Víkingur Gøta and Inter Club d'Escaldes - your guide to Hibs' potential European opponents

Hibs will face a trip to Andorra or the Faroes – but who are the teams they could face?

Inter Club d’Escaldes – Andorra

Established in 1991, Inter Club d’Escaldes were one of the founder-members of the Andorran top flight, the Primera Divisió, in 1995. Nicknamed Inter, and playing in blue and black vertical stripes like their Italian namesakes, they have won the title three times and narrowly missed out a fourth success last season when they were pipped to the post by Escaldes-Engordany neighbours Atlètic Club d'Escaldes who won it for the first time. They have only spent two seasons out of the Andorran top flight, suffering relegation in April 2015 and winning promotion in May 2017.

Manager

Hibs will play the winners of the first round tie between Víkingur Gøta and Inter Club d'Escaldes

Otger Canals, now in his second spell in charge, has extensive experience having served as academy manager at CF Mollet UE and Granollers in the Spanish league, technical assistant and later manager at Andorran side UE Engordany, and sporting director, assistant manager, and manager at Inter.

Players

Veteran striker Sascha Andreu played his entire career in Spain until joining Inter last summer and scoring 15 goals while former Barcelona youth player Gerard Artigas bagged 12 goals in 11 games before leaving for Nam Dinh in Vietnam in January. He will officially rejoin Inter for a third spell on July 1 after a stint with FC Pio in Gerard Piqué’s seven-a-side Kings League. Moroccan-born attacker Domi Berlanga spent time in the youth systems of Lazio and Espanyol and last season hit 11 goals and seven assists in 28 games in all competitions.

Ground

Inter played home games at the Centre d'Entrenament de la FAF 1 last season but if they progress to the second qualifying round their home leg could be played at the Estadi Nacional, where Hibs faced FC Santa Coloma in 2021, or the Estadi Comunal where Inter hosted Cluj in their last European involvement.

Víkingur Gøta – Faroe Islands

Víkingur Gøta have a great badge; a viking’s head in profile on a sky blue background with black trim – no messing about from the Vikings. They were founded in 2008 following a merger between GÍ Gøta and Leirvík ÍF and qualified for Europe after finishing second in last year’s Betrideildin. They have played 30 times in Europe, winning seven, drawing five, and losing 18 and currently sit fourth with 14 games played of the 2023 Faroese league season.

Manager

Jóhan Poulsen is in charge, having had a brief playing career with B68 Toftir and Esbjerg fB in Denmark. He was Víkingur reserve-team boss from 2015 until 2020 when he stepped up to take the senior XI.

Players

Scottish football fans with long and niche memories may recognise one of Víkingur’s defenders – Atli Gregersen, who spent time with Ross County during the 2010/11 season. He made just one appearance in a League Cup game but at 41 is still going strong as captain, having returned to Víkingur after his spell in Dingwall. Versatile midfielder/attacker Sølvi Vatnhamar hit 19 goals to finish the league’s top scorer last season and is a national team regular as well while Martin Klein also knows where the goal is.

Ground

Home games are played at Sarpugerði, but European matches are likely to be played at either Tórsvøllur in Tórshavn, or Tofta Leikvøllur in Toftir which is a 20-minute car journey from Sarpugerði.