One Club, one Island, one Dream: Pafos make Champions League history | OneFootball

“One city, one team, one country.”

Those were the words bellowed from the blue-and-white stands of the Limassol Stadium as Pafos FC, a club from the small Mediterranean island of Cyprus, completed the impossible. Against all odds, they toppled Champions League regulars Red Star Belgrade – and in doing so, wrote their name into history.

For the first time, Pafos will compete in the Champions League, after edging the Serbian giants 3–2 on aggregate.

Their decisive night ended in a 2–1 showdown, sealed by a late strike that will forever be etched in Cypriot football folklore.

The game had all the ingredients of a classic. From the opening whistle, both sides played with fire, knowing a place in the Champions League was on the line.

Limassol held its breath when Mirko Ivanić struck on the hour mark to pull Red Star level, silencing the home crowd and swinging the momentum back toward the visitors.

But Pafos refused to be denied. Tackles flew in, cards were waved, set-pieces fizzled out – yet belief never faded. Then, in the dying seconds of normal time, Jajá rose to the occasion.

His stunning goal ignited pandemonium. The stands emptied as thousands in blue and white swarmed the pitch, hailing their new hero. For the first time in over a decade, Cyprus had a club marching into Europe’s elite.

For Pafos, this was more than just a football match. It was validation, and a chance to stand shoulder to shoulder with the continent’s best.

Their triumph also forms part of a larger story: the rare but remarkable moments when Cypriot football shines on the Champions League stage.

Cypriot football has rarely been centre stage in the UEFA Champions League, but when its clubs do break through, they leave behind lasting stories of resilience and ambition.

The first breakthrough came in 2008, when Anorthosis Famagusta became the first Cypriot side to reach the Champions League group stage.

Their campaign included a famous win and three draws, and although they narrowly missed out on the knockout rounds, their achievement signalled to Europe that Cypriot football could no longer be overlooked.

Just a year later, Apoel FC stepped onto the same stage. While their initial appearance ended at the group phase, Apoel would go on to write the most celebrated chapter in Cypriot football history.

Back in 2011–12, they stunned the continent by reaching the Champions League quarter-finals, knocking out Lyon in the Round of 16 before eventually falling to Real Madrid. It remains one of the competition’s most remarkable underdog runs in the modern era.

Since then, no other Cypriot club has made it to the group stage. Clubs such as AEK Larnaca and Apollon Limassol have battled through qualifying rounds, but only Apoel and Anorthosis have carried the Cypriot flag into the main draw.

Now, however, the spotlight has shifted to Pafos FC. Founded little more than a decade ago, the club has risen rapidly, clinching its first Cypriot league title in 2025.

Their reward has been a place in the Champions League qualifiers – where they’ve already dispatched Maccabi Tel Aviv and Dynamo Kyiv, before claiming a historic first-leg win against Red Star Belgrade in the play-offs.

For Pafos, this is uncharted territory. Unlike Anorthosis or Apoel, they do not carry decades of European pedigree, but what they do have is the hope of an entire island eager to see new heroes on the continental stage.