Football Club Copenhagen (, ), commonly known as F.C. København, F.C. Copenhagen, Copenhagen, or simply FCK, is a Danish professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

. FCK was founded in 1992 as a superstructure on top of

Kjøbenhavns Boldklub Kjøbenhavns Boldklub (known simply as KB) was a Danish professional multi-sports club based in Copenhagen. The club was founded on 26 April 1876 on the grassy fields in outer Copenhagen which later became Fælledparken. Tennis has been played s ...

and

Boldklubben 1903 Boldklubben 1903 or B 1903 was a football club founded on 2 June 1903, located in Copenhagen, Denmark. Seven times winner of the Danish championship (introduced 1913) in 1920, 1924, 1926, 1938, 1969, 1970 and 1976 and twice winner of the D ...

. F.C. Copenhagen has won a record 16 Danish Football Championships and a record 10

Danish Cup The Danish Cup (; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "single-elimination tournament, knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will ...

s. In European football F.C. Copenhagen has reached the group stage of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

and the group stage of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

more times than any other Danish club and are the only Danish club who has reached the knockout stage of the Champions League. Copenhagen plays its matches at the

Parken Stadium Parken, currently known as Parken - Connected by 3 for sponsorship reasons, and as Telia Parken (2014–2020), is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium in the Indre Østerbro (''Inner Østerbro'') district of Copenhagen, Denmark, built from ...

, which also serves as the venue for

Denmark national football team The Denmark national football team ( or ''herrelandsholdet'') represents Denmark and Greenland in men's international Association football, football competitions. It is controlled by the Danish Football Association (DBU), the governing body for ...

matches. Since their foundation, FCK have developed a fierce rivalry with

Brøndby IF Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening (, usually abbreviated to Brøndby IF (), is a Danish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Brøndbyvester. Brøndby IF denotes the professional football section of Brøndbyernes ...

. The Copenhagen Derby games between the two sides have attracted some of the biggest crowds in Danish football history.

History

Early success

Football Club Copenhagen is, in many ways, both an old and a new club. Even though the club was established in 1992, it is rooted in more than 100 years of club tradition. The club's first team represents two separate clubs:

(continental Europe's oldest football club) founded in 1876 and

founded in 1903. Due to financial difficulties throughout the clubs in the Copenhagen area in the 1980s and with Kjøbenhavns Boldklub on the verge of bankruptcy, the two old Copenhagen clubs got together and established the superstructure which is F.C. Copenhagen. Copenhagen used B1903's club license to play in the

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

championship, while Kjøbenhavns Boldklub became the official reserve team of the club. With the rebuilding of the

, Denmark's national team stadium, the new club had a modern stadium to play at from the beginning. The initial ambition of the club was continually to qualify for one of the European competitions each season. To reach this goal, the club needed a solid economy, a relatively big fan base and an "attractive and positive style of football." Benny Johansen managed the club and started its maiden season well. FCK made its first appearance in the European tournaments when it beat Swiss team

Grasshoppers Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grassh ...

2–1 in the

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

. FCK won the Intertoto Cup that year and thereby qualified for the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

, where it was eliminated in the second round by French team

Auxerre Auxerre ( , , Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Auchoirre'') is the capital (Prefectures in France, prefecture) of the Yonne Departments of France, department and the fourth-largest city in the Burgundy historical region southeast of Par ...

. The club's first trophy was the 1992–93 Superliga title, their debut league campaign. For the 1993–94 Superliga season, expectations were high. The season opened with a 0–6 thrashing at the hands of Italian team

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

in the 1993–94 Champions League qualifiers. FCK went on winter break after the first half of the Superliga season in third place. In the spring of 1994, Copenhagen gained on leading team

Silkeborg Silkeborg () is a Denmark, Danish town with a population of 52,571 (1 January 2025). FCK won the match 4–1. The club was one point ahead of Silkeborg, but because FCK lost 3–2 to Odense in the final game of the season, it had to settle for second place.

Years of underachievement

For the next three seasons, Copenhagen had little success in the Superliga, despite winning two

s. The team won the 1995 Cup final against

Akademisk Boldklub Akademisk Boldklub Gladsaxe (AB) is a Denmark, Danish professional football (soccer), football club from Gladsaxe north of Copenhagen, currently playing at the 3rd highest level of Danish domestic football in the Danish 2nd Division group 1. The ...

with a 5–0 win, qualifying for European football once again, despite mediocre results in the league. Kim Brink took over as manager in 1996, but despite winning the second Cup trophy for the club, the eighth-place finish in the 1996–97 Superliga season prompted another change in managers.

Flemming Østergaard joins the board

In February

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, Flemming Østergaard, later given the nickname "Don Ø," joined the board of the club as

vice chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

. After a successful

IPO An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

, generating DKK 75 million, FCK was introduced on the

Copenhagen Stock Exchange The Nasdaq Copenhagen, formerly known as the Copenhagen Stock Exchange (), is an international marketplace for Danish securities, including shares, bonds, treasury bills and notes, and financial futures and options. Nasdaq Copenhagen is on ...

in November 1997. The 1997–98 season marked the first season that Copenhagen averaged more than 10,000 spectators at home, and the club bought their stadium Parken for DKK 138 million in June 1998. The self-acclaimed "best manager in Denmark," Christian Andersen, began managing the club in January

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

. After 75 controversial days, however, he was fired in March 1999; Sports Director Niels-Christian Holmstrøm explained Andersen had created frustration among the players. In 1999, Copenhagen made its impact in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

when it faced English side Chelsea in the second round

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

. In the first leg away at Stamford Bridge, Bjarne Goldbæk gave Copenhagen the lead nine minutes before the end of the match, but Chelsea scored in the last minute of the game. Chelsea later won the second game at Parken with a goal by the Dane

Brian Laudrup Brian Laudrup (, born 22 February 1969) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a winger, forward or as a midfielder, and was regarded as one of the most talented players of his generation. He currently works for the various T ...

, knocking out FCK. At the post-match press conference, it was announced that Chelsea's Brian Laudrup was signing with Copenhagen in January 1999, with Bjarne Goldbæk moving in the other direction for Chelsea. Laudrup, a four-time

Danish Player of the Year The Danish Player of the Year award is an annual prize, which has been given to the best male Danish football (soccer), football player by the Danish Football Association since 1963. The winner is decided in a vote among the professional Danish fo ...

award winner, however, could not help Copenhagen improve their league position, and the club ended the year in seventh in the 1998–99 Superliga season. Laudrup only stayed for six months at the club before signing for

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

at the end of the season. In the 1999–2000 season, F.C. Copenhagen struggled to make any significant impact and finished eighth in the league.

Champions again

In the winter

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

transfer window In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

, South African striker Sibusiso Zuma was signed from South African side Orlando Pirates, and in May 2000, English manager

Roy Hodgson Roy Hodgson (born 9 August 1947) is an English former football manager and player. He has managed 22 different teams in eight countries, beginning in Sweden with Halmstad in the 1976 season. He later guided the Switzerland national team to t ...

became the new manager. From the 2000–01 season, the club started to improve. The club won its second Superliga championship, winning 3–1 in the last Copenhagen Derby match of the season. One of the goals scored in this match, a

bicycle kick In association football, a bicycle kick, also known as an overhead kick or scissors kick, is an acrobatic strike where a player kicks an airborne ball rearward in midair. It is achieved by throwing the body backward up into the air and, before ...

by Zuma, was later voted the Danish goal of the year, was voted the best Superliga goal of the decade in December 2009, and in 2013 voted as the greatest moment in the history of FCK. Roy Hodgson broke his contract with Copenhagen a few weeks after having won the championship, signing with Italian team

Udinese Udinese Calcio (; "Udinese Football") is a professional football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The team currently competes in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sport ...

, and he was replaced by Swede Kent Karlsson. The 2001 season is also remembered for a highly dramatic event. During training on 13 March 2001 charismatic midfielder Ståle Solbakken suffered a heart attack. He was rapidly attended to by club doctor Frank Odgaard who found that his heart had stopped beating and started to administer cardiac massage. Upon the ambulance's arrival, Solbakken was pronounced clinically dead at the scene, but on the way to the hospital in the ambulance he was revived nearly seven minutes later. He survived the episode and had a pacemaker fitted. Shortly after, on medical advice, he announced his playing retirement, but would later return to the club and become its most successful manager. Copenhagen faced Italian team

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

for qualification to the 2001–02 Champions League. A 2–1 win for FCK in the first game proved moot, as Lazio ultimately progressed with a 5–3 aggregate score. Copenhagen thus entered the 2001–02 UEFA Cup, where it defeated Dutch giants Ajax 1–0 on a goal from left back Niclas Jensen. In the next round, German powerhouse

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

eliminated Copenhagen. The 2001–02 Superliga season also ended in disappointment for the club, as Brøndby won the championship on

goal difference Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches ar ...

after FCK had caught up with Brøndby's ten-point lead after the first half of the season. In the second-last round of the 2002–03 Superliga season, FCK faced Brøndby at Brøndby Stadium. In extra time, Hjalte Nørregaard scored his first goal for Copenhagen and brought the championship back to Parken for the club's third ever league title. In the Champions League second qualifying round in 2004–05, FCK won the first match against Slovenian club

ND Gorica Nogometno društvo Gorica, commonly referred to as ND Gorica or simply Gorica, is a Slovenian football club based in Nova Gorica that competes in the Slovenian Second League, the second tier of Slovenian football. They are one of the most succ ...

2–1, but later lost at Parken 0–5. Under Backe, Copenhagen went on to win the 2004 and 2006 Danish championships and the 2004 Danish Cup. Copenhagen also won the inaugural 2004–05 edition of the

Royal League The Royal League was an annual Scandinavian football tournament held three times in the 2000s between teams from the three Scandinavian monarchies (Denmark, Sweden, and Norway), starting after the end of the regular domestic seasons of Norway and ...

tournament, beating Swedish team

IFK Göteborg Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or Blåvitt, is a Swedish professional Football team, football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it ...

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

in the 2005 final. Copenhagen repeated the achievement in the 2006 edition of the tournament, this time beating Norwegian team

Lillestrøm SK Lillestrøm Sportsklubb is a Norwegian professional football club based in the city of Lillestrøm, just outside of the capital Oslo. Lillestrøm SK is a Norwegian football club based in Lillestrøm, playing in Eliteserien. The club was founde ...

1–0 in the 2006 final. Backe became the longest-serving coach for FCK before leaving the club in December 2005. Former Copenhagen player Ståle Solbakken took over as manager.

European ambitions

For the 2006–07 season, Danish national team player Jesper Grønkjær reinforced Copenhagen. FCK looked forward to the 2006–07 Champions League qualifiers, where it beat

. For the first time in the club's history, FCK entered the group stage of the Champions League, being grouped with

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

, Benfica and

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

, all former winners of the trophy. Despite not losing a game at Parken (Benfica 0–0, Manchester United 1–0 and Celtic 3–1), FCK failed to qualify from the Champions League group stage after losing all of its away games. On 9 May, Copenhagen defeated Brøndby 1–0 and won its fifth Danish championship in seven years with four games to spare in the league. In the 2007–08 season, Copenhagen lost the third qualification round of the Champions League with a 1–3 aggregate score to Benfica. After beating

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements'') ...

3–2, FCK qualified for the group stages of the

2007–08 UEFA Cup The 2007–08 UEFA Cup was the 37th edition of the UEFA Europa League, UEFA Cup, UEFA's former second-tier club association football, football tournament. The 2008 UEFA Cup Final, final was played at the City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester, E ...

, where it played Panathinaikos (H),

Lokomotiv Moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (, ) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three occasions; the Soviet Cup twice; and the Russian Cup (football), Russian Cup a record ...

(A),

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

(H) and

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

. Copenhagen fell to Panathinaikos and Atlético, but a win against Lokomotiv meant that the club needed only a draw against Aberdeen to qualify for the next round. However, a 0–4 defeat to Aberdeen put them out of the tournament. In the 2007–08 Superliga season, Copenhagen finished third, with AaB taking the title. In the 2008–09 season, Copenhagen began strong. The team qualified for the 2008–09 UEFA Cup group stage by eliminating

Cliftonville Cliftonville is a coastal area of Margate in the Thanet District, Thanet district of Kent, England. It includes the Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay estate, built in the 1930s with wide avenues and detached and semi-detached houses with driveways, gar ...

, Lillestrøm and FC Moscow. In the group, FCK lost at home to

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...

and drew 1–1 against

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

. With a 1–1 draw against Rosenborg and a win over

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,042. They pl ...

, Copenhagen qualified for the knockout phase of the competition, where it drew 2–2 in the first leg of the round of 32 against Manchester City F.C., Manchester City on 19 February 2009. The club lost 1–2 in the second leg, and were eliminated, but not in disappointment as the club had gone far in the competition. In the domestic league, FCK battled for first place with Brøndby and Odense. Eventually, Copenhagen won the Cup final against AaB and claimed the league title with one game to spare in the tournament, thus securing the Double (association football), Double for the second time in the club's history. 2010 proved to be yet another European success. Even though the team lost the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League, 2009–10 Champions League playoff match to APOEL FC, APOEL with a 2–3 aggregate loss, the team had already qualified to the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League group stage, 2009–10 Europa League group stage by eliminating FK Mogren and Stabæk Fotball, Stabæk. With two victories over AC Sparta Prague, Sparta Prague, (1–0 at home, 3–0 away and a victory at home against Romanian club CFR Cluj, Copenhagen qualified for the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League knockout phase#Round of 32, round of 32 to face Olympique de Marseille, Marseille. The match-up, however, resulted in two 1–3 losses for Copenhagen, thus eliminating them from the competition. The team's qualification to the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League, 2010–11 Champions League was secured after beating FC BATE Borisov, BATE Borisov (0–0 / 3–2) and Rosenborg (1–2 / 1–0). The team thus entered the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League group stage, group stage in Group D and met FC Barcelona, Barcelona, Panathinaikos and FC Rubin Kazan, Rubin Kazan. After a 3–1 win against Panathinaikos in their last group stage match, they qualified for the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League knockout phase, round of 16—thereby becoming the first-ever Danish club to reach the stage in the Champions League—where Chelsea defeated them, although keeping a clean sheet at Stamford Bridge.

Solbakken returns

Copenhagen won the 2012–13 Danish Superliga to secure a direct place in the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League group stage, group stage of the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League, 2013–14 Champions League. However, after a horrific start to the 2013–14 Danish Superliga season, FCK fired manager Ariël Jacobs, rehiring Ståle Solbakken as his replacement. Solbakken was given a two-year contract with the option for a further two-year extension. In the Champions League, the club was placed into Group B alongside Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid, Juventus FC, Juventus and Galatasaray S.K. (football), Galatasaray. FCK secured four points by drawing 1–1 against Juventus at home and winning 1–0 at home over Galatasaray after a great goal by Daniel Braaten. The club, however, conceded its first-ever Champions League group stage home defeat after falling 0–2 to Real Madrid in the last round of the group stage. Copenhagen finished the 2013–14 league in second place, despite having been situated third for numerous weeks. A 3–2 away win against FC Midtjylland saw them closing in on the second place. In the last round of the league, FCK beat Odense Boldklub 3–2 at home whilst Midtjylland lost their game 3–1, ensuring Copenhagen's seizure of second place and its subsequent spot in the qualifying round of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase and play-off round, 2014–15 Champions League. Copenhagen was drawn against Ukrainian outfit FC Dnipro, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in the third qualifying round. After an aggregate victory of 2–0 over Dnipro, Copenhagen was drawn against German club Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Bayer Leverkusen in the play-off round. The Germans, however, defeated Copenhagen 7–2 aggregate, dropping Copenhagen to contention in the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League, 2014–15 Europa League. In the Europa League, Copenhagen finished last in its group with one win one draw and four losses. The 2014–15 F.C. Copenhagen season, 2014–15 season ended with Copenhagen winning the 2014–15 Danish Cup, Danish Cup and finishing second in the 2014–15 Danish Superliga, Superliga. The 2015–16 F.C. Copenhagen season, 2015–16 season began with FCK bringing in six new players, most notably Danish international and former AaB player Kasper Kusk. By placing second in 2014–15, Copenhagen began in the second qualifying round of the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League, where they were drawn against Welsh club Newtown A.F.C., Newtown, defeating them 5–1 on aggregate to qualify them for the next round against Czech outfit FK Baumit Jablonec, Baumit Jablonec. The opening game of the 2015–16 Danish Superliga ended in a 2–1 away win for FCK against Esbjerg fB through goals from Marvin Pourié and Nicolai Jørgensen. Despite a 0–1 away win over Baumit Jablonec, Copenhagen lost its home game 2–3, resulting in a 3–3 aggregate loss on the away goals rule. This marked the first time in ten years that Copenhagen failed to qualify for either the Champions League or Europa League. On 5 May, the 2015–16 Danish Cup, Danish Cup was won, after a 2–1 win Over AGF, with goals from Nicolai Jørgensen and William Kvist. After winning the title the previous season, Copenhagen would compete in the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League, 2016–17 Champions League qualifiers. In the playoff round they met APOEL FC, APOEL, and was faced with the challenge on getting revenge after their tie against them in 2009. The first leg at Parken stadium ended 1–0 to the home team, and in the second leg, Copenhagen equalised in the 86th minute via Federico Santander's shot from a wide angle, qualifying for the group stage, with an aggregate score of 2–1. Copenhagen were subsequently placed in a group with Leicester City F.C., Leicester City, FC Porto, Porto and Club Brugge KV, Club Brügge. They would after 2 wins, 1 loss and 3 draws, finish 3rd in their group and move on to the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League, 2016–17 Europa League Round of 32 where they met PFC Ludogorets Razgrad, Ludogorets, whom they beat 2–1 on aggregate. In the round of 16, they met Ajax. In the first leg at home, Copenhagen won 2–1. The away leg finished 2–0 to Ajax, and Copenhagen were knocked out of the tournament, with that seasons achievements in the Europa League being their best finish in the competition at the time. Domestically, the season was another season to enjoy for fans of the club. Copenhagen won the league with the closest competition, Brøndby, finishing 24 points behind them. At the time they were crowned champions, following a draw against FC Nordsjælland they were unbeaten in the league, with their first loss of the season coming against FC Midtjylland 2 rounds later, and subsequently another loss against Lyngby Boldklub, Lyngby BK the round right after. Copenhagen also reached the 2016–17 Danish Cup, cup final, where they met arch-rivals Brøndby. With the match at 1–1, Copenhagen secured the win with two goals in rapid succession, in the 83rd and 85th minutes, scored by Santander and Cornelius respectively, thus resulting in the club from the capital winning their third consecutive cup final, along with their second consecutive domestic double. In September 2019, the club announced that it would change its name in European competitions and would subsequently be known as F.C. Copenhagen with UEFA changing their abbreviation 'KOB' to 'CPH'. Winning the 2018–19 Danish Superliga placed Copenhagen in the second qualifying round of the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League, beating Welsh outfit The New Saints. The following round against Red Star Belgrade ended 2–2 on aggregate, with Copenhagen pulling the shortest straw and going out in penalties, thus sending Copenhagen to the

instead. Here Latvian team Riga FC, Riga were beaten 3–2 on aggregate thus securing qualification for the group stage. Copenhagen finishing second in Group B contested with FC Lugano, FC Dynamo Kyiv, Dynamo Kyiv and Scandinavian rivals Malmö FF. Copenhagen were then drawn against Scottish outfit

in the first knockout round of the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League, UEFA Europa League. The first match in Telia Parken finished 1–1, whilst Copenhagen won the return leg 3–1 at Celtic Park. The opponent for the next round were the Turkish club İstanbul Başakşehir F.K., Istanbul Başakşehir. The game ended 1–0 with Copenhagen falling to a late penalty converted by Edin Višća. The subsequent return match in Copenhagen was temporarily put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On 5 August 2020, Copenhagen won 3–0 over Istanbul Başakşehir to reach the quarter-finals for the first time in their history. In the quarter-finals, Copenhagen lost 0–1 to

with a penalty from Bruno Fernandes coming in after extra time. After poor results in the beginning of the 2020–21 Danish Superliga, and failure to qualify for the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League, 2020–21 Europa League following a 0–1 defeat to HNK Rijeka, Ståle Solbakken was sacked by the club, and Hjalte Nørregaard, Hjalte Bo Nørregaard took over as caretaker manager, until Jess Thorup was appointed in 11 November 2020.

Thorup era

Despite improvements in performance, Copenhagen finished third in the 2020–21 Danish Superliga, missing out on the title and direct qualification for the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League, UEFA Champions League. They did, however, secure a place in the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League, 2021–22 Europa Conference League second qualifying round. Copenhagen bounced back in the 2021–22 F.C. Copenhagen season, 2021–22 season, reclaiming the 2021–22 Danish Superliga, Danish Superliga title. This marked their return to domestic dominance after a two-year hiatus, finishing ahead of league rivals FC Midtjylland. Key players like Pep Biel and Jonas Wind were instrumental, although Jonas Wind, Wind's mid-season departure to VfL Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg required adjustments to the squad. In Europe, the club competed in the inaugural 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League, UEFA Europa Conference League. They topped their group and progressed to the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League knockout phase, Round of 16, where they faced PSV Eindhoven. The first leg ended in a high-scoring 4–4 draw at the Philips Stadion. However, last-minute injuries to key players Kamil Grabara and Rasmus Falk and the suspension of Khouma Babacar left Copenhagen with a weakened squad for the second leg, which they lost 0–4 at home, resulting in elimination from the competition. The 2022–23 F.C. Copenhagen season, 2022–23 season for Copenhagen began with optimism as the club qualified for the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League group stage, Champions League group stage for the first time since 2016–17. They achieved this by defeating 2021–22 Süper Lig, Turkish champions Trabzonspor 2–1 on aggregate in the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase and play-off round, playoff round. Copenhagen was drawn into a challenging group with Manchester City F.C., Manchester City,

, and Sevilla FC, Sevilla, signaling a significant step up in competition. Domestically, the start of the 2022–23 Danish Superliga, Superliga season was marked by inconsistent performances. By September, the team had lost six of their opening 10 league matches, placing them far from the top of the table and raising concerns about their form. These struggles came in contrast to their 2022–23 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase and play-off round, Champions League qualification success, creating a sharp division between their European and domestic performances. On 20 September 2022, Jess Thorup was dismissed as head coach due to the team's poor domestic results and concerns about their competitiveness in the league.

A young Jacob Neestrup takes charge

Jacob Neestrup, previously the assistant coach, was appointed as the new head coach the same day. Under his management, the team showed signs of improvement. In the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League group stage, 2022–23 Champions League group stage, Copenhagen managed to secure three draws at home, 0–0 against Manchester City F.C., Sevilla (managed by Thorup), 0–0 against Manchester City F.C., Manchester City, but following a 0–3 loss away to Sevilla FC, Sevilla sealed Copenhagen's 4th-place finish in the group and did not advance to the knockout stage. In the last group stage game, Copenhagen also drew 1-1 against

, where young talent Hákon Arnar Haraldsson scored the equalizer in the 41st minute following Thorgan Hazard's opener in the 23rd minute. Domestically, Copenhagen's form improved following Jacob Neestrup, Neestrup’s appointment. The team went unbeaten in the first 20 matches under his leadership and, after a victory against FC Nordsjælland in the Championship round, climbed to the top of the Superliga standings. The winter transfer window saw the arrival of Diogo Gonçalves and Jordan Larsson, while Victor Kristiansen was sold to Leicester City F.C., Leicester City. Despite a few setbacks, including a tough run of one win in four games, the team regained its form with a crucial 3–1 victory over Brøndby IF, Brøndby in the away Copenhagen derby, derby on 14 May 2023, despite the absence of key defenders Kevin Diks and Denis Vavro, who were suspended, and the injury to Davit Khocholava. Copenhagen went on to win the Superliga title, securing their 15th championship. The victory came after a dramatic penultimate match day, where a loss for FC Nordsjælland ensured Copenhagen’s title. The season also saw the team win the 2022–23 Danish Cup, Danish Cup, defeating AaB 1–0 in the 2023 Danish Cup final, final following a goal by Diogo Gonçalves in the 48th minute. Jacob Neestrup, Neestrup’s first season in charge was marked by a significant turnaround in the team’s fortunes, leading to both domestic and European achievements, including the club's third star on their shirt. The season also saw a rise in attendance at home matches, with an average of 28,860 spectators per game, reflecting an increase in fan support compared to the previous year. Copenhagen's 2023–24 season was a blend of strong European performances and domestic struggles. The team showed resilience in their 2023–24 UEFA Champions League group stage, Champions League group stage, navigating a challenging group to progress to the 2023–24 UEFA Champions League knockout phase, Round of 16. Despite being eliminated by Manchester City F.C., Manchester City, Copenhagen earned praise for their memorable results. One of the standout matches came against

, where Copenhagen triumphed 4–3 in a thrilling encounter. Trailing 2–0 early after former Copenhagen youngster Rasmus Højlund scored twice for United, Copenhagen fought back with two quick goals just before halftime. Mohamed Elyounoussi pulled one back in the 45th minute, followed by a penalty from Diogo Gonçalves in the 45+9th minute to level the score. In the second half, Bruno Fernandes put United ahead with a penalty in the 69th minute, but Copenhagen responded with two late goals—Lukas Lerager in the 83rd minute and youngster Roony Bardghji scoring the winner in the 87th minute. Copenhagen also earned an impressive 0–0 draw against FC Bayern Munich, Bayern Munich, holding the German giants to a stalemate in Allianz Arena. In their final group stage match, Copenhagen secured a crucial 1–0 win against Galatasaray S.K., Galatasaray, with Lukas Lerager scoring the only goal of the game in the 58th minute, and ensured their advancement to the Round of 16, where they were ultimately eliminated by Manchester City F.C., Manchester City, losing 3–1 in both legs. In the 2023–24 Danish Superliga, Danish Superliga, Copenhagen's season was marked by a mix of highs and lows. The team started strong, winning their first five matches and briefly occupying the top spot in the league. However, a series of disappointing results, including a 1–2 loss to both Viborg FF, Viborg and Aarhus Gymnastikforening, AGF, saw the club fall down the table. By the midway point, they had slipped to third place. The Championship round started poorly for Copenhagen, as they suffered a 1–2 loss to both Brøndby IF, Brøndby and FC Nordsjælland, Nordsjælland, followed by a 2–2 draw against FC Midtjylland, Midtjylland. These results left the team trailing in the race for the title. However, a strong late surge of four consecutive wins brought them back into contention, briefly lifting them to first place. Unfortunately, they finished the season with two losses, allowing Brøndby IF, Brøndby and FC Midtjylland, Midtjylland to overtake them. In a 1–1 draw against FC Nordsjælland, Nordsjælland secured third place for Copenhagen, and they subsequently won the European play-off match 2–1 against Randers FC, Randers, securing a spot in the 2024–25 UEFA Conference League qualifying phase and play-off round, 2024–25 Conference League second qualifying round. Ahead of the 2024–25 F.C. Copenhagen season, 2024–25 season, Copenhagen unveiled an updated visual identity that strengthens its connection with the city and aligns with the club's growing ambitions. The new design, influenced by the club's "We are Copenhagen" strategy, includes modernized elements such as a more contemporary logo and the addition of a lioness alongside the lion in the club crest, symbolizing both the men's and women's teams. The updated brand also incorporates inspiration from Copenhagen's historic and modern elements, including new typography inspired by the city's street signs and an expanded color palette. This revamp aims to enhance Copenhagen's identity as both a sports and lifestyle brand, reflecting the club's evolving international presence and local roots.

Stadium

FCK owns its stadium, the national arena

. It was built in 1992, the same year the club was founded. Until the stadium opened (as Parken) in September 1992, the club played its first home matches at the smaller Østerbro Stadion, which is located adjacent to Parken. Parken has 38,065 seats, 4,000 fewer seats than the original capacity of 42,305.

Supporters

After 2000, the club has regularly attracted one of the highest attendances in Scandinavia. The official fan club, F.C. København Fan Club has more than 20,000 members. "FCKFC" was founded on 24 October 1991, approximately half a year before FCK played its first match. Furthermore, there are many unofficial "factions" connected to Copenhagen, the biggest being ''Urban Crew'', ''Copenhagen Cooligans'' and ''Copenhagen Casuals''. These are also reported to have friendships with factions from Hamburger SV, Rangers F.C., Rangers, HIFK Fotboll, IFK Helsinki and Helsingborgs IF. For the 2006–07 season, there were 23,795 spectators on average. For many years, the lower part of the "C-stand" at Parken, ''Nedre C'', has been the main stand for the supporters of FCK. In 2006, a part of the lower "B-stand" was made a separate fan section for the fans who wanted to create more of an atmosphere and named ''Sektion 12''. In general, most of FCK's supporters are from, and live, in the Copenhagen area, unlike their rivals, Brøndby IF, who have a reported 57% of their fanbase coming from Jutland. The area Sektion 12 on the lower "B-stand" grew so popular that the fans in a dialogue with the club made it bigger. That meant that the former family-area in the stadium in the other part of the "B-stand" got the whole new area called the "D-stand". The Sektion 12 area on the whole lower "B-stand" grew more and more popular which meant that the fans had a new dialogue with the club. That dialogue went well for the supporters and the club supported the suggestion of making the upper "B-stand" the second part of Sektion 12. Sektion 12 on the whole "B-stand" is now Northern Europe's biggest active stand.

Honours

National

* List of Danish football champions, Danish Superliga **Winners (16) (record): 1992–93 Danish Superliga, 1992–93, 2000–01 Danish Superliga, 2000–01, 2002–03 Danish Superliga, 2002–03, 2003–04 Danish Superliga, 2003–04, 2005–06 Danish Superliga, 2005–06, 2006–07 Danish Superliga, 2006–07, 2008–09 Danish Superliga, 2008–09, 2009–10 Danish Superliga, 2009–10, 2010–11 Danish Superliga, 2010–11, 2012–13 Danish Superliga, 2012–13, 2015–16 Danish Superliga, 2015–16, 2016–17 Danish Superliga, 2016–17, 2018–19 Danish Superliga, 2018–19, 2021–22 Danish Superliga, 2021–22, 2022–23 Danish Superliga, 2022–23, 2024–25 Danish Superliga, 2024–25 **Runners-up (7): 1993–94 Danish Superliga, 1993–94, 2001–02 Danish Superliga, 2001–02, 2004–05 Danish Superliga, 2004–05, 2011–12 Danish Superliga, 2011–12, 2013–14 Danish Superliga, 2013–14, 2014–15 Danish Superliga, 2014–15, 2019–20 Danish Superliga, 2019–20 *

**Winners (10) (record): 1994–95 Danish Cup, 1994–95, 1996–97 Danish Cup, 1996–97, 2003–04 Danish Cup, 2003–04, 2008–09 Danish Cup, 2008–09, 2011–12 Danish Cup, 2011–12, 2014–15 Danish Cup, 2014–15, 2015–16 Danish Cup, 2015–16, 2016–17 Danish Cup, 2016–17, 2022–23 Danish Cup, 2022–23, 2024–25 Danish Cup, 2024–25 **Runners-up (4): 1997–98 Danish Cup, 1997–98, 2001–02 Danish Cup, 2001–02, 2006–07 Danish Cup, 2006–07, 2013–14 Danish Cup, 2013–14 *Danish League Cup **Winners: 1996 **Runners-up (2): 2005, 2006 *Danish Super Cup **Winners (3): 1995, 2001, 2004 *Ørestad Cup **Winners (2): 2000, 2002 *The Atlantic Cup (football), The Atlantic Cup **Winners (1): The Atlantic Cup (football)#2022 edition, 2014 **''Runners-up'' (2): The Atlantic Cup (football)#2022 edition, 2020, The Atlantic Cup (football)#2022 edition, 2022

Regional

**Winners (2) (record): 2004–05 Royal League, 2004–05, 2005–06 Royal League, 2005–06 **Runner-up: 2006–07 Royal League, 2006–07

Copenhagen in European competitions

Copenhagen's first competitive European match was on 16 September 1992, in the 1992–93 UEFA Cup, beating Mikkelin Palloilijat, MP 10–1 before losing to AJ Auxerre in the second round. In their first ever

group stage match in 2006 they beat

1–0 at home, via a goal in the 73rd minute by Marcus Allbäck. Since then, the club has become the most successful Danish team in European competitions, reaching the group stage of the

six times (2006–07, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2016–17, 2022–23 and 2023–24) and advancing to the round of 16 in 2010–11 UEFA Champions League, 2010–11 and 2023–24 UEFA Champions League, 2023–24. The closest they came to winning European silverware was in the 2019–20 season, when they reached the quarter-finals of the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League, Europa League, which they lost to Manchester United 0–1 in added extra time.

UEFA club coefficient ranking

''As of 14 December 2023, Source
UEFA club coefficients
'

Players

Current squad

Youth players in use

Out on loan

Reserves and youth teams

:''See F.C. Copenhagen Reserves and Youth Team''

Captains

FC Copenhagen All Stars

In 2014, 32,000 fans participated in a fan vote selecting their 11 all-time favourite Copenhagen players.

Staff

Current technical staff

Coaching history

There have been fifteen different coaches (permanent coaches and caretakers) of FC Copenhagen since 1992. One of the caretakers, Kim Brink, has coached the club during three separate tenures. The only non-Scandinavians to coach FCK are

and Ariël Jacobs. The longest-running coach is Ståle Solbakken who has been in charge of FCK from 2006 to 2011 and from 2013 until 2020. Ståle Solbakken is also the most successful coach, in terms of winning percentage, with a winning percentage at 58.5%. Christian Andersen is FCK's least successful coach with a winning percentage at 0%. Andersen is also the shortest-running permanent coach of FCK as he only was in charge of FCK for just a single match before he was fired.

Records

All-time goal scorers in all official tournaments *1 Dame N'Doye 118 Goals (217 Games) *2 César Santin 84 Goals (220 Games) *3 Todi Jónsson 68 Goals (207 Games) *4 Andreas Cornelius 68 Goals (244 Games) *5 Lars Højer 66 Goals (214 Games) *6 Peter Møller 55 Goals (203 Games) *7 Sibusiso Zuma 53 Goals (188 Games) *8 Nicolai Jørgensen 52 Goals (146 Games) *9 Álvaro Santos 50 Goals (120 Games) *10 Federico Santander 48 Goals (112 Games) *11 Jonas Wind 46 Goals (114 Games) *12 Marcus Allbäck 45 Goals (120 Games) *13 David Nielsen 43 Goals (133 Games) *14 Morten Nordstrand 41 Goals (130 Games) *15 Martin Johansen 41 Goals (146 Games) *16 Ailton Almeida 37 Goals (139 Games) *17 Pieros Sotiriou 35 Goals (110 Games) *18 Hjalte Bo Nørregaard 34 Goals (320 Games) *19 Robert Skov 33 Goals (72 Games) Most matches *Superliga: William Kvist (2005) – 285 *UEFA tournaments: William Kvist (2005) – 90 *Overall: William Kvist (2005) – 425 Most goals *Superliga: Dame N'Doye (2009) – 90 *UEFA tournaments: Dame N'Doye (2009) – 21 *Overall: Dame N'Doye (2009) – 118 Biggest victory in the Superliga *7–0 home against Odense Boldklub, OB on 5 March 2023 Biggest defeat in the Superliga *0–5 away against

Silkeborg Silkeborg () is a Denmark, Danish town with a population of 52,571 (1 January 2025). *7–0 home against

on 31 July 2008 (

) Biggest defeat in European cups *0–6 home against AC Milan on 20 October 1993 (UEFA Champions League, Champions League) Attendance record *41,201 spectators against Brøndby IF, Brøndby on 30 April 2006 Youngest and oldest player playing in the Superliga *Youngest player playing for Copenhagen: Roony Bardghji – 16 years and 6 days against Aarhus Gymnastikforening, AGF on 21 November 2021 *Oldest player playing for Copenhagen: Per Poulsen – 42 years and 125 days against Brøndby IF, Brøndby on 18 June 1995 Most Danish national championships won as player and manager *Player: William Kvist – 8 *Manager: Ståle Solbakken – 8 ''(In brackets debut year)''

Season results

Esports

F.C. Copenhagen launched an esports division called North in 2017, with a Danish team in ''Counter-Strike: Global Offensive''. The team had some success, making the playoffs of two Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championships, ''Global Offensive'' Majors and winning DreamHack Masters Stockholm 2018. The team ceased operations in February 2021, citing financial difficulties brought on in part by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Footnotes and references

External links

*
FCKFC
(official fanclub)
''Nipserstat''
– website containing statistical information about games played by FCK (archived 14 December 2006)

at UEFA.com
FC Copenhagen: From pipe dream to European success
{{Authority control F.C. Copenhagen, Association football clubs established in 1992, Copenhagen, F.C. Football clubs in Denmark, Copenhagen, F.C. Publicly traded sports companies 1992 establishments in Denmark Football clubs in Copenhagen