Meet our Conference League play-off opponents

First-team

16 Jan 2026

Crystal Palace will contest a two-legged play-off next month, with a place in the last 16 of the UEFA Conference League the prize – with the draw on Friday now confirming our opponents.

Who will we face?

After a 10th place finish in the league phase, the Eagles were seeded for the play-off round and would be drawn against an unseeded team. This means the second leg will take place at Selhurst Park.

The Eagles were drawn against HŠK Zrinjski Mostar, from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The first leg away from home will take place on Thursday, 19th February. The return leg at Selhurst Park will be held the following week at Thursday, 26th February. Exact kick-off times are still yet to be confirmed.

Let’s find out a little more about our opponents…

Zrinjski Mostar

Nine-times Bosnian champions Zrinjski Mostar qualified for the knockout stage thanks to a dramatic late equaliser in the final minutes of the league stage.

Staring at elimination, they were bumped up into 23rd place when a 93rd-minute own goal earned them a 1-1 draw against SK Rapid, and with it a precious point.

A 5-0 win over Lincoln Red Imps on matchday one had them top of the league following the first round of games.

Despite suffering a 6-0 thrashing at the hands of Dynamo Kyiv, a surprise win over BK Hacken on matchday four helped them to a final total of seven points – finishing above Sigma and Romanian club Universitatea Craiova thanks to overall goals scored.

Zrinjski won the Bosnian league last season, losing just three league games all season, which earned qualification for the UEFA Champions League first qualifying round.

After aggregate defeats to Slovan Bratislava and Utrecht in the Europa League qualifiers, Zrinjski entered the Conference League at the league phase stage.

Among the Zrinjski ranks is forward Nemanja Bilbija, who remains the Bosnian Premier League’s record goalscorer, who has scored 188 league goals across two spells for the club.

The city of Mostar is the historical capital of Herezegovina and a two-hour drive from the largest city, and capital, in the country – Sarajevo. In terms of population, it is Bosnia and Herzegovina’s fifth-largest city.

Zrinjski play at the Bijeli Brijeg Stadium, which holds three stars on UEFA’s stadium rating system. Although first opened in 1958, it was renovated in 2024 and has a current capacity of 9,000.

What happens after the play-off?

Should the Eagles make it through the play-off round we could face one of two sides in the Round of 16.

Coincidentally, both are teams we have already faced in 2025/26 – German side Mainz 05 and Cypriot outfit AEK Larnaca.

Mainz, the former home of forward Jean-Phillipe Mateta, finished seventh in the league phase, losing just once.

They played two pre-season friendlies on the same day against Palace when both clubs were in Austria for pre-season.

The first game ended in a 1-1 draw before the German side claimed a 3-2 win in the rematch.

AEK Larnaca were the first visitors for Selhurst Park for a European ‘proper’ tie and came away with all three points on matchday two with a 1-0 victory.

That helped the Cypriot Cup holders to an eighth-place finish in the league table.

The Dates

All key remaining UEFA Conference League dates:

Play-off first leg: Thursday 19th February 2026
Play-off second leg: Thursday 26th February 2026
Round of 16, quarter-final, semi-final draws: Friday 27th February 2026
Round of 16: Thursdays 12th & 19th March 2026
Quarter-finals: Thursdays 9th & 16th April 2026
Semi-finals: Thursdays 30th April & 7th May 2026
Final: Wednesday 27th May 2026 (Leipzig)

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