FC Koper
Also written as Koper.
The club
FC Koper were founded in 1920 as Circolo sportivo Capodistriano in the coastal Slovenian town of Koper, known in Italian as Capodistria. The club became Unione sportiva Capodistriana in 1928, Aurora Koper after the Second World War, and NK Koper in 1955 following a merger with Meduza. After Slovenian independence the club took the name FC Koper Capodistria in 1990, carried a series of sponsor names between 2001 and 2016, and has been FC Koper since 2017. This is one club under one identity throughout; it is not to be confused with any other side, and the Italian-era name Capodistria refers to the same club, not a separate Italian one.
The ground is the Bonifika Stadium, built in 1948 and reconstructed in 2010, with a current capacity of 4,047 seats. The club's colours are yellow and blue, giving rise to the nicknames Kanarčki (the Canaries) and Rumeno-modri (the Yellow and Blues).
The head coach is Zoran Zeljković. His appointment date and predecessor were not established from the sources read here.
Recent seasons
Koper finished second in the Slovenian PrvaLiga in 2021/22 with 67 points from 36 matches (19 wins, 10 draws, 7 losses, 54 goals for, 38 against), then sixth in 2022/23 with 50 points, and fifth in 2023/24 with 48 points. They rose to third in 2024/25 with 66 points (19 wins, 9 draws, 8 losses, 60 for, 35 against), and were runners-up again in 2025/26, this time to Celje, finishing second with 67 points from 34 matches (20 wins, 7 draws, 7 losses, 71 goals for, 43 against), the best attacking record in the division that season. Koper also reached the Slovenian Cup final in 2024/25, losing, having won the competition outright the previous season, 2021/22.
Honours and landmarks
Slovenian First League champions once, in 2009/10, the club's first top-flight title, achieved under the on-field leadership of veteran player Miran Pavlin; the identity of that season's head coach was not established from the sources read here. Slovenian Cup winners four times, in 2005/06, 2006/07, 2014/15 and 2021/22. Slovenian Supercup winners in 2010 and 2015. Before independence the club won the Slovenian Republic League twice, in 1984/85 and 1987/88, and the Slovenian Republic Cup twice, in 1989/90 and 1990/91.
Following the 2016/17 season, Koper failed to obtain a competition licence and were excluded from the Slovenian top division, working their way back up through the Slovenian Third League (won 2018/19, having already won the regional Littoral League in 2017/18) and Second League (won 1999/2000, an earlier spell) before returning to the PrvaLiga.
Notable scorelines
Koper's biggest European win is 9-0 on aggregate over Čelik Nikšić of Montenegro in the first qualifying round of the 2014/15 UEFA Europa League, 4-0 at home and 5-0 away. Their heaviest defeat is 3-12 on aggregate to Viking of Norway in the second qualifying round of the 2025/26 UEFA Conference League, losing 3-5 away and then 0-7 at home. Koper's all-time domestic record win and record defeat were not established from the sources read here.
European record
Koper's European history goes back to the 2002 Intertoto Cup, where they beat Zagreb of Croatia and Dubnica of Slovakia before losing to Egaleo of Greece's conquerors Heerenveen of the Netherlands in the semi-final, having got there by beating Egaleo of Greece 5-4 on aggregate. In the UEFA Cup they lost in the first qualifying round to Litex Lovech of Bulgaria 0-6 on aggregate in 2006/07, to Široki Brijeg of Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-6 in 2007/08, and to Vllaznia of Albania 1-2 in 2008/09.
The 2009/10 title brought a first Champions League campaign: Koper won the home leg of the second qualifying round 3-0 against Dinamo Zagreb of Croatia but lost the away leg 1-5, going out 4-5 on aggregate. In the Europa League they lost to Shakhter Karagandy of Kazakhstan 2-3 on aggregate in 2011/12, before the 9-0 rout of Čelik Nikšić in 2014/15 was followed by a 2-3 aggregate defeat to Neftchi Baku of Azerbaijan in the next round. In 2015/16 they beat Víkingur Reykjavík of Iceland 3-2 on aggregate before losing 4-6 to Hajduk Split of Croatia. In the 2022/23 Conference League they lost to Vaduz of Liechtenstein 1-2 on aggregate.
In 2025/26, having finished third in the league the previous season, Koper entered the Conference League in the first qualifying round and beat Željezničar of Bosnia and Herzegovina 4-2 on aggregate (3-1 home, 1-1 away), before the heavy 3-12 aggregate defeat to Viking of Norway in the second qualifying round described above.
Head-to-head notes
Within Slovenia, Koper are one of the country's leading clubs alongside Celje, Maribor and Olimpija Ljubljana, and finished directly behind Celje as runners-up in the PrvaLiga in both 2021/22 and 2025/26. Specific head-to-head records against those clubs were not established from the sources read here.
Right now (2026/27)
Zoran Zeljković remains head coach. As PrvaLiga runners-up in 2025/26, Koper entered the 2026/27 UEFA Conference League in the second qualifying round, facing NSÍ of the Faroe Islands. Koper won the away leg at NSÍ's ground 2-0, but lost the home leg at the Bonifika Stadium 1-3 after extra time, leaving the tie level at 3-3 on aggregate; NSÍ won the resulting penalty shootout 4-3, eliminating Koper. Exact dates for both legs were not established from the sources read here.
Koper's position in the 2026/27 Slovenian PrvaLiga, since no article for that season was found among the sources read here, was not established.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FC_Koper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025%E2%80%9326_Slovenian_PrvaLiga https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_FK https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSÍ_Runavík
Researched and written for not4quarters. Where a fact could not be established from the sources read, this page says so rather than guessing.