2026–27 UEFA Europa League qualifying
Football tournament qualification stage
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2026–27 UEFA Europa League qualifying phase and play-off round began on 9 July and will end on 27 August 2026.[1][2]
A total of 52 teams are competing in the qualifying system, which includes the qualifying phase and the play-off round. The 12 winners of the play-off round advance to the league phase, where they join the 13 teams that enter directly in the league phase, along with the seven losers of the Champions League play-off round — five from the Champions Path and two from the League Path — and the four losers of the Champions League third qualifying round from the League Path.[3]
Times are CEST (UTC+2), as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).
Format
The qualifying phase is split into two paths – the Champions Path and the Main Path. The Champions Path contains teams that are eliminated from the Champions League Champions Path, and the Main Path contains teams that qualify as third-placed or fourth-placed team from their domestic league or as domestic cup winners. The paths are merged in the play-off round.
Each tie is played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scores more goals on aggregate over the two legs advances to the next round. If the aggregate score is level at the end of normal time of the second leg, extra time is played, and if the same number of goals is scored by both teams during extra time, the tie is decided by a penalty shoot-out.[4]
In the draws for each round, teams are seeded based on their UEFA club coefficients at the beginning of the season, with the teams divided into seeded and unseeded pots containing the same number of teams. A seeded team is drawn against an unseeded team, with the order of legs in each tie decided by draw. As the identity of the winners of the previous round may not be known at the time of the draws, the seeding is carried out under the assumption that the team with the higher coefficient of an undecided tie advances to the subsequent round. In practice, this means if the team with the lower coefficient advances in the Europa League or the team with the higher coefficient is eliminated from the Champions League, it simply takes the seeding of its opponent.
Prior to the draws, UEFA may form "groups" in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee, purely for the convenience of the draw and not to resemble any real groupings in the sense of the competition. Teams from associations with political conflicts as decided by UEFA cannot be drawn into the same tie. After the draws, the order of legs of a tie may be reversed by UEFA due to scheduling or venue conflicts.
Schedule
The schedule of the competition is as follows. Matches are scheduled for Thursdays, though exceptionally could take place on Tuesdays or Wednesdays due to scheduling conflicts.[2]
| Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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-off round | 3 August 2026 | 20 August 2026 | 27 August 2026 |
Teams
In the qualifying stage, the teams will be divided into two paths:
- Champions Path (12 teams):
- Third qualifying round: 12 losers of the Champions League Champions Path second qualifying round.
- Main Path:
- First qualifying round (12 teams): 12 teams which enter in this round.
- Second qualifying round (18 teams): 12 teams which enter in this round, and 6 winners of the first qualifying round.
- Third qualifying round (14 teams): 3 teams which enter in this round, 2 losers of the Champions League League Path second qualifying round, and 9 winners of the second qualifying round.
The winners of the third qualifying round were combined into a single path for the play-off round:
- Play-off round (24 teams): 5 teams which enter this round, 6 losers of the Champions League Champions Path third qualifying round, 6 winners of the Champions Path third qualifying round, and 7 winners of the Main Path third qualifying round.
All teams eliminated from the qualifying phase and play-off round enter the Conference League:
- The 6 losers of the Main Path first qualifying round enter the Main Path second qualifying round.
- The 9 losers of the Main Path second qualifying round enter the Main Path third qualifying round.
- The 6 losers of the Champions Path third qualifying round enter the Champions Path play-off round.
- The 7 losers of the Main Path third qualifying round enter the Main Path play-off round.
- The 12 losers of the play-off round enter the league phase.
Below were the participating teams (with their 2026 UEFA club coefficients, not used as seeding for the Champions Path, however),[5] grouped by their starting rounds.
| Key to colours |
|---|
| Winners of play-off round advance to league phase |
| Losers of play-off round enter Conference League league phase |
| Losers of third qualifying round enter Conference League play-off round |
| Losers of second qualifying round enter Conference League third qualifying round |
| Losers of first qualifying round enter Conference League second qualifying round |
|
|
|
|
- Notes
- CH Q3 Losers of Champions League third qualifying round (Champions Path).
- CH Q2 Losers of Champions League second qualifying round (Champions Path).
- LP Q2 Losers of Champions League second qualifying round (League Path).
First qualifying round
The draw for the first qualifying round was held on 16 June 2026.[6]
Seeding
A total of 12 teams play in the first qualifying round. Seeding of the teams was based on their 2026 UEFA club coefficients.[5] The teams were divided into seeded and unseeded pots. The first team drawn in each tie was designated the home team for the first leg.
Summary
The first legs were played on 9 July, and the second legs will be played on 16 July 2026.
The winners of the ties will advance to the second qualifying round. The losers will be transferred to the Conference League Main Path second qualifying round.
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Dynamo Kyiv  | Match 1 |  Universitatea Cluj | 0–0 | 16 Jul |
Qarabağ  | Match 2 |  Vestri | 3–0 | 16 Jul |
Hajduk Split  | Match 3 |  Žilina | 2–0 | 16 Jul |
CSKA Sofia  | Match 4 |  Derry City | 3–2 | 16 Jul |
Sheriff Tiraspol  | Match 5 |  Aluminij | 0–0 | 16 Jul |
Vojvodina  | Match 6 |  Ferencváros | 1–2 | 16 Jul |
Matches
| Dynamo Kyiv | 0–0 | Universitatea Cluj |
|---|---|---|
| Report[7] |
| Vestri | v | Qarabağ |
|---|---|---|
| Report[13] |
| Hajduk Split | 2–0 | Žilina |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[14] |
| CSKA Sofia | 3–2 | Derry City |
|---|---|---|
| Report[17] |
| Derry City | v | CSKA Sofia |
|---|---|---|
| Report[19] |
| Sheriff Tiraspol | 0–0 | Aluminij |
|---|---|---|
| Report[20] |
| Aluminij | v | Sheriff Tiraspol |
|---|---|---|
| Report[22] |
| Vojvodina | 1–2 | Ferencváros |
|---|---|---|
|
Report[23] |
|
Second qualifying round
The draw for the second qualifying round was held on 17 June 2026.[26]
Seeding
A total of 18 teams will play in the second qualifying round: 12 teams which enter in this round, and the six winners of the first qualifying round. Seeding of the teams was based on their 2026 UEFA club coefficients.[5] For the winners of first qualifying round ties, whose identity was not known at the time of the draw, the coefficient of the team with the higher coefficient in each tie was used. Prior to the draw, UEFA divided the teams into two groups of seeded and unseeded teams, in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee. The team or pairing represented by the ball drawn first was designated as the home team for the first leg.
| Group 1 | Group 2 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Seeded | Unseeded | Seeded | Unseeded |
- Notes
- † Winners of the first qualifying round, whose identity was not known at the time of draw. Teams in italics defeated a team with a higher coefficient, thus effectively taking the coefficient of their opponent in the draw.
- ‡ Following the exclusion of Karviná and the subsequent adjustment of the Czech clubs' access places, Hradec Králové replaced Viktoria Plzeň in the UEFA Europa League second qualifying round. Hradec Králové therefore effectively inherited the seeded status associated with Viktoria Plzeň's place in the draw.
Summary
The first legs will be played on 23 July and the second legs will be played on 30 July 2026.
The winners of the ties will advance to the Main Path third qualifying round. The losers will be transferred to the Conference League Main Path third qualifying round.
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Hammarby IF  | Match 1 |  Anderlecht | 23 Jul | 30 Jul |
| Winner of match 2 | Match 2 | Winner of match 4 | 23 Jul | 30 Jul |
Tromsø  | Match 3 |  Hradec Králové | 23 Jul | 30 Jul |
Twente  | Match 4 | Winner of match 6 | 23 Jul | 30 Jul |
Beşiktaş  | Match 5 |  Midtjylland | 23 Jul | 30 Jul |
| Winner of match 3 | Match 6 |  Pafos | 23 Jul | 30 Jul |
| Winner of match 5 | Match 7 |  Maccabi Tel Aviv | 23 Jul | 30 Jul |
St. Gallen  | Match 8 |  Benfica | 23 Jul | 30 Jul |
| Winner of match 1 | Match 9 |  PAOK | 23 Jul | 30 Jul |
Matches
| Hammarby IF | v | Anderlecht |
|---|---|---|
| Report[27] |
| Anderlecht | v | Hammarby IF |
|---|---|---|
| Report[28] |
| Tromsø | v | Hradec Králové |
|---|---|---|
| Report[31] |
| Hradec Králové | v | Tromsø |
|---|---|---|
| Report[32] |
| Beşiktaş | v | Midtjylland |
|---|---|---|
| Report[35] |
| Winner of match 5 | v | Maccabi Tel Aviv |
|---|---|---|
| Report[39] |
| St. Gallen | v | Benfica |
|---|---|---|
| Report[42] |
| Benfica | v | St. Gallen |
|---|---|---|
| Report[43] |
Third qualifying round
The draw for the third qualifying round will be held on 20 July 2026.
Seeding
A total of 26 teams will play in the third qualifying round. Seeding of the teams will be based on their 2026 UEFA club coefficients.[5] Before the draw, UEFA may form groups of seeded and unseeded teams per the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee. The first team drawn in each tie will be the home team for the first leg.
| To be confirmed |
|---|
|
| Seeded | To be confirmed | Unseeded |
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Play-off round
The draw for the play-off round will be held on 3 August 2026.
Seeding
A total of 24 teams will play in the play-off round. Seeding of the teams will be based on their 2026 UEFA club coefficients.[5] Before the draw, UEFA may form groups of seeded and unseeded teams per the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee. The first team drawn in each tie will be the home team for the first leg.
| Seeded | To be confirmed | Unseeded |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Notes
- Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian teams were required to play their home matches at neutral venues until further notice.[8]
- Vestri will play their home matches at Valbjarnarvöllur in Reykjavík instead of their regular stadium, Torfnesvöllur in Ísafjörður, which does not fulfill UEFA requirements.
- Aluminij will play their home matches at Ljudski Vrt in Maribor instead of their regular stadium, Aluminij Sports Park in Kidričevo, which does not fulfill UEFA requirements.