UEFA Futsal Champions League round of 16 report: Quarter-final ties set
Friday, December 5, 2025
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Etoile Lavalloise will face Semey, holders Palma play Riga, Kairat take on Cartagena and there is a Benfica-Sporting CP derby in the last eight after the round of 16 was completed.
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The new UEFA Futsal Champions League round of 16 has concluded, setting up four fascinating quarter-finals to decide which teams reach May's last four in Pesaro.
This is the first of a pair of freshly-introduced two-legged knockout rounds leading to the familiar one-venue four-team finals in May. Two-time winners Sporting CP eliminated AEK on Thursday, to follow France's Etoile Lavalloise after their Monday success against Hjørring Futsal Klub.
The rest of the ties ended on Friday, with defending champions Illes Balears Palma holding off the challenge of Hit Kyiv to earn a tie with Riga Futsal Club, who drew their first leg at Prishtina 01 but comfortably won their home return. Sporting will be up against city rivals and fellow former champions Benfica, who ended the challenge of Araz Naxçivan, while Semey will take on Etoile Lavalloise thanks to an away comeback at Piast Gliwice.
Kazakhstan's other representatives, twice champions Kairat Almaty, ended the hopes of Sporting Anderlecht and are next up against the team they beat 3-2 in last season's semis, Cartagena Costa Cálida, thanks to their success against Luxol St. Andrews.
The round of 16 contenders were determined in the main round, with 12 teams emerging from Path A and four from Path B. The two-legged round of 16 and quarter-final stages replace the former elite round under the new format for 2025/26.
Futsal Champions League quarter-final ties
Etoile Lavalloise vs Semey
Illes Balears Palma vs Riga Futsal Club
Benfica vs Sporting CP
Kairat Almaty vs Cartagena Costa Cálida
Ties scheduled for Monday 23 February and Friday 6 March, first named team at home in opening leg.
The four quarter-final winners will qualify for the finals in Pesaro, taking place from 8 to 10 May. A separate draw will set the semi-final ties.
FUTSAL CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ROUND OF 16 TIES
Friday 5 December
Kairat Almaty 5-3 Sporting Anderlecht (agg: 12-6)
Having won the away leg with a second-half burst of goals, two-time champions Kairat kept their record 22nd European campaign going with Birzhan Orazov striking twice to add to his effort last week.
Riga Futsal Club 8-1 Prishtina 01 (agg: 11-4)
Riga twice came from behind in the first leg and made the most of home advantage in the return, Ángel Claudino and Daniel Airoso both scoring twice as they became the first Latvian side to reach any UEFA club competition quarter-final for futsal or football.
Benfica 4-2 Araz Naxçivan (agg: 13-2)
Benfica had done the hard work in Azerbaijan last week against the former semi-finalists but the 2009/10 champions completed their victory and set up a showdown with Sporting, Anilton Silva scoring two late goals to add to his double in the first leg.
Piast Gliwice 3-5 Semey (agg: 6-8)
Piast scored three late goals to level the tie in Kazakhstan and were ahead within 12 seconds tonight, adding another in the sixth minute. But Semey drew level before half-time and midway through the second period were two in front. Piast soon reduced arrears but in the final minute Marcelo – a winner for the past two seasons with Palma – ensured Semey's progress.
Illes Balears Palma 4-2 Hit Kyiv (agg: 6-4)
The reigning champions kept alive their bid for a fourth title in a row and are now unbeaten in all 29 of their UEFA competition games, taking control with Mario Rivillos goals on eight and 23 minutes. Yevhenii Zhuk pulled one back but with Hit committed, Alisson and Ernesto made it safe for Palma despite another Zhuk strike.
Cartagena Costa Cálida 5-1 Luxol St. Andrews (agg: 14-2)
Cartagena ensured a rematch of their semi-final defeat last May on debut by Kairat by extending their aggregate lead from their first-leg success in Malta with four unanswered second-half goals.
Thursday 4 December
Sporting CP 8-3 AEK Futsal Club (agg: 19-3)
Two-time champions Sporting eased through with Bruno Pinto's hat-trick adding to his pair of first-leg goals as Nuno Dias equalled Jesús Velasco's tally of 80 UEFA futsal club matches coached. AEK were just the second Greek side to get to the last 16 in any format after Athina '90 in 2009/10.
Monday 1 December
Etoile Lavalloise 7-4 Hjørring Futsal Klub (agg: 11-5)
Souheil Mouhoudine and Bilal Bakkali both scored twice and the latter's younger brother Anas Bakkali was among those also on target as Etoile Lavalloise moved a step closer to being only the second French side to play in the finals after ACCS Asnières Villeneuve 92 in 2021/22. Hjørring bow out as the first Danish club to reach the last 16 in any format.
Tuesday 25 November
Hit Kyiv 2-2 Illes Balears Palma
Palma struck first but trailed at half-time and needed a 37th-minute Fabinho penalty to level the tie and extend their record unbeaten competition run to 28 matches.
Monday 24 November
Dedezinho's second goal of the game put Semey 3-0 up with less than six minutes left, but Vinicius Teixeira swiftly pulled two goals back and Bruno Graça levelled the tie with three seconds to go.
Benfica dominated in Baku with Arthur's hat-trick helping them to a comfortable advantage.
Hjørring Futsal Klub 1-4 Etoile Lavalloise
The visitors led 2-0 at half-time and although Hjørring reduced arrears, in the last six minutes Soufiane El Mesra got his second goal of the game and Abdessamad Mohammed made it 4-1.
Luxol St. Andrews 1-9 Cartagena Costa Cálida
Cartagena signalled their intent in Malta, with eight players on target while Muhammad Osamanmusa struck twice.
AEK Futsal Club 0-11 Sporting CP
Two-time champions Sporting showed their ruthless side in Greece with Alex Merlim, Diogo Santos and Bruno Pinto all scoring twice, and among eight different scorers.
Sporting Anderlecht 3-7 Kairat Almaty
Former semi-finalists Anderlecht recovered from conceding early to lead 2-1 before the three-minute mark, adding another midway through the first half. By the break Kairat were level and after Dauren Tursagulov had scored seven seconds past the interval, the twice champions streaked away.
Prishtina 01 3-3 Riga Futsal Club
One of these teams will be the first from their nation to reach a UEFA club competition quarter-final and Latvia's Riga came back from 2-0 and 3-2 down to draw away to Kosovo's Prishtina.