FC Lugano have sealed the deal and secured a place in the UEFA Conference League play-offs. Following their 2-0 win at the AIL Arena in the first leg, the bianconeri drew 2-2 against NSÍ Runavík at Við Djúpumýrar and progressed through the third qualifying round with an aggregate score of 4-2.
The evening in the Faroe Islands proved more difficult than expected. Runavík managed to overturn the two-goal deficit they had incurred in Lugano, temporarily levelling the tie. However, Mattia Croci-Torti’s side reacted at the most crucial moment and, thanks to goals from Cimignani and Behrens, regained the upper hand in the tie and ended the second leg 2–2.
RUNAVÍK BRING THE TIE
BACK TO LIFE The first chance came in the 5th minute: Lindh struck with his left foot from the edge of the box; Papadopoulos’s deflection changed the ball’s trajectory, forcing von Ballmoos into a superb save. Lugano responded immediately and, in the 7th minute, Bislimi fired a shot from the edge of the box that grazed the post.
As the minutes ticked by, the bianconeri stepped up the pressure. In the 16th minute, Cimignani played Behrens through; Behrens found himself in front of Amos from a wide position and tried to angle his right-footed shot to beat the goalkeeper as he came off his line, but failed to hit the target. Three minutes later, it was Dos Santos who tested the home goalkeeper with a right-footed shot from the edge of the box, before trying again in the 22nd minute with his left foot: on both occasions, Amos was equal to the task.
In the 29th minute, however, it was Runavík who broke the deadlock. Skytte played a through ball to Knudsen on the left; the home side’s captain cut into the box and fired a low shot: the ball slipped under von Ballmoos’s legs to make it 1–0.
Lugano immediately tried to respond to restore their two-legged lead. In the 37th minute, Behrens created two chances in quick succession, first turning inside the box and then attempting a curling right-footed shot, but on both occasions Amos pulled off superb saves to keep a clean sheet. The half thus ended 1–0, with the bianconeri still leading 2–1 on aggregate.
THE COMEBACK IS WORTH A PLAYOFF
SPOT Lugano came out looking for an equaliser and, in the 49th minute, Steffen cut into the box and fired a left-footed shot across goal, only to be denied once again by Amos. In the 61st minute, however, Runavík doubled their lead: Knudsen broke down the left flank, won a 50-50 challenge against Mai and sent in a low cross that Lindh simply had to tap into the net. The 2–0 scoreline levelled the tie on aggregate as well.
The bianconeri’s response was immediate. In the 66th minute, just five minutes later, the newly substituted Zanotti crossed from the right towards the far post, where Cimignani timed his run perfectly to beat the defence and headed past Amos, who had been unbeatable up to that point. The 2–1 score restored Lugano’s lead in the two-legged tie.
In the 77th minute, the bianconeri came within a few centimetres of an equaliser: Grgić sent a powerful, driven free-kick into the box; Benjaminsen beat Papadopoulos to it and deflected it towards his own goal, with the ball hitting the crossbar first and then the post without crossing the line.
The goal came two minutes later, however. Steffen curled in a cross from the right and Behrens beat Amos to it with a header, finally finding the net after the chances created in the first half. It was the 2–2 equaliser that definitively secured qualification. In the 82nd minute, Pihlström also tried to complete the comeback with a right-footed shot from distance, but Amos saved it.
The match ends 2–2 at Við Djúpumýrar. FC Lugano thus progress through the UEFA Conference League Q3 with an aggregate score of 4–2 and secure a place in the play-offs, the final hurdle before the group stage of the competition. The Bianconeri will face Maccabi Tel Aviv.
MATCH REPORT
: NSÍ RUNAVÍK – FC LUGANO 2–2 (agg. 2–4)
UEFA Conference League – Third qualifying round, second leg
, 13 August 2026 – Við Djúpumýrar
Attendance: 300
Goalscorers: 29’ Knudsen, 61’ Lindh, 66’ Cimignani, 79’ Behrens.
NSÍ RUNAVÍK (4-4-2): Amos; Benjaminsen (88’ M. Danielsen), Obbekjær, Davidsen, Drinic; Lindh (79’ Elísson), Joensen, Nolsøe (79’ Olsen), Knudsen; Przybylski (88’ Hestad), Skytte.
Substitutes: Kristian Joensen, D. Danielsen, Tróndargjógv.
Manager: Sigurdur Ragnar Eyjolfsson.
FC LUGANO (3-4-2-1): von Ballmoos; Papadopoulos, Mai, Bichsel; Cimignani, Grgić, Bislimi, Pihlström (88’ Moncada); Steffen (88’ Kendouci), Dos Santos (63’ Zanotti); Behrens.
Substitutes: Gebhardt, Ndiaye, Delcroix, Kelvin, Carbone, Castro, Ajdin.
Manager: Mattia Croci-Torti.
Referee: Robert Hennessy
. Assistant referees: Dermot Broughton and Emmet Dynan
. Fourth official: Aaron O’Dowd
. VAR and AVAR: Christian-Petru Ciochirca and Sara Telek
Booked: Joensen (RUN).