The Latvian team has already won the championship, doing it back to back, and won the Latrvian Cup, as well as the Livonia Cup, for the first time in its history. Tonight, in fact, it has an extra motivation, as no Latvian team has ever won a match in the main phase of a European competition.

• RFS is an evolution of the Riga Football School academy, founded in 1962. It was formally founded in 2005. The club was promoted to the Virsliga, the top division of the Latvian leagues, in 2016, replacing Skodo FK, which was not granted a license.
• In 2018, it participated in the Europa League qualifiers for the first time in its history. In 2019, it won its first trophy, the Latvian Cup.
• It has won three Latvian championships (2021, 2023, 2024 – seasons are counted in calendar terms), three Cups (2019, 2021, 2024), while in 2022, RFS became only the second Latvian team to qualify for a group stage of a European competition. The first was FK Ventspils in the 2009-10 season.
• The main rival is Riga. In the last five years, PAOK’s current rival has taken the scepter. In 2023, RFS won the championship with 89 points against Riga’s 88 with only one defeat and 96-18, while this year it won it with 90 points against Riga’s 87.
• In the European group, they have two defeats (against FCSB and Eintracht Frankfurt) and two draws (2-2 with Galatasaray and 1-1 with Anderlecht).
• Shortly before welcoming PAOK, they won the Livonian Cup, defeating Flora Tallinn 3-0 in the final. The Livonian Cup has been held since 2003 between the champions of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, and is not an annual event.
• In the League Phase of the Europa League, the Latvians qualified, after eliminating APOEL FC on penalties.
• After Valdas Dabrauskas, the Viktor Moroz era began in 2020 for RFS, who recently renewed until 2027.

Riga: Cosmopolitan and art nouveau

A small country on the Baltic Sea coast, between Lithuania and Estonia, Latvia is a country which combines magnificent nature, medieval architecture and a rich history. Its capital, Riga, has an authentic beauty. Even if it does not have the medieval center of neighboring Tallinn, if you look beyond the concrete apartment buildings, the colorful center is full of history and art. After all, the old industrial areas and Soviet buildings are now galleries, boutique hotels and restaurants, tourists and especially Scandinavians prefer it more and more, the nightlife has no limits. This lively metropolis with its own style is clearly the most cosmopolitan of the up-and-coming charming capitals of the Baltics.

• With around 700,000 inhabitants, Riga is the largest city in the Baltic States, and a major port located on the Gulf of Riga and the mouth of the Daugava River.
• It is truly impressive that Riga has one of the largest collections of Art Nouveau buildings in the world. At least 800 magnificent buildings were built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when this particular architectural style was popular and at a time when the city was experiencing an unprecedented economic and demographic boom.
• The historic city center (Vecrīga), well-preserved and particularly beautiful, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Two of the most impressive buildings are the Cathedral and St. Peter’s Church. There is an elevator to go up and admire the stunning views of the city.
• On the edge of the old town stands the Opera House, a cultural landmark of Riga. And yes, the opera is one of the favorite outings of Latvians!
• The Freedom Monument is dedicated to the independence of Latvia. As for the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia, it traces the 51 years of occupation of Latvia (from 1940 to 1991), which began with the Soviet invasion in 1940, continued with the Third Reich and then, until 1991, under the Soviet regime.
• The Three Brothers are three houses next to Maza Pils iela. The house at number 17 is the oldest brick house in Latvia and dates back to the 15th century, the second, at number 19, currently houses the Latvian Museum of Architecture, while the last was built in the 17th century and is at number 21.
• It is worth strolling along Alberta Street, with its magnificent art nouveau buildings, designed, among others, by Mikhail Eisenstein, father of the famous Russian director Sergei Eisenstein.
• The central market of Riga is one of the largest in Europe.
• The MaskavasForštate neighborhood (meaning Moscow neighborhood) retains many of its pre-war buildings and still has the aura of Russian and Jewish immigration.
• Try pelēkie zirņi ar speķi, a classic Latvian dish with black peas and bacon, and sklandrausis, a sweet dish with carrots and potatoes.
  An hour from Riga, you can get lost in the unique beauty of Gauja National Park.
• Latvia is often referred to as a WiFi paradise, as it has some of the highest speeds in Europe, with at least 500 free hotspots in Riga.
• The official language is Latvian, but most people speak English fluently.

Daugava Stadion

Daugavas Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium, first opened in 1927, owned by the government of Latvia and designated a sports facility of national importance since 1992. It mainly hosts football and track and field events. It is classified as a UEFA category 4 and IAAF category 2 stadium. Its capacity is 10,461 spectators.

• The first stadium on the site was built in 1927 and was first operated by a sports organization affiliated with the Latvian Social Democratic Labour Party.
• The Latvian national team played its home games at the Daugava Stadium from 1991 to 2000. It left for renovation, returned in 2018, but moved again in 2022 due to various problems with the stadium. Work to replace and upgrade the Daugava began in October 2023.
• The large-scale renovation works have not yet been completed. Plans include a new athletics hall, a bobsleigh start ramp, replacing the turf of the football field and the worn-out track, as well as installing heating systems.
• Two training areas under the main stand, tennis and track and field courts and artificial turf fields are also part of the complex.
• To celebrate the 90th anniversary of Latvia’s independence, on 19 October 2008, the following Guinness World Record was set inside the stadium: 3,807 people ran in a 24-hour 100m relay race.
• The Daugava Stadium traditionally hosts the dance performances of the Latvian Song and Dance Festival.