Sunderland marked its return to Europe after 53 years with a victory: Le Fée brought down AZ Alkmaar from the penalty spot
Sunderland marked its return to the European stage after more than half a century with a victory. The English club defeated AZ Alkmaar 1:0 at the Stadium of Light on Wednesday, 16 September 2026, in the opening round of the Europa League league phase, with Enzo Le Fée scoring the only goal from the penalty spot in the 66th minute. It was Sunderland's first appearance in European competition since November 1973 and an evening that meant far more than just three points to the club from the north-east of England. Sky Sports reports that Sunderland had more of the initiative in the first half and created a number of chances, while AZ raised the tempo after the break and seriously threatened the hosts. Régis Le Bris's team nevertheless withstood the pressure, took advantage of the key moment of the match and opened a new European chapter with a victory.
Le Fée took responsibility in the 66th minute after being brought down in the penalty area as he was preparing to shoot. The French midfielder sent goalkeeper Jari De Busser the wrong way and scored for 1:0, just a few days after David Raya had saved his penalty in a league match against Arsenal. Sunderland coach Le Bris highlighted precisely the reaction of his midfielder after the match, stressing his resilience and willingness to take responsibility again. According to the Sky Sports report, Le Bris said that his team managed to impose its own ideas in the first half, while the match opened up after the goal because AZ began to play with more risk. For the hosts, the most important thing was that the historic evening ended with a victory, in front of supporters who had waited 53 years for European football.
Le Fée hit the post, Roefs kept Sunderland safe
Sunderland tried to make use of the energy from the stands from the start, but the visitors had the first big chance. According to the Sky Sports chronology, goalkeeper Robin Roefs stopped a dangerous AZ attempt with his foot as early as the seventh minute and prevented an early goal. The hosts then responded with a series of attacks: Le Fée tested De Busser with a volley in the 13th minute, Kevin Danso forced the visiting goalkeeper into a demanding save two minutes later, and in the 25th minute Le Fée struck the post with a precise shot. Sunderland had enough opportunities before the break to take the lead, but a series of misses left the score at 0:0.
AZ entered the second half much more decisively. Kees Smit escaped his marker in the 50th minute and fired just wide of the far post, showing that the Dutch side would not accept the role of passive visitors. The Guardian stated in its match report that AZ had arrived in Sunderland with an unbeaten start to the Eredivisie season, with five wins and one draw, so it was no surprise that Leeroy Echteld's team managed to take control of possession during certain periods. Just as the contest was becoming increasingly open, Sunderland won a penalty. Le Fée went down after contact from Weslley Patati, the referee pointed to the spot, and the Frenchman converted the opportunity into the goal that gave his team the lead.
The lead did not bring a calm finish. In the 81st minute Roefs produced a series of saves from close range to prevent AZ from equalising, one of the interventions coming after an attempt by Mexx Meerdink. A few minutes later the visitors missed another major chance, while Sunderland could have settled the match with a second goal in the closing stages, but Nilson Angulo's attempt was cleared near the goal line. Le Bris's team therefore had to defend its narrow advantage until the end. Ultimately, it managed to preserve the 1:0 scoreline and take three points in a match in which both teams had enough chances for the result to have been different.
A return that began with seventh place in the Premier League
Sunderland's return to Europe is the result of an exceptionally rapid sporting rise. The club returned to the Premier League through the Championship play-offs in the 2024/25 season, eight years after being relegated from the top flight, and just one season later also qualified for European competition. According to the official Premier League website, Sunderland finished the 2025/26 season in seventh place, even though it entered the final round sitting tenth in the table. A 2:1 victory over Chelsea, combined with the results of its rivals, lifted the club into the position that secured direct qualification for the Europa League. Sunderland thereby became one of the few clubs to qualify for European competition through its league position in its very first season after promotion from the second tier.
That development is even more striking when the path the club travelled in previous years is taken into account. Sunderland spent four seasons in League One, the third tier of English football, before returning to the Championship and then to the elite. AZ Alkmaar's official preview before the match recalled that Le Bris's team had travelled from the third division to the Europa League in a relatively short period. This is precisely why the return to the international stage in Sunderland was not viewed merely as another fixture on the calendar, but as a symbol of a complete reversal in the club's sporting direction. Victory on the first European night of the new era further reinforced that impression.
Captain Granit Xhaka and the rest of the team entered the match with expectations that differed significantly from those at the start of the previous league season. At that time, the promoted club's main objective was to establish itself in the Premier League, while qualification for Europe arrived as a reward for a result that exceeded initial expectations. In the current season Sunderland must now manage domestic commitments and a more demanding international schedule at the same time. Le Bris made four changes against AZ compared with the league defeat to Arsenal, with Omar Alderete, Trai Hume, Malick Fofana and Wilson Isidor coming into the starting line-up. The very first European round showed that squad depth and the ability to rotate will be important during the autumn.
First European match since 1973
Sunderland's last European appearance before the match with AZ Alkmaar dated back to the 1973/74 season, when the club played in the European Cup Winners' Cup. It qualified by winning the 1973 FA Cup, after the famous 1:0 victory over favourites Leeds United in the final at Wembley. In the first round of the European competition Sunderland eliminated Hungarian side Vasas 3:0 on aggregate, and then beat Sporting from Lisbon 2:1 at Roker Park in the second round. In the return leg on 7 November 1973, Sporting won 2:0 and advanced 3:2 on aggregate. It was the last European appearance by Sunderland's first team until 16 September 2026.
The historical data also corrects one figure that appeared in some reports during the evening. Le Fée's goal was not Sunderland's first European goal in 73 years, but its first in almost 53 years. Sunderland had, in fact, scored goals in the 1973 European Cup Winners' Cup, including two in the home victory over Sporting on 24 October that year. Since the club then lost 0:2 in Lisbon, the goals from the match at Roker Park were precisely Sunderland's last goals in European competition before Le Fée's penalty against AZ. The claim of 73 years is therefore not consistent with the chronology of Sunderland's officially recorded European matches.
The return in 2026 also brought a powerful symbolic contrast. Sunderland no longer plays at Roker Park but at the Stadium of Light, so the match against AZ Alkmaar was also the club's first official European match at its current stadium. The Guardian described specially prepared choreography and a pyrotechnic introduction to the match, accompanied by a message about conquering new shores, while Jimmy Montgomery, goalkeeper of the famous 1973 team, was also among the guests. For some supporters, the gap between the two European generations spans almost an entire lifetime, which explains why the atmosphere had the characteristics of a historic event rather than merely the start of the league phase.
AZ showed quality despite defeat
AZ Alkmaar did not arrive in Sunderland without experience on the international stage. The Dutch club regularly competes in European competitions and had made a stable start to its domestic season before this match. Coach Leeroy Echteld expressed satisfaction after the match that his young team had not withdrawn in the face of the atmosphere and the more experienced hosts. According to Sky Sports, he said that AZ had shown it could play at that level and that the penalty was the moment that significantly changed the outcome of the match. And indeed, the visitors had periods in which they caused Sunderland serious problems, especially at the start of the second half and in the closing stages.
For Sunderland, therefore, the value of the victory goes beyond the symbolism of the return itself. AZ forced the hosts to demonstrate both attacking patience and defensive solidity through different phases of the match. Le Fée was the central figure on the ball, but Roefs also played a decisive role, with his interventions preserving the lead. Trai Hume made an important contribution in defence and transition, while Xhaka used his experience to help the team control the tempo in demanding moments. Such an outcome gives Sunderland an important foundation for the continuation of the competition, but at the same time shows that the level of the Europa League will punish every prolonged period in which control is lost.
Seven more league-phase matches ahead of Sunderland
UEFA's schedule for the 2026/27 season provides for eight matches for each team in the Europa League league phase. After the home victory over AZ Alkmaar, Sunderland will visit Portuguese side Torreense on 15 October, followed by a trip to Poland on 22 October for a match against Lech Poznań. The next European match at the Stadium of Light is scheduled for 5 November against GNK Dinamo, while Jagiellonia Białystok will come to Sunderland on 26 November. In December, the team faces one of the most high-profile away fixtures of the league phase, against Milan at San Siro.
The European programme continues in January 2027 with an away match against Anderlecht on 21 January, while Sunderland will conclude the league phase on 28 January with a home match against Levski Sofia. Such a schedule brings opponents from different football environments and tests the team's ability to adapt to styles that differ from those in the Premier League. Victory in the opening round secured a good starting position, but the new Europa League format demands consistency over eight matches, and the final position determines whether the club advances directly to the round of 16, enters the play-offs or ends its European season after the league phase. For Sunderland, however, the first step already carried a historical weight that the table cannot fully convey.
The defining image of the evening will remain Le Fée standing over the penalty, at a moment when more than five decades of European absence were compressed into a few seconds. After missing a penalty against Arsenal, the French midfielder once again took the ball, scored and gave Sunderland victory in its first European match since 1973. Le Bris stressed after the match that the club, players and supporters could be satisfied with the way the team responded to the importance of the occasion. Trai Hume, who joined Sunderland while the club was still in League One, recalled just how rapid the rise to this level had been. From the third tier of English football to victory in the Europa League, the journey took only a few years, and the Stadium of Light now has European nights once again.
Sources:
- Sky Sports – Sunderland – AZ Alkmaar match report, key moments, coaches' statements and confirmation of Enzo Le Fée's goal in the 66th minute (link)
- The Guardian – report from the Stadium of Light, course of the match, context of the return to Europe and reactions after the match (link)
- Premier League – official review of the end of the 2025/26 season and confirmation of Sunderland's seventh place and qualification for the Europa League (link)
- UEFA – official schedule for the 2026/27 Europa League league phase, including all eight Sunderland matches (link)
- UEFA – official explanation of the 2026/27 Europa League format and the criteria for advancing from the league phase to the knockout stage (link)
- AZ Alkmaar – official preview of the trip to Sunderland and the context of the English club's sporting rise (link)
- Footballsite – historical results of Sunderland's 1973/74 European Cup Winners' Cup campaign, used to verify the gap since the previous European goal (link)