FC Kairat reaches UEFA Champions League play-offs

Following a 1:0 home victory in Almaty, Kairat traveled to Bratislava for the return match at the Narodny Stadium, officiated by French referee Benoît Bastien. The hosts opened the scoring through Robert Mak after capitalizing on a defensive error. Kairat’s Jorginho came close earlier, hitting the crossbar, while Mak struck the post in the second half. Both sides created chances in an open, fast-paced game, but neither could secure a winner in regulation time.

Extra time also ended without goals, leading to a penalty shootout in which Kairat emerged victorious. This result sends the Kazakh club into the Champions League play-off stage, where they will face Scottish champions Celtic.

Reaching this stage has already guaranteed Kairat €4.29 million (KZT 2.69 billion) in prize money. Qualifying for the group stage would bring the club’s earnings to €18.62 million (KZT 11.7 billion).

This season, Kairat has already overcome Slovenia’s Olimpija, Finland’s KuPS, and Slovakia’s Slovan. Under head coach Rafael Urazbakhtin, the team now aims to secure a historic spot in the main draw of Europe’s premier club competition.

Earlier, it was reported that Italy faces what local media call a “catastrophe” as UEFA warns it may transfer the entire Euro 2032 football championship to Türkiye due to Italy’s stadium problems.