 2024, the sides drew 0-0 on 14 April 2024, drew 1-1 on 25 September 2024, drew 0-0 again on 22 February 2025, and FK Sarajevo won the most recent meeting 2-1 on 27 April 2025.
Right now (2026/27)
Zoran Zekic remains head coach for 2026/27. FK Sarajevo entered the UEFA Conference League in the first qualifying round, drawn against the Finnish side Inter Turku. They lost the first leg at home 1-2 on 9 July 2026 in front of 10,107, before losing the return in Turku 1-2 on 16 July 2026, going out of Europe at the first hurdle with an overall qualifying record of no wins, one draw and one loss in the tie, two goals scored and three conceded.
Domestically the 2026/27 Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina season is under way. FK Sarajevo drew 0-0 away to Radnik Bijeljina on 8 August 2026, a match played at the Stadion Rodeni in Mostar with 1,200 in attendance and refereed by Antoni Bandic, then won 1-0 away to BSK Banja Luka on 21 August 2026 at the Bilino Polje Stadium in Zenica in front of 400 people, the goal scored by Bartol Barisic in the 33rd minute, refereed by Frano Jelic. As of 23 August 2026 that leaves the club fourth in the table with four points from two matches, one win and one draw. The full remainder of the 2026/27 fixture list, the club's summer transfer business, and any further European involvement this season were not confirmed from the sources read here.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FK_Sarajevo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FK_%C5%BDeljezni%C4%8Dar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_FK_Sarajevo_season https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_FK_Sarajevo_seasons https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FK_Sarajevo_in_European_football https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premier_League_of_Bosnia_and_Herzegovina https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosnia_and_Herzegovina_Cup https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarajevo_derby
Researched and written for not4quarters. Where a fact could not be established from the sources read, this page says so rather than guessing.