Pafos FC
Also written as Pafos.
The club
Pafos Football Club were formed on 10 June 2014 when AEP Paphos and AEK Kouklia voted to merge and consolidate senior football in the Paphos district. They are one of the youngest clubs in European competition. Home is the Stelios Kyriakides Stadium in Paphos, capacity 9,394, but the ground does not meet UEFA requirements and European home matches are played at the Alphamega Stadium in Limassol, capacity 10,830. The club plays in light blue and white. Pafos came under the control of Total Sports Investments in 2017; Roman Dubov is listed as chairman. No separate owner was confirmed from the sources read here.
Recent seasons
Pafos began in the Cypriot Second Division, won promotion in 2014/15, were relegated in 2015/16 and came straight back up in 2016/17. They were sixth in the First Division in 2021/22 on 46 points, fourth in 2022/23 on 63, fifth in 2023/24 on 62, and champions of Cyprus for the first time in 2024/25 with 82 points from 36 matches, 26 wins, 4 draws and 6 defeats, 67 goals scored and 21 conceded.
In 2025/26 they finished fourth, with 18 wins, 8 draws and 10 defeats and 66 goals scored, but they won the Cypriot Cup, their second, and were runners-up in the Cypriot Super Cup on 30 October 2025. Juan Carlos Carcedo, who had built the title-winning side, bought out his contract and left on 5 January 2026. Albert Celades was appointed on 9 January 2026 and sacked on 28 April, with Ricardo Sá Pinto appointed the same day.
Honours and landmarks
One Cypriot First Division title, in 2024/25. Two Cypriot Cups, in 2023/24 and 2025/26. The first, won 3-0 against Omonia at the GSP Stadium in Nicosia on 18 May 2024, was the club's first major trophy and took them into Europe for the first time.
Notable scorelines
Their heaviest European defeat is 1-5 at home to Bayern Munich in the Champions League on 30 September 2025. Their best European result is the 4-1 home win over Slavia Prague in the same competition on 28 January 2026, and the 1-0 home win over Villarreal on 5 November 2025 runs it close. In this season's Europa League second qualifying round they lost the first leg 2-0 at Hajduk Split and won the return 4-0 after extra time. No all-time record domestic win or defeat was confirmed from the sources read here.
European record
Pafos debuted in Europe in 2024/25 in the Conference League. They entered at the second qualifying round, lost 2-1 at Žalgiris and won the return 3-0 to go through 4-2. They then eliminated CSKA 1948 after extra time and CFR Cluj on penalties to reach the league phase. In February 2025 they met Omonia in the first all-Cypriot tie in UEFA competition, drawing 1-1 in Nicosia and winning the return in Limassol to advance 3-2, before losing to Djurgårdens IF in the round of 16.
As Cypriot champions they entered the 2025/26 Champions League at the second qualifying round and beat Maccabi Tel Aviv 2-1 on aggregate, drawing 1-1 at home and winning 1-0 at a neutral venue in Serbia. In the third round they beat Dynamo Kyiv 3-0 on aggregate, 1-0 in Lublin on 5 August 2025 and 2-0 at the Alphamega on 12 August. In the play-off they eliminated Red Star Belgrade 3-2 on aggregate to reach the Champions League league phase for the first time.
Their league-phase record was creditable: 0-0 away at Olympiacos, 1-5 at home to Bayern Munich, 0-0 away at Kairat, 1-0 at home to Villarreal, 2-2 at home to Monaco, 0-2 at Juventus, 0-1 at Chelsea and 4-1 at home to Slavia Prague. They finished 26th of 36 and were eliminated. Over the whole 2025/26 European campaign Pafos won six, drew five and lost three.
Quotes
No directly quoted material was confirmed from the sources read here. Searches for post-match comment from Ricardo Sá Pinto on the Salzburg first leg returned only previews and live commentary.
Right now (2026/27)
Ricardo Sá Pinto is head coach, appointed on 28 April 2026.
The summer recruitment has been busy and largely from Portugal and Brazil. Charalampos Kyriakidis signed from Omonia on 2 June 2026 to 2028, Murad Mammadov from Neftçi on 15 June to 2030, and the Brazilian forward Guga from Al-Najma on 29 June to 2029. Lelê's loan from Fluminense was extended on 27 June. Alexandre Brito was signed permanently from Sporting CP on 1 July to 2030 and Gabriel "Biel" Teixeira arrived on loan from Sporting on 2 July. Michalis Papastylianou joined from PAC Omonia 29M on 9 July, Samy Mmaee on loan from Dinamo Zagreb on 12 July, and goalkeeper Radosław Majecki on loan from Monaco on 17 July, both with options to buy. Moumi Ngamaleu signed as a free agent on 3 August 2026 to 2028. Ognjen Mimović returned to Fenerbahçe at the end of his loan.
As Cypriot Cup winners Pafos entered the Europa League main path at the second qualifying round. They lost 2-0 at Hajduk Split on 23 July 2026 in front of 27,752 at the Poljud, Šego and Melnjak scoring, then won the return 4-0 after extra time at the Alphamega on 30 July. Guga scored on 40 minutes, David Goldar levelled the tie in the first minute of stoppage time, and in extra time Gabriel Teixeira and João Correia settled it. Pafos went through 4-2.
They are now in the Europa League third qualifying round against Red Bull Salzburg and are behind. Salzburg won the first leg 1-0 at the Red Bull Arena on 6 August 2026 in front of 7,704, Haris Tabaković scoring in the 88th minute. The second leg is at the Alphamega Stadium in Limassol on 13 August 2026, refereed by João Pinheiro. The winner meets Mjällby in the Europa League play-off on 20 and 27 August; the loser drops into the Conference League play-off round. The Cypriot First Division has not yet begun, and the Cypriot Super Cup final is still to be played.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pafos_FC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_Pafos_FC_season https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025%E2%80%9326_Pafos_FC_season https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_UEFA_Europa_League_qualifying https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/match/2049128 https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/match/2049140 https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/match/2048746 https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/match/2048754 https://pafosfc.com.cy/ricardo-sa-pinto-joins-pafos-fc-as-new-head-coach/
Researched and written for not4quarters. Where a fact could not be established from the sources read, this page says so rather than guessing.