Mainz advance to UEFA Conference League last 16 with Samsunspor win

Mainz sealed direct qualification to the UEFA Conference League round of 16 on Thursday when they beat Turkish side Samsunspor 2-0 at the MEWA Arena, with Silvan Widmer and Nadiem Amiri firing the 05ers to victory.

Mainz 2–0 Samsunspor
Goals: 1-0 Widmer 44‘ (assist: Lee), 2-0 Amiri 48’ (pen.)

Samsunspor started the game well, looking positive in possession and eager to test the Mainz backline. The 05ers soon grew into the game, though, causing problems of their own through a close-range volley from Amiri, which was the first clear sight of goal for either team. Aside from that, Mainz struggled to create a clear-cut chance, despite getting into good areas.

Marius Mouandilmadji looked destined to open the scoring for the visitors, but his shot toward goal after a penalty area scramble was blocked by his own teammate as it headed towards goal. The hosts’ captain, Widmer, then opened the scoring shortly before the break, galloping down the left flank before slotting his finish into the far corner.

The second half saw Mainz make a much better start, doubling their lead after just three minutes via an Amiri penalty, after Rick van Drongelen had handled Jae-sung Lee’s close-range effort. Lee then went close to scoring himself shortly afterwards after combining with Amiri, but couldn’t find the target from a matter of yards out. 

In the end, it was a comfortable victory for Mainz, who will now head into the knockout stages of a European competition for the first time ever, as one of the top-eight teams in the league phase.

See Mainz's Conference League results and fixtures here!

Recap the action against Samsunspor...

2 - 0

(1 - 0)

Mainz

FINAL

Samsunspor

Conference League
League phase, Matchday 6 League phase, Matchday 6 MEWA Arena

Full-time: Mainz 2-0 Samunspor

The 05ers head into their first ever European knockout round, having deservedly won over Samsunspor. They had the better of the majority of the first half and dominated the second too, with Amiri's early penalty appearing to have killed the game off surprisingly early. It was another impressive, energetic performance from Mainz, who seem to have turned a corner under Urs Fischer.

© IMAGO/Marc Schueler

Full-time

90'

+ 4

Hollerbach fires over

He receives the ball on the edge of the area after great work from Nebel and has Maloney in space to his left, but he goes for goal and gets it all wrong, blazing his effort over the bar.

90'

+ 1

Substitution

Fabio Moreno Fell

Nadiem Amiri

90'

+ 1

Substitution

Lennard Maloney

Jae-sung Lee

90'

+ 1

Six more minutes

Mainz will have some more time to find a third goal, with six minutes being added onto the end of normal time here

87'

Pushing for a third

Mainz continue to loiter around the Samsunspor box in hopes of finding a third goal.

85'

Substitution

Soner Aydogdu

Carlo Holse

85'

Substitution

Toni Borevkovic

Logi Tómasson

84'

Yellow card

Rick van Drongelen

81'

Tame

The ball falls kindly to Holse on the edge of the box but he doesn't connect with his half-volley, and sees it bounce slowly towards Batz in goal.

78'

Substitution

William Bøving

Silvan Widmer

77'

Offside

Hollerbach is played through with a defence splitting pass, but the flag is raised after van Drongelen had managed to nick the ball away from him at the crucial moment.

75'

Yellow card

Yunus Cift

Lack of action

Neither side has come close to creating anything in the past few minutes.

© IMAGO/Marc Schueler

69'

Substitution

Benedict Hollerbach

Nelson Weiper

66'

Coming alive

The visitors are slowly growing back into the game. Although they're still struggling in the final third, they're managing to keep the ball inside the Mainz half.

61'

Play resumed

The action continues after a brief pause.

59'

Play halted

The referee has paused the game as a result of pyro being used in the away end.

57'

Substitution

Tahsin Bülbül

Anthony Musaba

57'

Substitution

Joe Mendes

Zeki Yavru

55'

Well played

Amiri and Lee combine, with Amiri's chipped return pass finding Lee on the edge of the sex-yard box. He attempts a first-time volley but sees it loop over the goal.

54'

Hungry for more

Mainz continue to test the Samunspor backline and try to build on their lead.

Amiri dispatches the spot-kick!

He steps up and slams his penalty into the bottom left corner. Kocuk goes the right way, but it's too accurate.

© IMAGO/Grant Hubbs

48'

Nadiem Amiri

GOAL!

2:0

Penalty

47'

Penalty! What a start for Mainz!

They go straight on the offensive and win a corner, which results in Lee latching onto a loose ball at the far post. He tries to volley toward goal and sees it blocked by a Samsunspor hand, and Mainz have an opportunity to go two up!

46'

We're back!

The visitors get the action back underway.

Kick-off!

Half-time: Mainz 1-0 Samsunspor

The hosts edge an entertaining first half thanks to a brilliant goal from their captain, Widmer. Mainz had threatened before their goal, most notably with Amiri's close range volley which was blocked, but the visitors also contributed to a competitive half of football. Marius went agonisingly close to opening the scoring before Widmer's goal, but saw his effort blocked by his own teammate.

© IMAGO/Stephan Hahne

Half-time

Goal! Mainz lead through Widmer

The Mainz captain receives the ball on the right flank just a few metres inside the opposition half and drives up-field. The recovering Yavru can't keep up and Widmer continues his run all the way into the penalty area, where he bends his finish into the far bottom corner with his right foot.

© IMAGO/Marc Schueler

44'

Silvan Widmer

GOAL!

1:0

39'

Tense

Both sides are giving plenty of effort, with either side looking capable of getting the opener, but they've both struggled to create for the majority of this half.

34'

Kohr down

The Mainz man requires treatment after a collision, which allowed the visitors time to make this evening's first substitution.

33'

Substitution

Yunus Cift

Olivier Ntcham

30'

Great save

Amiri manages to get a shot away inside a crowded box. The shot takes a deflection and flicks up right in front of the diving Kocuk, who still manages to get strong hand to it and put it out for a corner.

28'

Into no-one

Weiper charges into the area from the right flank before putting in a cross back toward the penalty spot, but there's no red shirt around to get on the end of it.

Incredible!

Samsunspor counter after a Mainz corner, with Musaba playing a brilliant cross into Kilinç who is about 12 yards out from goal. Batz comes out and saves his effort, but the ball falls to Marius, who's subsequent volley is headed for goal - before it hits Kilinç, who's on the ground in front of goal after avoiding Batz's challenge.

© IMAGO/Eibner-Pressefoto/Alexander Neis

18'

Defensive scare

Nebel loses the ball a few metres outside his own box and the visitors look to pounce. The ball ends up with Musaba, who can't beat his man cutting inside, and the hosts survive.

14'

Amiri tests Kocuk

A late challenge on Nebel wins Mainz a free-kick. Amiri steps up and tries to bend it in the opposite bottom corner, but the Samsunspor 'keeper does well to get a finger to it and see it past the post.

12'

So close!

A low cross across the six-yard box from Lee is only half cleared and the ball sits up for Amiri to volley from close range. His effort is blocked right in front of goal, and the visitors scramble the ball away.

9'

Yellow card

Marius Mouandilmadji

9'

Scrappy

Mainz can't quite fashion a shooting opportunity in the opposition box, and the ball breaks loose. Hanche-Olsen sweeps up, winning a free-kick after a late challenge, and Mainz can start again.

7'

Bright start

The visitors have had slightly more of the ball and have been more positive with it so far.

3'

Penalty claim

Marius gets on the end of a ball into the right side of the box and tries to flick it on. A red shirt blocks the pass, which he claims was done with a hand. The referee waves play on.

1'

And we're away!

The hosts get the action started.

Kick-off!

Limbering up

The warm-ups are well underway now, with tonight's important clash drawing ever closer. With both sides level on points and the top of the standings within touching distance, there's plenty on the line here in Mainz.

© IMAGO/Grant Hubbs

More on those teams

Mainz rotate heavily from their impressive draw against Bayern Munich, with Maloney, Hollerbach, Bøving, Kawasaki, Bell and Veratschnig all dropping out of the starting XI. In come Weiper, Kohr, Widmer, Amiri, Hanche-Olsen and Nebel. For the visitors, Soner Gönül is replace at left-back by Logi Tómasson and Marius Mouandilmadji comes in for Cherif Ndiaye from their recent league loss to Başakşehir.

© IMAGO/Stephan Hahne

Mainz starting line-up

Batz - Kohr, Hanche-Olsen, Potulski - da Costa, Sano, Amiri, Widmer (c) - Nebel, Lee - Weiper

Mainz subs

Babatz, Rieß, Bell, Schopp, Bøving, Gleiber, Maloney, Nordin, Bobzien, Hollerbach, Moreno Fell, Sieb

Samsunspor starting line-up

Kocuk - Yavru (c), Satka, van Drongelen, Tómasson - Ntcham, Makoumbou, Holse - Kilinç, Marius, Musaba

Samsunspor subs

Posiadala, Töruz, Borevkovic, Cift, Gönül, Mendes, Soner, Bülbül, Yaldir

Small world

Thomas Reis coached Mainz's injured defender Maxim Leitsch during his time at Bochum. Their relationship began in the club's U19 side, before Leitsch spent three years in their first-team under Reis between 2019-22.

© Laci Perenyi via www.imago-images.de

New beginnings

Mainz have never faced a Turkish side before tonight, although Samsunspor do have some experience with German sides. They've faced Werder Bremen twice and Hamburg once, losing all three encounters.

Who are Samsunspor?

The Turkish side are competing in the main stage of a UEFA competition for the first time since the 1998 Intertoto Cup. Based on the northern Black Sea coast, they have been a classic yo-yo team, holding the record for most promotions and relegations to the top tier. A crash involving the team bus in January 1989 took the life of coach Nuri Asan, three players and driver, with many more players badly injured, while it also led to relegation a year later. Former Schalke and Bochum coach Thomas Reis has led the team since summer 2024 and guided them to success once more with last season's third-place finish in the Süper Lig and continental qualification.

© IMAGO/Hakan Akgun

0:57

How Batz frustrated Bayern

A closer look at the weekend heroics of goalkeeper Daniel Batz, as Mainz went within moments of inflicting a first Bundesliga defeat of the season on Bayern Munich.

Thomas Reis on facing Mainz

“They’ve got two positive results since the change of coach, getting a point at Poznan and away at Bayern. I don’t think anyone expected that. You feel they’re on the up thanks to the change of coach. I don’t think many at the start of the season would’ve bet on this being a final for a top-eight spot.”

© IMAGO/Fatih Mehmet Kurkcu

Team news

Mainz will definitely be without Phillipp Mwene, Anthony Caci, Robin Zentner and Sota Kawasaki due to injury, while Nikolas Veratschnig is suspended after being sent off on Matchday 5. Dominik Kohr and Paul Nebel are back in the squad following injuries of their own, and Silvan Widmer and Nadiem Amiri (pictured) should be fit enough to feature.

© IMAGO/Marc Schueler

Stefan Bell on the final two games of the year

"We've got several players back and have the chance to take a huge step, both in the Conference League and the Bundesliga to ensure we go into the winter break with a good feeling. We then have the chance in January to do more training sessions where we can find ourselves again as a squad."

© IMAGO/Martin Hoffmann

The stakes

Both teams are confirmed of a place in the knockout phase play-offs at the very least. That would involve a two-legged tie on 18/19 and 25/26 February next year, so, in terms of fixture congestion and workload, they would rather avoid that if possible. A win for either side would guarantee a spot in the round of 16. A draw is unlikely to be enough to go straight through to the last 16.

Urs Fischer on facing Samsunspor

"We're expecting a well-drilled side with a clear and structured system. If you give them space, they'll use it. You can see the influence the coach has on their side."

© IMAGO/Fatih Mehmet Kürkçü

2:03

Mainz stun Bayern

Although bottom of the Bundesliga table, Mainz claimed a big result away at Bayern Munich on Sunday, with goals from Jae-sung Lee and Kacper Potulski meaning the league leaders needed a late Harry Kane penalty to salvage a point.

One to watch

Marius Mouandilmadji (pictured) is Samsunspor's top scorer in the Conference League this term with four goals. Like Mainz, the Turkish side won their first three games in the competition in 2025/26. That was followed by a draw and then a 2-1 home defeat by AEK Athens last week.

© IMAGO/Veysel Altun

Home fortress

Mainz have won both of their home games in the Conference League so far this season: a 1-0 success over Bosnia and Herzegovina outfit Zrinjski on Matchday 2 and a 2-1 triumph over Fiorentina - who were runners-up in this competition in both 2023 and 2024 - on Matchday 3.

© Daniela Porcelli

Hello and welcome!

Thank you for joining us for build-up and live match coverage of Mainz's Matchday 6 encounter at home to Samsunspor in the UEFA Conference League.

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