The global pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus has had a disruptive and profound impact on English-language teaching. To reduce the spread of the virus, teachers and learners had to suspend in-person teaching and learning. This led to the widespread adoption of synchronous and asynchronous online teaching. Obviously, this period has led to immense challenges for teachers and students alike, but it has also provided a unique opportunity to understand the potential affordances of online teaching in English-language teaching. This study, a systematic thematic review of empirical studies pertaining to English-language teaching and the COVID-19 pandemic, identifies and analyses the key knowledge generated by the English-language-teaching community during the pandemic. It ends with a discussion of the lessons learned from the pandemic and suggests potential areas for further research.