In 2026, not only we will have the first 48 teams World Cup hosted in North America, but we do have a lot of surprises in European football, at club level. I have already explained the astonishment raised by FC Thun in the Swiss league, team which, by the way, celebrated their first title in front of their fans with a 3-8… loss against Young Boys Bern! A far more popular team, but still in sixth!, as well I have mentioned about the great achievement of Lukas Podolski and Gornik Zabrze, but there is more!
Scotland, same football picture since… Alex Ferguson!
I will start with the heart breaking story of… Hearts, even if they were just almost, not there, in the end. Heart of Midlothian looked, until the very last day of the Scottish Premier League the only team capable to break a tandem lasting for 40 years: Celtic – Rangers. Decades in which only these two were crowned champions, and nobody could question if this can ever end. In fact, the last time someone else won the league was in 1985: Aberdeen! Aberdeen under Alex Ferguson, yet to become Sir and yet to ever think he will win so many trophies at Manchester United.
Edinburgh, without a football title since 1960!
At that moment, and in those years, Ferguson won three titles with Aberdeen, a fact that looks more than surreal now. Hearts was close to break this more than four decades monopoly, but cracked in the last day, on the field of Celtic, the actual champion. Many say it was arranged to be this way, but who actually knows? It will be interesting to see if they can rebound in the near future to clinch the title, in the end. Because for the team from the capital of Scotland, Edinburgh, the wait is even longer. Painfully longer: 66 years, and counting from their last of the four league titles won: in 1960!
LASK Linz, celebration after six decades!
There are some other better and happier stories to be told, though, and LASK Linz is one of them because I was, somehow, part of their celebration. In the last day of the league in Austria I was on FC Red Bull’s stadium, where the former Austrian multiple champion lost 1-3 to Hartberg. But also, at Vienna, in the same moment, LASK Linz was winning to Austria. Their main opponent was not the club from Salzburg, though, but Sturm Graz, the ruling champion. In the end, the clear success obtained by LASK Linz, 3-0, guaranteed the title for LASK Linz. The first one from… 1965!
Unique achievement in world football (?!?!)
Indeed, 61 years of waiting have ended, and in what style! Because, this is only the second title won by LASK Linz, and the thing is, exactly like in 1965, they also won the Austrian Cup in 2026! Essentially, they made both doubles in their entire history, and that is it! Because they didn’t win any other cup, as well. A situation which looks to be unique in world football. I can’t state for a fact if LASK Linz is the only team in the world to achieve this, but there are pretty good odds to be the case.
Passing by Linz
Now, not only that I have spent that afternoon in another city, while LASK was winning, but I actually passed by Linz, with the train that brought us from and to Vienna. While doing the trip, we did also eat some famous Linzer cookie, and even if this happened on 16th and 20th of May, not on 17th of May, when LASK actually won the double, I can consider we were pretty close to have a glimpse of the Austrian football state of mind in this 2026, when also the national football team return to a World Cup after 28 years. You can’t find a better year to win a double after more than six decades!
AGF Aarhus regained their football title after four decades!
Switching from Scotland – by the way!, they are also back at the World Cup after 28 years (the magic of 48 teams inclusion, though), and Austria, let’s turn our eyes on Denmark (a country that, oddly, didn’t make it to this expanded World Cup!), where another big surprise occurred. Many football lovers heard, of course, of AGF Aarhus, like we most of us did of Hearts or LASK Linz, but little did many new that this club also didn’t win a title in exactly 40 years! They did, though, in 2026, adding their sixth in history, with a great celebration.
No trophy for thirty years for Aarhus
Aarhus actually didn’t win any other trophy since 1996, when they last achieved a Cup victory, so a drought of… 30 years all together! AGF beat Midtjylland in the race. A smaller club overall, but much more successful in the last two decades, at least comparing to Aarhus. It is interesting to see how AGF Aarhus will perform further, to see if they can match their dusted history with future achievements. At least at the level of those displayed by FC Copenhagen, the most successful Danish club in terms of trophy won.
RC Lens, second in the league and Cup winner
RC Lens is another name on this list, and it might look strange, but actually it is not. They finished the league race in second, but when your opponent is PSG, you might as well consider yourself the winner. But this is not the reason for which I am mentioning Lens. The club from north France managed, on 22nd of May 2026 to win the French Cup, in a final against OGC Nice, a team more preoccupied with their relegation struggle than with a potential win in the Cup final – a paradox, but quite logic, if you see the big picture.
First French Cup for Lens in its entire history
Of course, winning the French Cup, at a glance it is not something hugely spectacular, especially since we consider how many teams did that along the decades. 35 teams, more specific, did win this, some of which don’t exist or play low league football. The thing is, in spite playing three more finals, RC Lens never won this trophy until 2026! NEVER! For a team which was champion in 1998 (then they lost their last final), and also won the defunct League Cup, it does not look like a big deal, but I am sure many of you are accustomed with RC Lens as a solid French club in the last three decades.
Football in France, bigger than the rest
Having this said, it was strange to not have them on this wall of fame until now, especially that their opponents who are playing the play-off for relegation / promotion, Nice, did won the cup in three occasions. Now, Lens can celebrate and consider its name for real among the greatest in France. A country in which, it is far more complicated to win trophies, comparing to the likes of Switzerland, Poland, Austria or Denmark. Not only because they are twice World Champions, but because, at this moment, they have arguably the best team in the world: Paris Saint-Germain.
Arsenal London, an achiever, but not necessary a surprise in European football
Speaking about PSG, many of you might think of Arsenal London also as a performer. It is truth that the English team won their first title in 22 years, no. 13 for them, but it was something imminent, something about to happen from one year to another, especially considering the three-year row second place finish. Of course, it is a breakthrough, but nothing comparable to the stories I’ve just written above. It would make, though, a better tale if Arsenal would beat PSG in the UEFA Champions League final! But that would be another story! A story that for sure will contain Aston Villa.
We will talk more about Aston Villa in the future
Because, yes, I know! Aston Villa did won the Europe League trophy, their first significant achievement in 30 years, considering the League Cup success in 1996. But a former European Champion, in 1982, should have another spot in a story, not next to Thun, Gornik, Hearts, LASK, AGF or, even, Lens. It is not discrimination, it is just putting everybody in the league they belong, according to their success. Even if having Unai Emery as coach guaranteed, somehow, that Europe League trophy would be available sooner than later. 🙂
Photo source: rclens.fr