The Rijeka–Pula derby (), also called Derby della Učka (Derby del Monte Maggiore) is the name given to matches between Rijeka and Istra 1961. It is a regional derby between football clubs from Croatia's two largest northern coastal cities, Rijeka and Pula. The teams are supported by their fanbases called Rijeka's Armada and Pula's Demoni.
History The rivalry between Rijeka and Pula dates back to the days of Kingdom of Italy in the early 1920s, when numerous clubs from Fiume (Rijeka) and Pola (Pula) met at various levels of the Italian league system. The first official match between Rijeka and Pula took place on 25 June 1920, between Juventus Enea Fiume and US Polese. While numerous Rijeka/Fiume (Juventus Enea, CS Olympia, CS Gloria, CS Fiume, Veloce, Magazzini Generali) and Pula/Pola (Polese, Grion, Edera) regularly met during this period, the most notable rivalry existed between the leading club of each city, U.S. Fiumana (successor of Olympia and Gloria after 1926) and G.S.F. Giovanni Grion Pola. Between 1930 and 1943, these two clubs played 20 official matches, with Fiumana winning 11 and Grion 5 matches, alongside 4 draws.
Following the end of World War II, the two cities became part of the Yugoslavia. Like all clubs in Yugoslavia, U.S. Fiumana got restructured into the more proletarian-friendly brand S.C.F. Quarnero in July 1946. The new regime decided to invite a club from the occupied Julian March for the 1946–47 Yugoslav First League and Quarnero was admitted after beating the short-lived Pula-based club USO (Unione Sportiva Operaia) in a two-legged play-off in August 1946. In late 1947 USO merged with another local club to form NK Pula, which survives today as NK Istra. The Quarnero was renamed to NK Rijeka in June 1954. During this period Rijeka spent most seasons playing in the Yugoslav First League, while Pula clubs played in the lower tiers. Until the break-up of Yugoslavia in 1991, Rijeka played 21 official fixtures against Istra and Uljanik, mainly during its stay in the lower divisions in the 1950s and early 1970s, and in the 1973 and 1978–79 Yugoslav Cup. Two other clubs from Rijeka, NK Orijent and NK Lučki Radnik met more frequently Istra and Uljanik in the lower tiers of Yugoslav football.
Since Croatian independence, Istra joined Croatia's top tier, and local derbies became a regular feature. Between 1992 and 2000, Rijeka and Istra met on 17 occasions, with Rijeka winning on eight and Istra on six occasions, while three matches finished in a draw. Pula did not have a top-tier club between 2000 and 2004. In 2004, NK Pula 1856, former Uljanik, was promoted to Prva HNL. In 2005, the club was renamed to NK Pula Staro Češko, in 2006 to NK Pula and, finally, in summer 2007 to NK Istra 1961. Since July 2004, Istra 1961 and Rijeka have played 73 regional derbies, with Rijeka winning 46 and Istra 1961 9 games, while 18 matches ended in a draw.
Results CompetitionPlayedRijeka winsDrawsIstra winsRijeka goalsIstra goalsRijeka v. Istra (1992–2000)Prva HNL178362713Rijeka v. Istra 1961 (2004–present)HNL694318812450Croatian Cup430164Totals734618913054All Time9054211515767 Last updated on 23 August 2026.
List of matches Key Match ended in a drawRijeka winIstra win
Note: Home team's score always shown first
1992–2000 MDateCompetitionGroundScoreRijeka scorersIstra scorersAttendanceReport 1 7 Mar 1992 1. HNL Drosina 1–1 Ban Dadić 4,000 HRnogomet.com 2 2 May 1992 1. HNL Kantrida 3–0 Ljubančić (3) 1,000 HRnogomet.com 3 11 Oct 1992 1. HNL Drosina 2–1 ŠarićJurić, Knežević 4,000 HRnogomet.com 4 25 Apr 1993 1. HNL Kantrida 0–0 2,000 HRnogomet.com 5 21 Aug 1993 1. HNL Drosina 1–0Jozipović 4,000 HRnogomet.com 6 27 Feb 1994 1. HNL Kantrida 2–0 Mladenović (2) 2,000 HRnogomet.com 7 23 Oct 1994 1. HNL Valkane 1–0 Jurčić 2,000 HRnogomet.com 8 30 Apr 1995 1. HNL Kantrida 2–2Hodžić (2)Meštrović, Ugrčić 2,000 HRnogomet.com 9 13 Sep 1995 1. HNL Kantrida 4–0 Dželalija (2), Perković, Živković 1,000 HRnogomet.com 10 26 Nov 1995 1. HNL Drosina 0–1 Brkić 2,500 HRnogomet.com 11 14 Apr 1996 1. HNL Drosina 1–0Fatorić 8,000 HRnogomet.com 12 22 May 1996 1. HNL Kantrida 4–1 Perković (3), Brkić Scoria 6,000 HRnogomet.com 13 18 Aug 1996 1. HNL Kantrida 2–0 Perković, J. Samardžić 4,000 HRnogomet.com 14 2 Mar 1997 1. HNL Drosina 0–2 Alempić (o.g.), Brkić 3,500 HRnogomet.com 15 2 Oct 1999 1. HNL Kantrida 4–1 Hasančić, Milicic (2), Balaban Bjelanović 3,000 HRnogomet.com 16 29 Feb 2000 1. HNL Drosina 1–0 Nosek 4,000 HRnogomet.com 17 25 Mar 2000 1. HNL Drosina 2–1 Čačić Nosek, Župan 4,500 HRnogomet.com
2004–present MDateCompetitionGroundScoreRijeka scorersIstra 1961 scorersAttendanceReport 1 18 Sep 2004 1. HNL Veruda 0–0 3,500 HRnogomet.com 2 26 Feb 2005 1. HNL Kantrida 1–1 D. Tadić Jerneić 4,000 HRnogomet.com 3 23 Jul 2005 1. HNL Kantrida 2–2 Zekić, Krpan Jerneić, Pilipović 4,000 HRnogomet.com 4 22 Oct 2005 1. HNL Veruda 3–0 Šehić (2), Jerneić 3,000 HRnogomet.com 5 14 Oct 2006 1. HNL Veruda 2–3 Toñito (2), Bule Raić-Sudar, Budicin 2,500 HRnogomet.com 6 3 Mar 2007 1. HNL Kantrida 2–0 Ah. Sharbini, Ivanov 2,000 HRnogomet.com 7 28 Apr 2007 1. HNL Kantrida 1–1 M. Brajković Halilović 800 HRnogomet.com 8 21 Nov 2009 1. HNL Kantrida 2–0 Štrok, Križman 1,500 HRnogomet.com 9 13 May 2010 1. HNL Veruda 2–0 Anđelković, Šehić 2,500 HRnogomet.com 10 16 Oct 2010 1. HNL Veruda 0–0 2,500 HRnogomet.com 11 23 Apr 2011 1. HNL Kantrida 2–0 Vukman, Čulina 1,500 HRnogomet.com 12 24 Sep 2011 1. HNL Kantrida 0–0 3,000 HRnogomet.com 13 11 Apr 2012 1. HNL Drosina 0–0 2,500 HRnogomet.com 14 6 Oct 2012 1. HNL Kantrida 2–1 Cesarec, Datković Bačelić-Grgić 3,500 HRnogomet.com 15 3 Mar 2013 1. HNL Drosina 1–1 Kreilach Bačelić-Grgić 5,000 HRnogomet.com 16 10 May 2013 1. HNL Drosina 1–0 Hadžić 4,000 HRnogomet.com 17 20 Jul 2013 1. HNL Kantrida 3–0 Tomečak, Benko (2) 5,000 HRnogomet.com 18 22 Sep 2013 1. HNL Drosina 2–3 Benko, Kvržić, Krstanović Franjić, Križman 4,000 HRnogomet.com 19 8 Dec 2013 1. HNL Kantrida 3–3 Kramarić (3) Batarelo, Franjić, Babić 5,000 HRnogomet.com 20 19 Mar 2014 Cup (SF) Kantrida 2–1 Kramarić (2) Radonjić 7,000 HRnogomet.com 21 26 Mar 2014 Cup (SF) Drosina 0–1 Krstanović 7,500 HRnogomet.com 22 30 Mar 2014 1. HNL Drosina 0–1 Krstanović 2,500 HRnogomet.com 23 4 Aug 2014 1. HNL Drosina 0–1 Krstanović 5,000 HRnogomet.com 24 18 Oct 2014 1. HNL Kantrida 3–1 Jajalo, Kramarić, Zec Tomić 5,000 HRnogomet.com 25 15 Feb 2015 1. HNL Drosina 0–03,000HRnogomet.com 26 26 Apr 2015 1. HNL Kantrida 3–0Tomasov (2), Álex3,500HRnogomet.com 27 13 Sep 2015 1. HNL Drosina 0–1Bezjak3,012prvahnl.hr 28 28 Nov 2015 1. HNL Rujevica 1–0 Tomasov4,180prvahnl.hr 29 12 Mar 2016 1. HNL Drosina 0–1 Tomasov 2,251prvahnl.hr 30 14 May 2016 1. HNL Rujevica 2–0 Vešović, Brezovec 3,322prvahnl.hr 31 22 Jul 2016 1. HNL Rujevica 4–1 Gavranović (2), Bezjak (2) Roce 3,954prvahnl.hr 32 30 Sep 2016 1. HNL Drosina 0–2 Črnic, Gorgon 3,984prvahnl.hr 33 17 Dec 2016 1. HNL Rujevica 1–0 Andrijašević 4,471prvahnl.hr 34 22 Apr 2017 1. HNL Drosina 1–1 Gorgon Gržan 4,746prvahnl.hr 35 29 Jul 2017 1. HNL Rujevica 2–0 Gorgon, Gojković (o.g.) 5,504prvahnl.hr 36 14 Oct 2017 1. HNL Drosina 1–0 Puclin 2,040prvahnl.hr 37 10 Feb 2018 1. HNL Rujevica 4–0 Puljić, Čolak, Črnic, Zuta 4,151prvahnl.hr 38 17 Apr 2018 1. HNL Drosina 0–1 Kvržić 1,637prvahnl.hr 39 26 Aug 2018 1. HNL Rujevica 3–3 Héber (3) Mierez (2), Obeng 4,517prvahnl.hr 40 11 Nov 2018 1. HNL Drosina 1–2 Čolak, Kvržić Perić-Komšić 1,953prvahnl.hr 41 1 Mar 2019 1. HNL Rujevica 2–0 Gorgon, Murić 4,275prvahnl.hr 42 4 May 2019 1. HNL Drosina 0–7 Pavičić (2), Čolak (2), Acosty, Puljić, Capan 1,741prvahnl.hr 43 22 Sep 2019 1. HNL Drosina 0–3 Andrijašević, Lončar, Murić 2,797prvahnl.hr 44 8 Dec 2019 1. HNL Rujevica 2–0 Gorgon, Murić 4,045prvahnl.hr 45 7 Jun 2020 1. HNL Drosina 1–3 Lončar, Čolak, Murić Perić-Komšić 0prvahnl.hr 46 25 Jul 2020 1. HNL Rujevica 4–2 Čolak (4) Guzina (2) 0prvahnl.hr 47 29 Aug 2020 1. HNL Rujevica 2–1 Andrijašević (2) Guzina 0prvahnl.hr 48 27 Jan 2021 1. HNL Drosina 1–2 Andrijašević (2) Špoljarić 0prvahnl.hr 49 13 Feb 2021 1. HNL Rujevica 1–1 Murić Gržan 0 prvahnl.hr 50 7 Apr 2021 Cup (SF) Drosina 3–2 Drmić, Murić Šutalo, Hara, Guzina 0 hns-cff.hr 51 21 Apr 2021 1. HNL Drosina 1–2 Murić, Kulenović Galilea 0 prvahnl.hr 52 25 Jul 2021 1. HNL Rujevica 2–0 Drmić (2) 2,015 prvahnl.hr 53 2 Oct 2021 1. HNL Drosina 3–6 Krešić, Pavičić (2), Vučkić, Ampem, Bušnja João Silva, Mahmoud, Lisica 1,274 prvahnl.hr 54 18 Dec 2021 1. HNL Rujevica 1–0 Obregón 3,255 prvahnl.hr 55 2 Apr 2022 1. HNL Drosina 0–2 Vučkić (2) 2,170 prvahnl.hr 56 21 Aug 2022 HNL Drosina 1–1 Vučkić Petković 2,422 hnl.hr 57 29 Oct 2022 HNL Rujevica 0–1 Erceg 3,755 hnl.hr 58 3 Mar 2023 HNL Drosina 0–2 Janković (2) 3,019 hnl.hr 59 6 May 2023 HNL Rujevica 2–2 Frigan, Ampem Kadušić, Bakrar 6,657 hnl.hr 60 6 Aug 2023 HNL Rujevica 6–0 Ivanović, Selahi, Pašalić, Goda, Majstorović (o.g.), Grgić 4,856 hnl.hr 61 22 Oct 2023 HNL Drosina 1–1 Janković Mlinar 3,665 hnl.hr 62 4 Feb 2024 HNL Rujevica 3–0 Hodža, Janković, Marić 7,588 hnl.hr 63 14 Apr 2024 HNL Drosina 0–2 Fruk, Goda 5,228 hnl.hr 64 17 Aug 2024 HNL Rujevica 4–0 Rukavina, Pašalić, Ivanović (2) 4,159 hnl.hr 65 3 Nov 2024 HNL Drosina 0–1 Fruk 3,569 hnl.hr 66 8 Feb 2025 HNL Rujevica 0–1 Gagua 4,893 hnl.hr 67 2 Apr 2025 Cup (SF) Rujevica 1–0 Fruk 6,109 hns-cff.hr 68 19 Apr 2025 HNL Drosina 2–0 Lawal, Rozić 6,088 hnl.hr 69 27 Sep 2025 HNL Rujevica 0–0 5,369 hnl.hr 70 20 Jan 2026 HNL Drosina 1–2 Menalo, Dantas Lawal 3,386 hnl.hr 71 15 Mar 2026 HNL Rujevica 0–2 Prevljak, Frederiksen 5,897 hnl.hr 72 17 May 2026 HNL Drosina 0–0 3,249 hnl.hr 73 23 Aug 2026 HNL Rujevica 3–2 Nasraoui (o.g.), Puljić, Fruk Jaganjac, Frederiksen 5,371 hnl.hr
Players
Top scorers Updated up to the last derby played on 23 August 2026.
9 goals Antonio Čolak (Rijeka)
7 goals Robert Murić (Rijeka)
6 goals Franko Andrijašević (Rijeka) Andrej Kramarić (Rijeka)
5 goals Alexander Gorgon (Rijeka) Borimir Perković (Rijeka)
4 goals Toni Fruk (Rijeka) Gedeon Guzina (Istra 1961) Niko Janković (Rijeka) Ivan Krstanović (Rijeka) Domagoj Pavičić (Rijeka) Marin Tomasov (Rijeka) Haris Vučkić (Rijeka)
3 goals Leon Benko (Rijeka) Roman Bezjak (Rijeka) Senad Brkić (Rijeka) Josip Drmić (Rijeka) Héber (Rijeka) Franjo Ivanović (Rijeka) Josip Jerneić (Istra 1961) Zoran Kvržić (Rijeka) Dean Ljubančić (Rijeka) Jakov Puljić (Rijeka) Asim Šehić (Istra 1961)
Players who have scored in Rijeka–Pula derby for both clubs Sandi Križman (2 goals, 1 for Rijeka and 1 for Istra 1961)
Players who have played for both clubs (senior career)
Boško Anić Mateo Bertoša Dario Bodrušić Fausto Budicin Denis Bušnja Igor Čagalj Mladen Devetak Matko Djarmati Sandi Dobrić Mate Dragičević João Escoval Marin Grujević Nedim Halilović Darko Horvat Dani Iglesias Elmir Imširević Vanja Iveša Sergej Jakirović Josip Jerneić Redi Jupi Irenko Jurić Jurica Karabatić Ilija Kljajić
Damir Knežević Saša Kolić Fabijan Komljenović Ljupko Kontešić Sandi Križman Ivan Kurtović Siniša Linić Robert Lisjak Stjepan Lončar Josip Lukunić Ante Majstorović Admir Malkić Ivan Mance Luka Marić Bernardo Matić Andréa Mbuyi-Mutombo Marin Mikac Mato Miloš Ivan Močinić Alen Pamić Manuel Pamić Branko Panić Goran Paracki
Dalibor Pauletić Renato Pilipović Andrej Prskalo Natko Rački Josip Radošević Dragan Raković Zedi Ramadani Ivan Rodić Elvis Scoria Ahmad Sharbini Dalibor Starčević Valentino Stepčić Andro Švrljuga Dragan Tadić Goran Vincetić Luka Vučko Matej Vuk Neven Vukman Ivor Weitzer Zoran Zekić Damir Zlomislić Andrej Živković
Managers who have managed both clubs Milivoj Bračun Nenad Gračan Srećko Juričić Robert Rubčić Elvis Scoria Zoran Vulić Fausto Budicin
Prva HNL results
The table lists the place each team took in each of the seasons.
199292–9393–9494–9595–9696–9799–00 No. of teams 12 16 18 16 14 16 12 Rijeka64611944 Istra781012111511