This event is complete, so the page has been converted from a pre-event prediction into a factual archive. Egnatia drew 3-3 with Celje at Arena Egnatia. Mario Kvesić scored twice and Armandas Kučys once for Celje; Egnatia's goals came through an early own goal, Fernando Medeiros and Soumaila Diabate. There are no current odds, live picks or bookmaker calls to action below.
The Egnatia vs Celje result and event details were checked against NK Celje official match report and UEFA official match centre. Statistics not published by those sources are not added. Tactical explanations are editorial analysis and are kept separate from the official record.
Result at a glance
| Detail | Verified information |
|---|---|
| Competition | 2026/27 UEFA Champions League, second qualifying round first leg |
| Final score | Egnatia 3-3 Celje |
| Halftime score | Egnatia 1-1 Celje |
| Celje scorers | Mario Kvesić 45th and 66th minutes; Armandas Kučys 54th minute |
| Egnatia scorers | Papa Daniel own goal 6th minute; Fernando Medeiros 59th minute; Soumaila Diabate 78th minute |
| Attendance context | Just under 3,000 spectators according to Celje's report |
| Venue | Arena Egnatia, Rrogozhinë |
| Tie status | The aggregate was level before the return in Celje |
Egnatia took an early lead from a corner sequence
Egnatia moved ahead in the sixth minute. Celje's official account says a corner was redirected by a header and the ball went into the net off Papa Daniel. The record is therefore an own goal rather than a finish that should be assigned to an Egnatia attacker. Keeping the attribution correct matters for player statistics and for any later summary of the match.
The early goal placed Celje behind in an away first leg, but the visitors did not lose their structure in the account. Goalkeeper Žan-Luk Leban later made an important save, while Celje worked toward an equaliser through set-piece pressure. The source does not publish full ball-share or shot totals, so the archive follows named chances and scoring actions instead of supplying invented dominance metrics.
This was the first UEFA meeting between the clubs according to the UEFA information kit. That makes the 3-3 result the entire head-to-head sample at the time of the first leg. It would be misleading to present one match as a stable historical trend. The useful history is narrower: no previous UEFA meetings, an early Egnatia lead and five further goals before full time.
Kvesić changed the halftime and second-half score states
Celje equalised just before halftime after Svit Sešlar delivered a corner. Mario Kvesić completed the action in the 45th minute and sent the teams into the interval at 1-1. The goal reset the aggregate before the break and gave Celje a verified set-piece response to Egnatia's own corner-related opener.
Nine minutes after the restart, Celje led for the first time. Kvesić released Alexandros Koutris, whose cross travelled to the far post for Armandas Kučys to finish in the 54th minute. The named chain—Kvesić, Koutris, Kučys—shows the visitors creating through a wide progression rather than relying only on dead-ball situations.
Egnatia answered five minutes later through Fernando Medeiros. The 59th-minute goal made it 2-2 and began a rapid sequence in which neither side could hold an advantage for long. That volatility is visible in the verified timeline: Celje led at 54, Egnatia levelled at 59, and the visitors regained the lead seven minutes later. No subjective momentum number is needed.
Kvesić's second goal gave Celje another temporary advantage
Kvesić scored again in the 66th minute to make it 3-2. His two goals and involvement before Kučys' finish placed him at the centre of all three Celje scoring actions. That is strong match-specific contribution. It does not automatically establish his role or expected output for later fixtures, which require current team news and a new sample.
The home side had chances around the same phase, and Leban produced another major intervention in the 73rd minute. Five minutes later Soumaila Diabate converted for Egnatia and restored parity at 3-3. The goalkeeper's earlier saves and the eventual equaliser belong together: Celje delayed a third home goal but could not prevent it through the full closing period.
Each team therefore led at least once, and Celje led twice in the second half. The final draw was not a goalless stalemate disguised by a score table; it was a match of repeated changes. A sound archive names the players and minutes that produced those changes while avoiding unsupported claims about exact chance quality or defensive formations.
The 3-3 draw left the return genuinely level
Celje's report describes an attendance just under 3,000 at Arena Egnatia. The crowd and venue provide event context, but they are not used as a causal performance metric. The decisive evidence remains the six-goal sequence: an own goal, Kvesić's brace, Kučys' far-post finish and the Medeiros and Diabate responses.
The aggregate stood at 3-3 before the return. Current UEFA rules do not give Celje an extra legal advantage for scoring three away goals. Both clubs entered the second match needing to finish ahead over the remaining tie, with extra time and penalties relevant only if the aggregate later remained level under the competition rules.
The original pre-match page speculated about probable lineups and a betting outcome. Those elements are no longer useful after the final whistle. Replacing them with the official score, first-meeting context, six goal events, named saves and aggregate state serves both search intent and reader trust without pretending the source contains a complete statistical feed.
How to read this result in future analysis
Kvesić scored in the 45th and 66th minutes and contributed to the move for Kučys' 54th-minute goal. This is verified evidence of influence in one first leg, not a guarantee of future scoring or an invitation to reuse an expired prediction.
Egnatia's first goal is recorded as a Papa Daniel own goal after a corner sequence. Later summaries should preserve that attribution rather than inflating an Egnatia player's goal total. Medeiros and Diabate scored the two direct home goals.
Leban's named saves show Celje's goalkeeper affected the path to 3-3. The final score alone cannot say when the home pressure occurred, while the report identifies important interventions after the break. No save total is invented beyond the described moments.
UEFA records no prior meetings before this tie. One 3-3 draw is not enough to claim a recurring high-scoring rivalry. It is a verified first encounter and should remain labelled as such until later matches expand the sample.
Away goals do not provide a separate tiebreak advantage. The correct post-first-leg conclusion is a level aggregate, not an implied Celje lead. The second-leg outcome belongs in a later update supported by its own source.
Editorial verdict
Egnatia and Celje traded the lead in a six-goal first leg. Kvesić's brace and contribution to Kučys' goal drove Celje, while Egnatia answered through an own goal, Medeiros and Diabate. The 3-3 aggregate left the return level without an away-goal tiebreak.
This completed UEFA Champions League page is retained as a historical reference. It is not a current recommendation, and its old result should not be displayed as a scheduled or live event.
FAQ
What was the Egnatia vs Celje score?
The first leg finished 3-3.
Who scored for Celje?
Mario Kvesić scored twice and Armandas Kučys scored once.
Who scored Egnatia's goals?
The record includes a Papa Daniel own goal, plus goals by Medeiros and Diabate.
Was this a previous rivalry?
No previous UEFA meetings were listed before this tie.
Did away goals put Celje ahead?
No. The aggregate was level at 3-3 under current rules.