Shamrock Rovers will play Ararat-Armenia in the second qualifying round of the Champions League after winning 5-1 in Tallaght last Tuesday night against Floriana of Malta (5-3 on agg).

Having become the first League of Ireland side to overcome a two goal first leg deficit to win a European tie and become the first to score five in the European Cup, they now face Ararat-Armenia away from home in the first leg of the next round.

Ararat are the Armenian champions but are a club less than ten years old. They have won the league three times in that period though.

The match will be played at the Republican Stadium in the Armenian capital.

What time is kick-off?

The kick-off is 5pm Irish time but that is 8pm local time – showing how much further east the host city of Yerevan is.

The Hoops are travelling out on Sunday morning on a direct charter flight and will return straight home after the game – coming into Dublin Airport around 4am on Wednesday morning.

How have Ararat made it to this round?

They won their league by four points from Noah last season to enter, like Rovers, in the first qualifying round of the Champions League.

Ararat lost the second leg in Riga 3-2. However, the 2-0 win against Riga at home in the first leg was enough to see them through 4-3 on aggregate. They were helped in that match as Riga played the last 18 minutes plus the five of stoppage time with ten men.

What is their history in Europe?

Their league is ranked just below the LOI but that position is mostly due to their rivals Noah who, like Rovers, made the league phase of the Conference League in the last two seasons.

Ararat have never qualified for the league phase or group stage of a UEFA competition.

They do have European experience but it is typically a couple of games in each European campaign. This will be only their 29th ever European game – they have 11 wins, 7 draws and 10 defeats.

Their best seasons were 2019 and 2020 when they exited at the play-off round stage of the Europa League.

In the last two seasons they have entered the Conference League qualifiers in the second round and exited in the third round on both occasions. Their wins came over Zimbru Chisinau (6-1 on agg in 2024) and Universitatea Cluj (2-1 on agg in 2025) with their exits coming at the hands of Puskas Akademia (4-3 on agg in 2024) and Sparta Prague (6-2 on agg last season).

How are they getting on domestically this season?

They have yet to play a game as they are in a ‘winter’ season league which wrapped up in May.

Who is in their squad to watch out for?

They have a number of Armenian internationals including winger Zhirayr Shaghoyan, striker Arayik Eloyan, midfielder Karen Muradyan, and Kamo Hovhannisyan. Shaghoyan and Hovhannisyan both played against Ireland in the last World Cup qualifying campaign.

Their squad includes players drawn from Portugal, France, Brazil, Greece, Colombia, Kenya, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Russia and Ghana.

What has Hoops Head Coach Stephen Bradley said about Ararat?

“They’re a good team,” said Bradley about an Ararat side who have yet to play league phase European football. “They have a couple of internationals who have played against Ireland, so we know them quite well, but their wingers are really good.

“Midfielders are strong, athletic and good technical players as well so it’s a good matchup. It’s gonna be an interesting tie.”

Who is their manager?

Portuguese coach Manuel Tulipa is in charge.

Have these teams faced each other before?

No.

Who will the winners of this tie face?

The third qualifying round of the Champions League draw will be made on Monday – the winner of this tie will be in the unseeded side of the Champions Path in that draw.

Who will the losers of this tie face?

The loser drops into the third qualifying round of the Europa League and that draw will also be made on Monday – but they will be in the seeded side of the Champions Path in that draw.

Who is the referee?

Scottish whistler David Dickinson is in charge of Tuesday’s game in Yerevan.

Will the ref have access to VAR?

Yes. VAR was used in Tallaght last week as it is required in all the Champions League qualifiers.

What Is a random fact about this game?

This is the eighth two legged tie in a row where the Hoops play the first leg away from home.

What is the story about the prize money?

Having won last week, the Hoops know at a minimum they will make the play-off round in one of the three UEFA competitions at a minimum.

Worst case scenario for Rovers is that they are eliminated in the Conference League play-off round. They would earn €1.71m from that campaign (four rounds at €175k each, plus €750k for being eliminated in the PO, along with €260k as a champion not making the league phase).

The winner of this upcoming second qualifying round tie knows they are guaranteed at least of making the league phase of the UEFA Conference League.

Minimum money earned for that is €3.17m for being one of the 36 teams in that league phase plus the usual €400k for a win and €166k for a draw in the league phase. There are additional monies depending on where you finish plus some value pillar cash that trickles down to each club.

In previous seasons in the UEFA Conference League, the Hoops earned €7.363m in 2024/25 and €5.916m in 2025/26.