2026–27 UEFA Conference League
European club football competition
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The 2026–27 UEFA Conference League will be the sixth season of the UEFA Conference League, Europe's tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA.
DatesQualifying:
9 July – 27 August 2026
Competition proper:
15 October 2026 – 26 May 2027
9 July – 27 August 2026
Competition proper:
15 October 2026 – 26 May 2027
TeamsCompetition proper: 24+12
Total: 109+55 (from 54 associations)
Total: 109+55 (from 54 associations)
The Beşiktaş Stadium in Istanbul will host the final | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | Qualifying: 9 July – 27 August 2026 Competition proper: 15 October 2026 – 26 May 2027 |
| Teams | Competition proper: 24+12 Total: 109+55 (from 54 associations) |
← 2025–26 2027–28 → | |
The winners of the tournament will automatically qualify for the 2027–28 UEFA Europa League league phase, unless they qualify for the 2027–28 UEFA Champions League or Europa League through their league performance.
Association team allocation
A total of 167 teams from 54 of the 55 UEFA member associations are participating in the 2026–27 UEFA Conference League. The association ranking based on the UEFA association coefficients was used to determine the number of participating teams for each association:[1]
- Associations 1–12 each have one team.
- Associations 13–33 and 51–55 (except Russia)[Note RUS] each have two teams.
- Associations 34–50 each have three teams (except Liechtenstein, which has one).[Note LIE]
- 15 teams eliminated from the 2026–27 UEFA Champions League and 41 teams eliminated from the 2026–27 UEFA Europa League will be transferred to the Conference League.
Association ranking
For the 2026–27 UEFA Conference League, the associations were allocated places according to their 2025 UEFA association coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 2020–21 to 2024–25.[2]
Apart from the allocation based on the association coefficients, associations could have additional teams participating in the Conference League, as noted below:
- (UCL) – Additional teams transferred from the UEFA Champions League
- (UEL) – Additional/vacated teams transferred from/to the UEFA Europa League
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Distribution
The following is the access list for this season.
| Teams entering in this round | Teams advancing from previous round | Teams transferred from Champions League | Teams transferred from Europa League | ||
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| First qualifying round (52 teams) |
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| Second qualifying round (100 teams) |
Champions Path (12 teams) |
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| League Path (88 teams) |
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| Third qualifying round (60 teams) |
Champions Path (8 teams) |
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| League Path (52 teams) |
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| Play-off round (48 teams) |
Champions Path (10 teams) |
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| League Path (38 teams) |
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| League phase (36 teams) |
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| Knockout phase play-offs (16 teams) |
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| Round of 16 (16 teams) |
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The information here reflects the ongoing suspension of Russia in European football, and so the following changes to the default access list were made:
- The cup winners of associations 38 to 44 (Finland, Kazakhstan, Faroe Islands, Malta, Northern Ireland, Lithuania, and Liechtenstein) will enter the second qualifying round instead of the first qualifying round.
- As a result of corresponding changes to the Champions League access list, there will be one fewer loser from the Champions League first qualifying round transferred to the Conference League second qualifying round (Champions Path) so one transferred team will receive a bye to the third qualifying round (Champions Path).
As the Champions League title holders qualify for the Champions League via their domestic league's standard berth allocation, the following changes to the default access list were made:
- As a result of corresponding changes to the Champions League access list, there will be one fewer loser from the Champions League first qualifying round (two fewer in total) transferred to the Conference League second qualifying round (Champions Path), so one transferred team (two in total) receives a bye to the third qualifying round (Champions Path).
Teams
The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round:
- CW: Domestic cup winners
- 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, etc.: League position of the previous season
- LC: League cup winners
- RW: Regular season winners
- PW: End-of-season Conference League play-offs winners
- CL: Transferred from the Champions League
- Q1: Losers from the first qualifying round
- EL: Transferred from the Europa League
- PO: Losers from the play-off round
- CH/MP Q3: Losers from the third qualifying round (Champions/Main Path)
- Q2: Losers from the second qualifying round
- Q1: Losers from the first qualifying round[3]
The second qualifying round, third qualifying round and play-off round were divided into Champions Path (CH) and Main Path (MP).
Note: Teams in italics may still qualify for the 2026–27 UEFA Europa League.
Notes
- ^ Champions League (UCL Q1): Two of the Champions League first qualifying round losers will be drawn to receive byes to the third qualifying round (Champions Path), as two fewer losers transfer to the second qualifying round (Champions Path), due to Champions League league phase berths vacated following the Champions League title holders qualifying via league position and the suspension of Russia from the 2026–27 European season.
- ^ Albania (ALB): Dinamo City have qualified by winning the 2025–26 Albanian Cup, but would qualify for the Champions League if they win the 2025–26 Kategoria Superiore.
- ^ Armenia (ARM): Noah have qualified by winning the 2025–26 Armenian Cup, but would qualify for the Champions League if they win the 2025–26 Armenian Premier League.
- ^ Liechtenstein (LIE): The seven teams affiliated with the Liechtenstein Football Association (LFV) all played in the Swiss football league system. The only competition organised by the LFV was the Liechtenstein Football Cup – the winners of which qualified for the UEFA Conference League for this season.
- ^ Portugal (POR): Braga have qualified by finishing 4th, but would qualify for the Europa League if Sporting CP win the 2025–26 Taça de Portugal.
- ^ Russia (RUS): On 28 February 2022, Russian football clubs and national teams were suspended from FIFA and UEFA competitions due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[4] The tables reflect Russia's ongoing suspension from UEFA competitions.[5]
- ^ Scotland (SCO): Rangers have qualified by finishing 3rd, but would qualify for the Europa League third qualifying round if Celtic win the 2025–26 Scottish Cup.
- ^ Switzerland (SUI): St. Gallen have qualified by finishing 2nd, but would qualify for the Europa League first qualifying round if they win the 2025–26 Swiss Cup.
- ^ Turkey (TUR): Beşiktaş have qualified by finishing 4th, but would qualify for the Europa League if Trabzonspor wins the 2025–26 Turkish Cup.
Schedule
| Phase | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying | First qualifying round | 16 June 2026 | 9 July 2026 | 16 July 2026 |
| Second qualifying round | 17 June 2026 | 23 July 2026 | 30 July 2026 | |
| Third qualifying round | 20 July 2026 | 6 August 2026 | 13 August 2026 | |
| Play-offs | Play-off round | 3 August 2026 | 20 August 2026 | 27 August 2026 |
| League phase | Matchday 1 | 28 August 2026 | 15 October 2026 | |
| Matchday 2 | 22 October 2026 | |||
| Matchday 3 | 5 November 2026 | |||
| Matchday 4 | 26 November 2026 | |||
| Matchday 5 | 10 December 2026 | |||
| Matchday 6 | 17 December 2026 | |||
| Knockout phase | Knockout phase play-offs | 15 January 2027 | 18 February 2027 | 25 February 2027 |
| Round of 16 | 26 February 2027 | 11 March 2027 | 18 March 2027 | |
| Quarter-finals | N/a | 8 April 2027 | 15 April 2027 | |
| Semi-finals | 29 April 2027 | 6 May 2027 | ||
| Final | 26 May 2027 at Beşiktaş Stadium, Istanbul | |||
Qualifying rounds
First qualifying round
52 teams will enter this round.
Second qualifying round
100 teams will enter this round: 12 in the Champions Path and 88 in the Main Path.
| To be confirmed |
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Third qualifying round
60 teams will enter this round: 8 in the Champions Path and 52 in the Main Path.
| To be confirmed |
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| Seeded | To be confirmed | Unseeded |
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Play-off round
48 teams will enter this round: 10 in the Champions Path and 38 in the Main Path.
| To be confirmed |
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| Seeded | To be confirmed | Unseeded |
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