Almaty's Kairat, playing 11 vs 10 from the 33rd minute, lost 0-1 to Omonia in Nicosia in the first leg of the second qualifying round of the 2026/27 Champions League. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.

Second qualifying round. First leg. July 22

⚽ OMONIA (Nicosia, Cyprus) – KAIRAT (Almaty, Kazakhstan) 1:0 (1:0). Goal: Andreou 13. Sent off: Nego (O, 33)

July's Champions League qualifiers are important, among other things, for distributing champions of different countries to various European competitions. For example, the winner of the two-legged Cypriot-Kazakhstani tie will secure a place in the main draw of the Conference League. At the same time, they can continue to fight for the two higher-tier tournaments.

It is clear that after the 2025/26 Champions League and the associated UEFA Youth League, any other tournament for Kairat is a 'demotion in class' and, as they say, completely different money. Therefore, the Almaty side considers such an option undesirable.

The draw was not particularly kind to Kairat. Recently, Kazakhstani teams have not played very successfully against Cypriots (see table below). And Omonia is certainly not a sweet bun. Last season, the Nicosia club played in the group stage of the Conference League and now aims to rise higher.

After the chaos of the first minutes, the goal against the visitors came as a complete surprise. Adilet Sadybekov, intercepting a cross from the flank, with an awkward movement towards his own goal set up Panayiotis Andreou for a shot. The Cypriot gladly accepted the gift – 1:0.

In the 13th minute, the hosts took the lead, and 20 minutes later they were reduced to ten men. Hungarian Loic Nego committed a rough foul on Luis Mato, earning a yellow card from Gustavo Correia. After the Portuguese referee, on VAR advice, reviewed the video, the yellow card was upgraded to red.

With a numerical advantage, Kairat could have equalized before the end of the first half. However, in stoppage time, Jorginho and Alexander Martynovich, failing to share the ball, jointly squandered a 100% scoring chance.

At halftime, Sadybekov was replaced by Edmilson. The Brazilian, along with his teammates, began to exploit the man advantage. By the middle of the second half, Kairat had pinned the hosts back and came close to equalizing several times. Jorginho alone could have done it twice. Fabiano saved a powerful shot from Alexander Mrynsky from under the crossbar. Mark Gual's shots lacked a bit of luck. Azamat Tuyakbaev, who came on as a substitute, hit the post.

In the end, everything followed the script of last year's match between Kairat and another Cypriot club, Pafos. On October 21 in Almaty, Rafael Urazbakhtin's charges had a man advantage from the 4th minute. Unfortunately, they failed to capitalize. Then it was 0-0, today it's 0-1.

The final assault on the opponent's goal yielded nothing. Even the debut of the new signing did not help. 23-year-old Benfica graduate Gustavo Mendonca, coming on in the 83rd minute, managed two shots on goal but failed to score. The Cypriots responded with sharp counterattacks. If not for Tamerlan Anarbekov, the hosts would have won by a larger margin.

To qualify again for the Champions League group stage, Kairat, as in the 2025/26 season, must go through four qualifying rounds.

In the first round, the Kazakh champions defeated Montenegro's Sutjeska twice, 2-1 and 2-0. If Kairat gets past Omonia, they will face either Bulgaria's Levski Sofia or Romania's Universitatea Craiova.

Twenty-nine teams will automatically qualify for the Champions League league phase. Another seven participants will be determined through qualifying, which ends with the play-off round in August. Some teams eliminated at various qualifying stages will continue their fight in the Europa League and Conference League qualifiers.

If Kairat loses to the Cypriots over two legs, the Almaty side will continue their European journey in the third qualifying round of the Europa League. Potential opponents are Sweden's Mjällby or Gibraltar's Lincoln.

Tomorrow, with a match in Lithuania, the European campaign will begin for Kazakhstan Cup winner Tobol.