On 27 February 2017, the club celebrated its 70th anniversary in the Osijek theater. In the 2016–17 season, Osijek finished 4th, which was their highest league finish in nearly 10 years. The 4th place finish led to Osijek participating in the qualifying phase of the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League; with the club staging an extremely successful run to the play-off round, beating Santa Coloma, Luzern and PSV, the former champions of Europe, who won the 1987–88 edition. The club's run was ended following a 1–2 home loss to Austria Wien, and despite the club winning the second leg 1–0, Osijek were eliminated on the away goals rule. Despite being eliminated, Osijek were praised and congratulated by Croatian press, fans and media for their historic run.