Why Gerard Piqué’s FC Andorra and others play outside their national leagues | OneFootball

Inter Club Escaldes have reached the Conference League league phase via Andorra’s allocated berth, yet Gerard Piqué’s FC Andorra play in Spain’s second tier.

L'Équipe notes that Inter’s historic run, the first by an Andorran club in Europe, has boosted the domestic league’s standing.

FC Andorra compete in Liga 2, with fixtures against Ceuta, at Vigo and versus Eibar. Piqué bought the club in 2018, though it has been affiliated to the RFEF since its 1942 founding.

The principality’s oldest club has never entered the Primera Divisió, created in 1995, and hosts matches in Encamp, north of Andorra la Vella. Théo Le Normand, brother of Spain international Robin, has been there since 2025.

Switzerland fields Liechtenstein’s seven clubs in its leagues, notably FC Vaduz in the Swiss Super League. Vaduz reached the 2022-2023 Conference League groups, finishing bottom with 2 draws and 4 defeats.

In England, four Welsh clubs play under the FA, chiefly Swansea City and Cardiff City, with Newport County and Wrexham AFC also involved. Swansea appeared in the Europa League in 2013, losing to Napoli in the round of 32.

Derry City are based in Northern Ireland but compete in the Republic of Ireland’s league. Also in Australia, New Zealand Knights FC, Wellington Phoenix FC and Auckland FC feature, with former Marseille player Hiroki Sakai at Auckland.

In a different model, CF Montréal, Toronto FC and Vancouver Whitecaps, all Canadian, play in MLS, a closed league largely made up of United States franchises.

Source: L'Équipe

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”