Salaspils

Two seasons into their history in Latvia's third tier, Salaspils won a Cup tie in 2022 that told the rest of the league to take them seriously: a 2-0 win over Augšdaugavas NSS. There was no run of silverware behind it — the club had none to point to — only a group of players who had been building toward exactly that kind of afternoon.

Vjačeslavs Miņins put the club together in 2012, and for its first decade Salaspils stayed close to home, playing out of a stadium that held 648 seats before renovation work in 2021 pushed capacity toward 1,000. The ground sits in a town better known in Latvia for its industry than its football, which made the club's rise through the divisions harder won: second place in the Latvian Second League in 2020 was enough to lift them into the 1. līga.

They have stayed in that neighbourhood since, competing in the 2. līga and the domestic cup in sky blue and navy, colours that have stuck on the kit through several seasons even after an earlier claim elsewhere had the club playing in yellow and green. The 2026 campaign brought their best league finish yet: second place in Group A of the Altero.lv Liiga's first phase, 46 points from 18 matches.

None of that has yet produced a rivalry with the weight of history behind it.