Reaching the [Champions League league phase is a lucrative endeavor](https://www.sportingnews.com/uk/football/news/champions-league-prize-money-breakdown-ucl-winners-uefa/6e9cd9ee671ddd07fc6507ff) that clubs across Europe from all financial profiles and backgrounds covet.
For smaller clubs around Europe, even one appearance at this level can change a club's future and provide a route up the continental ladder.
Thus, clubs making their debut in the competition proper will cherish the experience knowing that, despite the competitive odds stacked against them, a glorious payday is due to their club regardless, and every result will be savoured in the financial books.
The Sporting News brings you the details one of those clubs making their debut at this level in the 2025/26 season, after FC Kairat made a memorable run all the way from the first qualifying round to the league phase.
**MORE:** [UEFA Champions League schedule, fixtures, and results for 2025/26 competition](https://www.sportingnews.com/uk/football/news/uefa-champions-league-fixtures-schedule-results-2025-2026-ucl/9262fdd62cf54b52656c4c74)
Where are Kairat from?
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FC Kairat are from **Almaty,** the largest city in **Kazakhstan**.
With their debut in the Champions League proper, FC Kairat is now the easternmost participant in the UCL league phase ever. Almaty, which is near Kazakhstan's southeastern border with Kyrgyzstan, is located further east than the westernmost border of China.
Almaty used to be the capital of Kazakhstan from the country's birth in 1991 until 1997, when it was moved to Astana.
How did Kairat qualify for the Champions League?
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FC Kairat qualified for the 2025/26 Champions League by **winning the 2024 Kazakhstan Premier League title**.
Because Kazakhstan follows a calendar-based football schedule rather than an August-to-May calendar like many of the top European leagues, the 2024 title qualified Kairat for the 2025/26 UEFA tournament. The 2025 title-winners, confirmed when the season concludes in late October, will earn a berth in the 2026/27 tournament.
Thanks to Kazakhstan's lower country coefficient, their league champion FC Kairat entered the 2025/26 tournament in the first qualifying round, following the Champions Path, which is designated only for league champions, as opposed to the League Path which is designated for non-champion qualifiers.
UEFA determines its country coefficient by how clubs from that country perform each year in European competition, using a rolling five-year algorithm.
### FC Kairat Almaty Champions League schedule
**Round**
**Date**
**Match**
**Location**
First qualifying: Leg 1
Jul. 8, 2025
Olimpija Ljubljana **1-1** Kairat
Ljubljana, Slovenia
First qualifying: Leg 2
Jul. 15, 2025
Kairat **2-0** Olimpia Ljubljana
Almaty, Kazakhstan
Second qualifying: Leg 1
Jul. 22, 2025
KuPS **2-0** Kairat
Kuopio, Finland
Second qualifying: Leg 2
Jul. 29, 2025
Kairat **3-0** KuPS
Almaty, Kazakhstan
Third qualifying: Leg 1
Aug. 6, 2025
Kairat **1-0** Slovan Bratislava
Almaty, Kazakhstan
Third qualifying: Leg 2
Aug. 12, 2025
Slovan Bratislava **1-0** Kairat
_Kairat adv. 4-3 on pens_
Bratislava, Slovakia
Playoff round: Leg 1
Aug. 20, 2025
Celtic **0-0** Kairat
Glasgow, Scotland
Playoff round: Leg 2
Aug. 26, 2025
Kairat **0-0** Celtic
_Kairat adv. 3-2 on pens_
Almaty, Kazakhstan
League phase: Matchday 1
Sep. 18, 2025
Sporting CP **4-1** Kairat
Lisbon, Portugal
League phase: Matchday 2
Sep. 30, 2025
Kairat **0-5** Real Madrid
Almaty, Kazakhstan
League phase: Matchday 3
Oct. 21, 2025
Kairat vs. Pafos
Almaty, Kazakhstan
League phase: Matchday 4
Nov. 5, 2025
Inter Milan vs. Kairat
Milan, Italy
League phase: Matchday 5
Nov. 26, 2025
FC Copenhagen vs. Kairat
Copenhagen, Denmark
League phase: Matchday 6
Dec. 9, 2025
Kairat vs. Olympiacos
Almaty, Kazakhstan
League phase: Matchday 7
Jan. 20, 2026
Kairat vs. Club Brugge
Almaty Kazakhstan
League phase: Matchday 8
Jan. 28, 2026
Arsenal vs. Kairat
London, England
Are Kairat a professional team?
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Yes, **FC Kairat is a fully professional club** in the top division of Kazakhstani football.
It is a requirement by proxy that all Champions League participants are fully professional, as the only way to qualify for the competition is to finish at a certain level in a European country's top-tier of competitive football.
The club was founded in 1954 as Lokomotiv Alma-Ata by Nikolai Starostin, who is considered one of the earliest developers of Russian football and earlier was credited with founding Spartak Moscow.
Kairat joined the Soviet Union top flight in 1960 as part of the league's expansion to 22 teams to include clubs from various territories, and were a founding member of the Kazakhstan Premier League upon the Soviet Union's dissolution in 1991.
They won the Kazakhstan league's first title in 1992. The 2024 triumph was their fourth.