Rijeka and Hajduk Kick Off the New SHNL Season
Rijeka hosts Rudeš at Rujevica in the opening match of the 36th SuperSport HNL season, while Hajduk seeks redemption in Varaždin after a heavy defeat to Pafos and aims to end a five-game winless streak.
Rijeka hosts Rudeš at Rujevica in the opening match of the 36th SuperSport HNL season, while Hajduk seeks redemption in Varaždin after a heavy defeat to Pafos and aims to end a five-game winless streak.
The new SuperSport HNL season kicks off today, August 2, 2026, with two matches. Rijeka welcomes Rudeš at Rujevica at 9:00 PM, while Hajduk will play away at Varaždin earlier, at 6:30 PM. Both matches bring intriguing storylines and a chance for a strong start to the 36-round marathon.
The Whites successfully navigated past Derry City in the second qualifying round of the Conference League with two narrow victories, and now they face two clashes with Finnish side Ilves from Tampere. However, before the European away trip next Thursday, the focus is on the domestic league. Rijeka will play Rudeš for the 13th time in the HNL tonight, and the record so far is impressive, 11 wins and just one defeat, which came on April 13, 2018, ironically under the leadership of Matjaž Kek.
Rijeka is on an eight-game winning streak against Rudeš, and at Rujevica they have a perfect record, six wins from six matches with a goal difference of 22:3. Coach Kek is aware of the importance of a good season opener. "Every win is good because it brings security and confidence, which is crucial for a young team like ours. We can only take positives from those two matches. The league starts, but that's a different story. It's a marathon of 36 rounds," Kek said for the club's YouTube platform, as reported by Riječki Novi list.
Due to a congested schedule of three matches in eight days, Kek has announced rotations. "With the arrival of Fruk and Janković, the squad is a bit bigger. We'll see if we can count on Ćubelić, who already played in Derry, and Puljić, who wasn't registered for Europe due to injury. We will definitely rotate some, but the important thing is to achieve the goal, which is a win that would then open the season optimistically," added Rijeka's coach. In the last ten seasons, Rijeka has always started the league with a win; the last slip was on June 10, 2015, with a draw in Zaprešić, and the last opening-day defeat dates back to 2012.
Split's Hajduk opens the new season away at Varaždin, which will be their first match after a heavy 4:0 defeat to Pafos and elimination from the Europa League qualifiers. The Whites will look for redemption in the north of Croatia, but also to end an unpleasant streak of five consecutive winless matches in Varaždin. Their last victory there came just under three years ago, when they won 2-1 with goals from Filip Krovinović and Leon Dajaku, as reported by Tportal.
The match will be broadcast on MaxSPORT and HDTV channels, with a live text feed featuring exclusive video clips available on tportal. Both teams hope for a positive start to the season and to escape the unpleasant statistics of the past.
