Football matches that are BANNED

Why are these matches banned?

Spain and Gibraltar

• Spain and Gibraltar cannot play each other due to conflicts with the United Kingdom over the territory. Both countries were drawn against each other for the qualification phase of the 2024 European Championship, but the draw was then redone.

Ukraine and Russia

• The war between Ukraine and Russia has obviously made this game unplayable, but the match has been banned even before Russia’s invasion in 2014 due to security reasons and existing tension between the two countries.

Kosovo and Serbia

• Serbia claims that Kosovo is their land, and thus FIFA and UEFA have banned these two teams from playing since Kosovo became a member of UEFA and FIFA in 2016. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008.

Kosovo and Bosnia, Kosovo and Russia

• Kosovo cannot play Bosnia and Russia because they support Serbia in the Serbian-Kosovoan conflict and do not recognize Kosovo as a sovereign country.

Armenia and Azerbaijan

• These two former Soviet nations have a territorial dispute, and thus UEFA club and national team competitions will not take place in Armenia and Azerbaijan until further notice because of the continuing military conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

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