Crystal Palace beats Rayo Vallecano 1-0 for Conference League title, club's 1st European trophy

LEIPZIG, Germany (AP) — Crystal Palace didn’t want to be in the third-tier Conference League and Jean-Philippe Mateta nearly left the club. On Wednesday, it was Mateta’s goal that won Palace the title.

A season which began with pleas to play in a higher competition ended with Palace’s first-ever European trophy as Mateta’s goal lifted his team to a 1-0 win over Rayo Vallecano in the final.

The French forward, who was close to leaving in January before a transfer collapsed, scored on a rebound in the 51st minute after Rayo goalkeeper Augusto Batalla parried Adam Wharton’s long-range shot.

“I feel fantastic! ... First time in Europe, we did it! Now I just want to celebrate, I just want to party," Mateta told TNT Sports. “It’s incredible. We did everything. I told you about the intensity we’re going to put. I’m tired right now. I gave everything.”

Along with giving outgoing coach Oliver Glasner the perfect send-off, Palace's win, which came in its first season playing in Europe, keeps English teams on track for a sweep of the three main European men’s club competitions.

Aston Villa won the Europa League last week and Arsenal will face Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final on Saturday.

It was a triumphant end to a season which began with Palace in court appealing in vain against being demoted from the second-tier Europa League, the competition it had originally qualified for by winning the FA Cup, in a dispute over ownership rules. Palace fans spent the season chanting against UEFA and getting fined for it.

Mateta said of the traveling Palace fans at Red Bull Arena: "I’m always with them. They support me as a player a lot, and as a team. They’re always behind us and we did that for them too.”

Palace’s win lands it a Europa League spot for next season, much to the delight of Glasner, who said Wednesday he wanted to watch the team’s progress on TV next season.

Palace fans set the tone before kickoff with a giant banner like an airport departures board. Europa League: Boarding.

Glasner announced in January he’d leave at the end of the season when his contract expires. The Austrian has been in charge since February 2024 and led Palace to its first major trophy last season in the FA Cup. It’s not clear yet where he’ll go next.

Glasner bid his farewell in unique style, sliding on his stomach between two lines of his players in Slip ’N Slide style ahead of the presentation.

It was the third time in the Conference League’s five-season history that an English team lifted the trophy after West Ham in 2023 and Chelsea a year ago. Some Rayo fans were seen in tears at the final whistle after a first major final for a team so often in the shadow of its neighbors Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.

Mateta's goal lit up the final after a cagey first half with no shots on target from either team.

He showed lightning-quick reactions to knock in the rebound after an initial long-range shot from Wharton, who returned to Palace's lineup after an ankle knock against Arsenal last week and was a commanding presence in midfield.

Yeremy Pino came within a whisker of making it 2-0 soon after when he hit a free kick that bounced off one goal post, along the goal line and away off the second post.

Rayo's best chance came early on when Alemão skewed a volley wide of the post off a cross from Pep Chavarria. Tyrick Mitchell missed the target with a diving header for Palace at the end of the first half.

German police said earlier Wednesday that there had been clashes between Palace and Rayo fans. Two people were detained and two police officers sustained minor injuries, police added.

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Crystal Palace players with the trophy of the Europa Conference League after the final soccer match between Crystal Palace and Rayo Vallecano in Leipzig, Germany, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Crystal Palace's Evann Guessanda celebrate next to Rayo's Pathe Ciss after the Europa Conference League final soccer match between Crystal Palace and Rayo Vallecano in Leipzig, Germany, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Crystal Palace players celebrate after the Europa Conference League final soccer match between Crystal Palace and Rayo Vallecano in Leipzig, Germany, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Crystal Palace's Jean-Philippe Mateta, left, celebrates with teammates after scoring his side's opening goal during the Europa Conference League final soccer match between Crystal Palace and Rayo Vallecano in Leipzig, Germany, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Crystal Palace's Jean-Philippe Mateta celebrates after scoring during the Europa Conference League final soccer match between Crystal Palace and Rayo Vallecano in Leipzig, Germany, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Crystal Palace's Jean-Philippe Mateta celebrates after scoring during the Europa Conference League final soccer match between Crystal Palace and Rayo Vallecano in Leipzig, Germany, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (Robert Michael/dpa via AP)

Crystal Palace's Adam Wharton during a training session in London, Tuesday, May 26, 2026. (John Walton/PA via AP)

Fans gather outside the stadium before the Europa Conference League final soccer match between Crystal Palace and Rayo Vallecano in Leipzig, Germany, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Rayo's players work out during a training session ahead of the Europa Conference League final soccer match between Crystal Palace and Rayo Vallecano in Leipzig, Germany, Tuesday, May 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Strikes killed at least seven people in Gaza City on Wednesday as Hamas confirmed that Israeli airstrikes the day before had killed the new leader of its military wing, less than two weeks after his predecessor also was killed.

According to a Hamas statement, Mohammed Odeh died in an airstrike on Tuesday, along with his wife and two of his children. Previously, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced that the Israeli military had targeted and killed Odeh.

At least five people — including Odeh and his family members — were killed and 12 were injured in Tuesday’s strike on a market in Gaza City, local hospitals said. The attack came on the eve of Eid al-Adha, a major Muslim holiday.

More strikes in the city on Wednesday evening killed at least seven people, including two children and a woman. More than 20 people were wounded, including several children, according to Shifa hospital.

Video from the scene showed flames pouring from an upper-floor window of a building and bystanders rushing to carry injured people, including some children, to waiting ambulances.

The Israeli military said Wednesday evening it had launched strikes in the northern Gaza Strip, targeting two Hamas militants.

Thousands of people gathered Wednesday for the joint funeral of Odeh's family in Gaza City. Mourners covered the four bodies with green Hamas flags and marched from a mosque through the city, chanting and firing shots in the air. Some carried posters with Odeh's photo, emblazoned with the words “one of the chiefs of staffs of the Qassam Brigades,” referring to Hamas' military wing.

Hamas condemned the strike, and said Odeh had been active with the group for more than three decades and was part of the first generation that helped establish the movement’s military and armed wing.

Katz called Odeh “one of the architects” of the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel that triggered the more than two-year war in Gaza. He said it was the fourth time Israel has killed the head of Hamas’ military wing since the start of the war. Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the previous head, was killed on May 16.

Katz said that Israel would continue to target Hamas leaders involved in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack. “We pledged that Hamas will not hold civilian or military rule,” he wrote on X.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is preparing for elections in the fall, also warned that Israel will target everyone involved in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack.

The attack that killed Odeh came as Muslims prepared for Eid al-Adha, normally a joyous time of family gatherings and large meals.

The holiday is again subdued this year in Gaza, where the vast majority of people remain displaced and live in tents or temporary shelters after a devastating war. Around 90% of Gaza’s more than 2 million people have lost their homes, according to U.N. estimates, with most of them now sheltering in huge tent camps with rat infestations and pools of sewage. They are dependent on aid to survive.

Eid al-Adha, or “Feast of Sacrifice,” is an Islamic holiday celebrated by millions of Muslims across the globe. The four-day holiday, which begins during the Hajj pilgrimage, is also known as a time when children are given new clothes and gifts.

“This is not Eid ... we’re dead,” said Mahmoud Saqer, a displaced man from Khan Younis, who described people as being distressed by the ongoing human suffering and killings in the territory.

In Khan Younis and Gaza City, amid destroyed buildings, including a ruined mosque, people gathered for Eid prayers with few signs of celebration beyond a few clusters of balloons lining one street.

“There’s no Eid. My children were killed. Eid is only for the people who lost no one,” said Ayda Al-Banna, a displaced women from Gaza City, who prayed Eid prayers with her granddaughter.

A ceasefire reached between Israel and Hamas in October remains fragile. Israeli attacks have killed more than 900 Palestinians since the ceasefire took effect. Israel says its attacks are in response to violations by Hamas or threats to its soldiers, but Palestinian health officials say scores of civilians have been among the dead. Four Israeli soldiers have also been killed during this period in Gaza.

Israel launched its offensive in Gaza in response to the Hamas October 2023 attack that killed some 1,200 people and took 251 others hostage.

The Gaza Health Ministry says more than 72,803 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire. The ministry is part of Gaza’s Hamas-run government, but staffed by medical professionals who maintain and publish detailed records that are viewed as generally reliable by the international community.

Associated Press writer Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut and Fatma Khaled contributed from Cairo.

Palestinians mourn over the body of Mohammad Odeh, whom Israel says was a leader of Hamas Qassam Brigades, a day after he was killed in an Israeli airstrike, during his funeral in Gaza City, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians mourn over the body of Mohammad Odeh, whom Israel says was a leader of Hamas Qassam Brigades, a day after he was killed in an Israeli airstrike, during his funeral in Gaza City, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians take photos with Islamic Jihad militants as they gather for Eid al-Adha prayers in Gaza City Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Muslims worshipers gather for Eid al-Adha prayers in Gaza City Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Muslims worshipers offer Eid al-Adha prayers in Gaza City Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)