When Did Forest's Players Last Play In Europe?

When Did Forest's Players Last Play In Europe?

Tonight, Nottingham Forest will embark on the next stage of their extraordinary rise over the last four years, as they square off in Seville in the Europa League against Real Betis on the first step of their first European campaign in 30 years.

Despite Forest spending many a year meandering through the EFL before their rapid-fire rise to where they are now, a lot of the players they now call their own have already had a fair taste of continental football across their individual careers.

But when was the last time each of The Red's plied their trade in European football?

Those Who Haven't

Amongst red ranks will be several players looking forward to getting a taste of European action for the first time in their careers. One of the more unfortunate amongst them is Omari Hutchinson, who was left out of Forest's Europa League squad for the forthcoming campaign - although he has still made the trip to Seville with the squad.

Others include Brazilian Serie A imports Murillo, Jair Cunha, Igor Jesus and John Victor, who have not plied their trade in a domestic European league for long enough to have had a stab at a continental appearance just yet. If Nicolas Dominguez had stayed in place with Bologna in the end, he could have played his part in their 24/25 Champions League campaign. However, he was with Forest instead. Something I am very grateful for.

Exploring Seville. 📸🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/9xknMRKUb0

— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) September 24, 2025

Angus Gunn potentially could have had a chance to play in the Champions League under the tutelage of Pep Guardiola, but he spent the majority of his earlier years out on loan with the likes of Norwich, Stoke and Southampton instead.

And, of course, Ryan Yates. The combative midfielder has spent his entire career on the books with Nottingham Forest, and very much represents the club's rise through the eyes of a specific player. He very much is Nottingham Forest, through and through, and will be one of the more emotional appearance-makers over the course of the club's travels. Similarly, 19-year-old academy product Zach Abbott is yet to taste senior European football, though he did net the winning penalty against Lyon's academy to win the Premier League International Cup for Forest last season at youth level, if that counts.

Those Who Have

Matz Sels

Forest's goalkeeper has had an outstanding time at The City Ground since his arrival from Ligue 1 side Strasbourg in January 2024. The Belgian goalkeeper has racked up 63 appearances for the club, with a near-endless CV of jaw-dropping saves lining his time in Nottingham thus far.

You would have to go back to Sels' time in his native Belgium to find the last time he appeared in Europe. Then aged 25, Sels had recently been sold to RSC Anderlecht by Newcastle United after a lukewarm spell in the Championship with the Magpies. He made three Champions League appearances in their European campaign that season, his last coming in November 2017 in a 2-1 home loss to Bayern Munich.

He's the only goalkeeper at the club to have had any experience playing in a European competition.

Willy Boly

Under the now-iconic-to-Forest name of Nuno Espirito Santo, the man who guided Forest into the Europa League last season, Willy Boly made his last European showing with Wolves back in August 2020 in the quarter-finals of the Europa League - a late 1-0 defeat to Sevilla where Luis Ocampos won it late.

Forest's first game back in the Europa League, and Boly's, will be back at the home of the club who defeated Wolves at Molineux on that night. Who doesn't love a full circle moment?

Morato

The big Brazilian defender is no stranger to playing in European competitions, having made six appearances across the Europa League and Champions League in the 23/24 season while at Benfica, the campaign before Nottingham Forest secured his services.

His last appearance in Europe was in February 2024, where he was subbed off at half-time of a 0-0 draw at home to French side Toulouse. He remained an unused sub for the rest of Benfica's campaign, where they reached the quarter-finals before being dumped by Marseille.

Morato for Benfica 23/24 (league):

- 21 appearances
- 6 clean sheets
- 2.5 tackles per game
- 5.0 recoveries per game
- 0 errors leading to shot
- 83% passing accuracy
- 1 assist

The Brazilian is set to join Nottingham Forest for €15m 🇧🇷🌳 #NFFC pic.twitter.com/3vipm0qb19

— Louis Wheeldon (@LouisWheeldonNS) August 30, 2024

Nicolo Savona

Probably a player that doesn't need a great wad of detail attached, Savona made seven showings in the Champions League last season with hometown club Juventus, the last of which came as a late substitute in a 3-1 playoff loss to PSV back in February of this year.

Neco Williams

The likes of Neco Williams, Rhys Williams, and Nat Phillips will always be held in respectful regard by Liverpool fans for their contributions across the 21/22 campaign, where the academy became heavily relied upon by Jurgen Klopp after a long stream of injuries impacted the first team.

Neco, now one of Forest's most important and consistent players, made his last-to-date European appearance in the most well-remembered game of the lot for Liverpool fans - a stunning 2-1 win over AC Milan at the San Siro in December 2021 with a far-from-first-choice squad. Everyone remembers Phillip's Cruyff turn on one Zlatan Ibrahimovic, right?

Ola Aina

One of the most popular and hilarious members of the Forest first team in present day, Ola Aina's experience in Europe has been limited over his long path to Premier League stardom.

As a member of the Torino squad that broke into the Europa League in the 18/19 season, Aina would appear consistently in Serie A, but less so in Europe. His last showing came in the Europa League against Wolverhampton Wanderers - featuring Willy Boly - as a 71st-minute substitute for Christian Ansaldi, back in August 2019. The game was a 3-2 loss for the Italian side.

Galatasaray Torino'da oynayan 26 yaşındaki Ola Aina'yı takibe aldı. pic.twitter.com/r8PxurOPcu

— Lemina JR (@SinyorLemina_) March 25, 2023

Nikola Milenkovic

The giant, terrifying Serbian that presides over Nottingham Forest's defence with an iron fist has one of the more unlucky European stories to tell - reaching back-to-back UEFA Conference League finals, and losing them both. To further instill the irony, the first was against West Ham, who beat Forest 3-0 earlier this season, and the other was against Olympiakos, Forest's sister team.

That second final, played in Athens on the 29th of May, 2024, was The Serbinator's final European appearance to date, playing all 120 minutes of the Conference League final against the Greek side, losing to a 116th-minute Ayoub El Kaabi winner in extra time.

Oleksandr Zinchenko

Another that doesn't need too much pre-applied context: the Ukrainian made six appearances for Arsenal on their run to the Champions League semi-final last season. He didn't come off the bench in either of the two legs against PSG, so his last European showing was a single minute off the bench at the Santiago Bernabeu, where Arsenal defeated Real Madrid 2-1 back in April this year.

Dilane Bakwa

How about a player who played in Europe less than a month ago?

Dilane Bakwa made two appearances across Strasbourg's playoff run in this season's UEFA Conference League, appearing in both legs against a Brondby side now led by Forest legend Steve Cooper. The latter of which was on the 28th of August - 27 days ago.

Elliot Anderson

Newcastle fans are still outraged at the circumstances that saw Elliot Anderson depart the club back in the summer of 2024, and given the incredible talent he's revealed since his move to Forest, it's understandable to see why.

The Geordie Maradona made two appearances in the 23/24 Champions League for Newcastle, the latest of which came as a 65th-minute substitute for Sandro Tonali in their legendary 4-1 home win over Paris Saint-Germain.

In a #ThreeLions squad for the very first time.

Congratulations, Elliot Anderson! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/Fklt88WcXL

— England (@England) August 29, 2025

Dan Ndoye

Another new face at the City Ground this season, and another with recent European experience.

Bologna's shock run to the Champions League in Serie A in the 23/24 season, helped by former Red Remo Freuler, only amounted to a League Phase exit for the Serie A club. Swiss winger Ndoye played in all eight of those fixtures, the last of which was a 1-1 away draw with Sporting Lisbon, back in January of this year.

Morgan Gibbs-White

A product of Wolverhampton Wanderers (not that they like him much anymore), Morgan Gibbs-White made his European bow with the club over the course of their runs on the continent under Nuno Santo.

His last appearance in Europe came on his 20th birthday, starting and playing 64 minutes of an away loss to Espanyol on the 27th of January, 2020, wherein a 91st-minute strike from infamous former West Ham forward Jonathan Calleri sunk the Old Gold side to a 3-2 loss.

Callum Hudson-Odoi

How about a Champions League winner to add into the mix?

Callum Hudson-Odoi made seven showings and scored twice for Chelsea on their run to the Champions League final against Manchester City in 2021, where Kai Havertz swept home the decisive goal to win the Blues their second title of the competition.

However, his final European appearance actually came on a loan spell to Germany by way of Bayer Leverkusen, playing 10 minutes of a 3-2 loss to AS Monaco in the 22/23 Europa League, coming on as a substitute for Jeremie Frimpong back in February 2023.

🔵 126 Apps
⚽️ 16 Goals
🅰️ 22 Assists
🏆 Champions League
🏆 Europa League
🏆 Super Cup
🏆 Club World Cup
🏆🏆 FA Youth Cup
🏆🏆 U18 League
🏆 U17 World Cup
🏆 Chelsea Young Player Of The Year

Two years ago today since Callum Hudson-Odoi left the club 😢💙 @Calteck10 pic.twitter.com/YVzMQvuziP

— CFC-Blues (@CFCBlues_com) September 1, 2025

Ibrahim Sangare

The Ivorian midfielder was no stranger to European action on his arrival in Nottingham; in fact, his last appearance for PSV Eindhoven before heading to the East Midlands came in the Champions League, where Sangare enjoyed a dominant 90-minute display against Scottish side Rangers, who they smashed 5-1 in the second leg of their playoff clash in August 2023.

After an international break, Sangare would make his Forest debut against Burnley just 19 days later.

James McAtee

Another pretty well-known instance, McAtee made five Champions League appearances for Manchester City in last season's edition of the competition, netting his first European goal against Slovan Bratislava in the early days of action.

His final bow in the competition was as a 77th-minute substitute for Phil Foden against Real Madrid in February this year, where a Kylian Mbappe hat trick dumped the Citizens out of the competition at the playoff stage.

Douglas Luiz

Now that we have understood that Luiz has, in fact, actually joined Forest and was not just a mirage, he remains another recent example of European exposure for Forest's players.

The Brazilian was a huge part of the Aston Villa side that managed to get into the UEFA Conference League back in 2023, and made 14 appearances for the Villains in that competition. His last European showing of any sense came last season with Juventus, where he played 90 minutes against PSV Eindhoven in a 2-1 win back in February this year.

Arnaud Kalimuendo

The Frenchman last plied his European trade in the very competition Forest will enter this year, making six appearances and scoring once in the Europa League for Stade Rennais back in the 23/24 season.

He started and finished both legs of an eventual 5-3 aggregate loss to AC Milan in February 2024, which was his last showing in Europe to date.

Taiwo Awoniyi

Though now found on the very fringes of the Nottingham Forest first team, the hero of the Reds' 22/23 Premier League survival campaign has had a prior taste of continental action, making six appearances and scoring twice for Union Berlin in the Conference League way back in the 21/22 season.

His last exposure in Europe came in December 2021, where he played 69 minutes of a 1-1 home draw with Slavia Praha before being withdrawn for Kevin Behrens.

Chris Wood

Though maybe not common knowledge, King Chris Wood has had a prior taste of European tours already in his storied career.

The New Zealand record goal scorer is best remembered, perhaps, for his 99th-minute winner for Birmingham City against Club Brugge way back in 2011—the Bluenoses had won the 2011 League Cup, meaning they competed in the Europa League despite getting relegated to the Championship that season.

His last European appearance, however, came as part of Sean Dyche's iconic Burnley side that made it into the Europa League playoff rounds back in 2018. He made five appearances, scoring twice, and his curtain call in the competition, to date, was a 1-1 draw at home in August 2018 with, funnily enough, Nottingham Forest's sister club, Olympiakos.

https://t.co/oIH5KQhZ4j pic.twitter.com/GbmDmaHQmA

— BCFC Archive (@bcfcarchive) September 11, 2024