The Champions League play-offs had a big surprise: Celtic FC, the powerful Scottish side (once winner of the European Cup in 1967, runner-up again in 1970, and runner up of UEFA Cup (now Europa League) in 2003, lost in penalties to FC Kairat from Kazakhstan. It is very shocking to see a team from a country mostly located in Asia playing in Champions League. In fact, it is only the second time this has happened: the first Kazakh club to qualify for Champions League proper (not counting qualifying stages) was Astana in 2015/16 (went back home with four draws and two defeats).
While part of the country is located in Eastern Europe, most of the country sits under Russia in Central Russia, with Almaty, the capital and home of Kairat, in the South East, very close to the border in China. Indeed, those club placed in the same pot as Kairat after the draw on Thursday will have to travel thousands of kilometres, to the most Eastern host city in the history of the competition.
It's been only 23 years since the Kazakhstan Football Federation joined UEFA, playing previously for Asia. They didn't get any successes in the Asian Cup, with their best result reaching quarter-finals in 2001. However, Kairat, founded in 1954 as Lokomotiv Alma-Ata, is usually one of the best clubs in Kazakhstan Premier League, winning it four times, most recently in 2024, and currently third in the ongoing season.
This will be their first participation in Champions League, and the second time they reach a UEFA competition proper after Conference League 2022. Kairat has certainly become one of the biggest curiosities of Champions League 2025/26, but will they also be one of the bigger surprises?