2025–26 UEFA Conference League Qualifying

2025–26 UEFA Conference League qualifying is the preliminary phase of the 2025–26 UEFA Conference League, prior to the competition proper. Qualification will consist of the qualifying phase (first to third rounds) and the play-off round. It will begin on 10 July and end on 28 August 2025.

A total of 155 teams will compete in the qualifying system of the 2025–26 UEFA Conference League, which included the qualifying phase and the play-off round, with 21 teams in the Champions Path and 134 teams in the Main Path. The 24 winners of the play-off round will advance to the league phase, to join the 12 losers of the Europa League play-off round.

Times are CEST (UTC+2), as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).

Format

The qualifying phase and play-off round will be split into two paths – the Champions Path and the Main Path. The Champions Path contains teams which were eliminated from the Champions League Champions Path, and the Europa League Champions Path and the Main Path contains teams which qualify through their domestic league or as domestic cup winners as well as teams eliminated from the Europa League Main Path.

Each tie will be played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scored more goals on aggregate over the two legs will advance to the next round. If the aggregate score is level at the end of normal time of the second leg, extra time will be played, and if the same number of goals is scored by both teams during extra time, the tie will be decided by a penalty shoot-out.

In the draws for each round, teams will be 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 will be 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, which means if the team with the lower coefficient advances, it simply takes the seeding of its opponent.

Prior to the draws, UEFA can 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 can 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.

Teams

Champions Path

The Champions Path included league champions which were eliminated from the Champions Path qualifying phase of the Champions League and the Champions Path qualifying phase of the Europa League and consisted of the following rounds:
*Second qualifying round (12 teams): 12 of the 14 losers of the Champions League first qualifying round (two of the teams received a bye to the third qualifying round).
*Third qualifying round (8 teams): 6 winners of the second qualifying round, and 2 losers of the Champions League first qualifying round that received a bye.
*Play-off round (10 teams): 4 winners of the third qualifying round, and 6 losers of the Europa League Champions Path third qualifying round.

Below were the participating teams of the Champions Path (with their 2025 UEFA club coefficients, not used as seeding for the Champions Path, however), grouped by their starting rounds.

;Notes

Main Path

The Main Path includes league non-champions and domestic cup winners and consists of the following rounds:
*First qualifying round (50 teams): 50 teams which entered in this round.
*Second qualifying round (87 teams): 54 teams which entered in this round, 8 losers of the Europa League Main Path first qualifying round, and 25 winners of the first qualifying round.
*Third qualifying round (52 teams): 8 losers of the Europa League Main Path second qualifying round, 43 winners of the second qualifying round and one winner of the first qualifying round.
*Play-off round (38 teams): 5 teams which entered this round, 7 losers of the Europa League Main Path third qualifying round, and 26 winners of the third qualifying round.

Below were the participating teams of the League Path (with their 2025 UEFA club coefficients), grouped by their starting rounds.

;Notes

First qualifying round

The draw for the first qualifying round was held on 17 June 2025.

Seeding

A total of 48 teams will play in the first qualifying round. Seeding of the teams was based on their 2025 UEFA club coefficients. Before the draw, UEFA allocated the teams into six groups of four seeded teams and four unseeded teams in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee. Teams were pre-assigned numbers by UEFA so that the draw could be held in one run for all groups. The first team drawn in each tie was designated the home team for the first leg.

Summary

Matches

Second qualifying round

The draw for the second qualifying round was held on 18 June 2025.

Seeding

A total of 100 teams will play in the second qualifying round. Seeding of the teams will be based on their 2025 UEFA club coefficients. Before the draw, UEFA formed 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.

;Notes

Summary

Matches

Third qualifying round

The draw for the third qualifying round will be held on 21 July 2025.

Seeding

A total of 60 teams will play in the third qualifying round. Seeding of the teams will be based on their 2025 UEFA club coefficients. 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.

Play-off round

The draw for the play-off round will be held on 4 August 2025.

Seeding

A total of 48 teams will play in the play-off round. Seeding of the teams will be based on their 2025 UEFA club coefficients. 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.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Uefa Conference League qualifying phase and play-off round 2025-26
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July 2025 sports events in Europe
August 2025 sports events in Europe
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