Braga vs Nottingham Forest: Yates own goal after Morgan Gibbs-White spurns penalty in Europa League

Nottingham Forest’s hopes of qualifying automatically for the Europa League last 16 suffered a blow when the English club fell behind seconds after Morgan Gibbs-White had a penalty saved away to Braga on Thursday.

Gibbs White sees his penalty saved by Horníček 🧤

📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/OFAup2v8lI

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 22, 2026

In the ensuing attack after goalkeeper Lukas Hornicek dived the correct way to repel Gibbs-White’s spot kick, a slick Braga move culminated in Ryan Yates guiding the ball into his own net from close range in the 54th minute, the returning captain unable to readjust his feet and deal with a cross.

In the blink of an eye Nottingham Forest miss a penalty and Braga take the lead through a Yates own goal ⚽️

📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/a9JPTFdqwB

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 22, 2026

As it stood, a 1-0 lead would have put Forest in the top eight places ensuring a place in the next stage without the need for a play-off.

The trip to Braga is their penultimate match of the league phase, followed by a home game against top-eight contenders Ferencvaros on January 29.

Braga vs Forest: Gibbs-White penalty miss

Gabri Martinez was adjudged to have clipped James McAtee for the penalty, which was confirmed by a Video Assistant Referee check.

A calamitous minute followed for Sean Dyche’s team, although Ola Aina threatened to bring them level in spectacular style with a long-range shot against the crossbar shortly afterwards.

Victory for Braga would put an automatic place in the last 16 in the Portuguese side’s hands before the deciding round of matches.

Braga team vs Forest

Braga made six changes to the side who won at Tondela.

Braga starting XI: Lukas Hornicek, Gustaf Lagerbielke, Sikou Niakate, Bright Arrey-Mbi, Victor Gomez, Florian Grillitsch, Jean-Baptiste Gorby, Gabri Martinez, Diego Rodrigues, Fran Navarro, Ricardo Horta

Braga substitutes: Tiago Sa, Leonardo Lelo, Vitor Carvalho, Joao Moutinho, Paulo Oliveira, Gabriel Moscardo, Pau Victor, Mario Dorgeles, Alaa Bellaarouch, Yanis da Rocha, Joao Aragao, Sandro Vidigal

Nottingham Forest team vs Braga

Forest made seven changes from their 0-0 home draw with Arsenal, including the return of Ryan Yates from injury in midfield.

Nottingham Forest starting XI: Matz Sels, Nicolo Savona, Nikola Milenkovic, Morato, Ola Aina, Dilane Bakwa, Ryan Yates, Douglas Luiz, James McAtee, Dan Ndoye, Morgan Gibbs-White

Forest substitutes: Angus Gunn, Neco Williams, Ibrahim Sangare, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Elliot Anderson, Nicolas Dominguez, Zach Abbott, Archie Whitehall, Jack Thompson, Jimmy Sinclair, Ben Hammond, Keehan Willows

How to watch Braga vs Forest: TV channel, live online stream

Kick-off on Thursday was at 20:00 GMT (15:00 ET / 12:00 PT), with live coverage in the UK on TNT Sports 1 and TNT Sports Ultimate.

TNT Sports costs £29.99 a month through Discovery Plus, which includes Eurosport and entertainment and is available on a vast range of devices including smart TVs and gaming consoles.

Braga vs Nottingham Forest stats

• This is the first ever meeting between Sporting Braga and Nottingham Forest
• Braga’s last three Europa League games against English teams have produced 16 goals, with two 3-3 draws against Wolves and Leicester and a 4-0 defeat to the Foxes
• Including qualifiers, Braga have won 10 of their last 13 European matches (D2 L1)
• They have kept nine clean sheets along the way
• Ricardo Horta could make his 50th Europa League start and has 13 assists overall in the competition, with only four players having more
• A total of nine wins in all European competition in 2025/26 is their joint most in a season, along with their nine victories in 2010/11
• Forest’s only previous European match against a Portuguese side came on Matchday 3 this season, beating Porto 2-0 at home in Sean Dyche’s first game as manager
• They have won three of their four Europa League games under Dyche (D1), making him one of only two English managers with three wins in their first four games in the competition, along with Gary Neville in 2016 with Valencia
• No Englishman has won four of his first five in the Europa League

Nottingham Forest Europa League squad 2025/26

Forest’s List A Europa League squad has been registered until the round of 16 in February 2026, when clubs can add a maximum of three new players within the existing limit of 25.

Goalkeepers: Matz Sels, John Victor

Defenders: Oleksandr Zinchenko, Neco Williams, Willy Boly, Nikola Milenkovic, Morato, Murillo, Nicolo Savona

Midfielders: Elliot Anderson, Nicolas Dominguez, Morgan Gibbs-White, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Ibrahim Sangare, Ryan Yates

Forwards: Dilane Bakwa, Igor Jesus, Arnaud Kalimuendo, Douglas Luiz, James McAtee, Dan Ndoye, Chris Wood

List B submissions, comprised of players born after January 1, 2004 who have been eligible to play for the club for an uninterrupted period of two years since their 15th birthday, can also be made until midnight before each match.

Nottingham Forest Europa League schedule 2025/26

In a change from the previous group stage held until 2023/24, each team now plays eight matches in the league phase, all against different opponents.

The top eight sides in the table qualify automatically for the round of 16. The teams finishing in ninth to 24th will compete in a two-legged knockout phase play-off to reach the last 16.

Teams finishing 25th or lower are out of Europe for the season.

Knockout phase play-offs: February 17/18 & 24/25 2026

Round of 16: March 10/11 & 17/18 2026

Quarter-finals: April 7/8 & 14/15 2026

Semi-finals: April 28/29 and May 5/6 2026

Final: May 30 2026

When are the Europa League draws?

Knockout phase play-offs: January 30 2026

Round of 16, quarter-final, semi-final, and final: February 27 2026

Which English clubs are in the Europa League 2025/26?

Forest’s participation comes after they were promoted from the Conference League because of a UEFA ruling against FA Cup winners Crystal Palace, upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Aston Villa qualified by finishing sixth in 2024/25, although they would have been in the Champions League had they not lost at Manchester United on the final day.

When is the Europa League final?

The final will take place on May 20 2025 at the Besiktas Stadium home of 16-time Turkish champions Besiktas.

The stadium hosted a dramatic 2019 Super Cup final, Chelsea and Liverpool each scoring once during regular and extra time before the Reds won on penalties following the 2-2 draw.