The 2025–26 UEFA Conference League was the fifth season of the UEFA Conference League, Europe's tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA.
This was the second UEFA Conference League played under a new format involving a 36-team league phase. The new format also did not allow teams to transfer from the Europa League to the Conference League from the league phase onwards, and thus the Conference League titleholders (Chelsea) were unable to defend their title, as the winner of the Conference League automatically qualified for the Europa League league phase. However, Chelsea had already qualified for the 2025–26 UEFA Champions League league phase via their domestic league position prior to winning the Conference League, so the automatic berth in the Europa League was not required and the access list was rebalanced.
The final was played at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig, Germany, between Crystal Palace and Rayo Vallecano, with Crystal Palace winning 1–0. As winners of the tournament, Crystal Palace automatically qualified for the 2026–27 UEFA Europa League league phase, as they did not qualify for the 2026–27 UEFA Champions League or Europa League through their league performance.
Association team allocation A total of 164 teams from 54 of the 55 UEFA member associations participated in the 2025–26 UEFA Conference League. The association ranking based on the UEFA association coefficients was used to determine the number of participating teams for each association: Associations 1–12 each had one team. Associations 13–33 and 51–55 (except Russia) each had two teams. Associations 34–50 each had three teams (except Liechtenstein, which had one). 15 teams eliminated from the 2025–26 UEFA Champions League and 41 teams eliminated from the 2025–26 UEFA Europa League were transferred to the Conference League.
Association ranking For the 2025–26 UEFA Conference League, the associations were allocated places according to their 2024 UEFA association coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 2019–20 to 2023–24.
Apart from the allocation based on the association coefficients, associations could have additional teams participating in the Conference League, as noted below: – Additional teams transferred from the UEFA Champions League – Additional/vacated teams transferred from/to the UEFA Europa League
+Association ranking for 2025–26 UEFA Conference LeagueRankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes1104.3031290.2843 89.489486.624566.831661.300756.316848.800938.6001036.0501136.0501232.9751332.60021431.6251531.5251631.4501731.1251828.0001927.775RankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes2025.52522125.3752222.96502322.10022421.8752521.5002621.3752720.3752820.1252919.6253013.2503113.1253211.5413311.5003411.1253510.8753 3610.625RankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes3710.62533810.3753910.0004010.0001419.5833429.208438.625448.500458.250467.625477.375487.207496.625506.000515.9982525.791535.708544.957551.832
Distribution The following is the access list for this season.
Teams entering in this roundTeams advancing from previous roundTeams transferred from Champions LeagueTeams transferred from Europa LeagueFirst qualifying round (48 teams)8 domestic cup winners from associations 48–55 20 domestic league runners-up from associations 34–55 (except Liechtenstein and Republic of Ireland) 20 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 30–50 (except Liechtenstein)Second qualifying round (100 teams)Champions Path(12 teams)12 teams eliminated from Champions League first qualifying roundLeague Path(88 teams)12 domestic cup winners from associations 35–47 (except Republic of Ireland) 18 domestic league runners-up from associations 16–33 (except Russia) and association 35 16 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 13–29 (except Russia and Slovakia) 9 domestic league fourth-placed teams from associations 7–15 1 domestic league fifth-placed team from association 624 winners from the first qualifying round8 teams eliminated from Europa League first qualifying roundThird qualifying round (60 teams) Champions Path(8 teams)6 winners from the second qualifying round (Champions Path)2 teams eliminated from Champions League first qualifying roundLeague Path(52 teams)44 winners from the second qualifying round (League Path)8 teams eliminated from Europa League second qualifying roundPlay-off round (48 teams)Champions Path(10 teams)4 winners from the third qualifying round (Champions Path)6 teams eliminated from Europa League third qualifying round (Champions Path)League Path(38 teams)5 domestic league sixth-placed teams from associations 1–5 (EFL Cup winners for England)26 winners from the third qualifying round (League Path)7 teams eliminated from Europa League third qualifying round (League Path)League phase (36 teams)5 winners from the play-off round (Champions Path) 19 winners from the play-off round (League Path)12 teams eliminated from Europa League play-off roundKnockout phase play-offs(16 teams) 16 teams ranked 9–24 from the league phaseRound of 16(16 teams) 8 teams ranked 1–8 from the league phase 8 winners from the knockout phase play-offs
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 39 to 44 (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Liechtenstein, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Luxembourg and Lithuania) entered the second qualifying round instead of the first qualifying round. As a result of corresponding changes to the Champions League access list, there was one fewer loser from the Champions League first qualifying round transferred to the Conference League second qualifying round (Champions Path) so one transferred team received a bye to the third qualifying round (Champions Path).
As the Champions League title holders (Paris Saint-Germain) qualified 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 was 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) received a bye to the third qualifying round (Champions Path).
As the Conference League title holders (Chelsea) qualified for the Champions League phase via their domestic league's standard berth allocation, the following changes to the default access list were made:
The cup winners of association 34 (Finland) entered the Europa League first qualifying round instead of the second qualifying round. The cup winners of associations 45 (Malta) and 46 (Georgia) entered the second qualifying round instead of the first qualifying round.
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
The second qualifying round, third qualifying round and play-off round were divided into Champions Path (CH) and Main Path (MP).
+Qualified teams for 2025–26 UEFA Conference LeagueEntry roundTeamsLeague phase Samsunspor Sigma Olomouc Aberdeen Dynamo Kyiv Rijeka Lech Poznań AEK Larnaca Slovan Bratislava KuPS Zrinjski Mostar Shkëndija Lincoln Red Imps Play-off round Drita Shelbourne Noah RFS Breiðablik Hamrun Spartans Crystal Palace Fiorentina Rayo Vallecano Mainz 05 Strasbourg Servette Wolfsberger AC Fredrikstad Shakhtar Donetsk Legia Warsaw BK Häcken CFR Cluj Third qualifying round Víkingur Gøta Virtus Anderlecht Beşiktaş Baník Ostrava Hibernian Lugano Levski Sofia Celje Sheriff Tiraspol Second qualifying round Olimpija Ljubljana Milsami Orhei Linfield Differdange 03 Žalgiris Iberia 1999 Egnatia FCI Levadia Dinamo Minsk Inter Club d'Escaldes The New Saints Budućnost Podgorica Hapoel Be'er Sheva Partizan Paks Sabah Spartak Trnava Prishtina Aktobe Ilves AZ Santa Clara Charleroi İstanbul Başakşehir Sparta Prague Dundee United Lausanne-Sport Austria Wien Rapid Wien Viking Rosenborg AEK Athens Aris Brøndby Silkeborg Maccabi Haifa Beitar Jerusalem Oleksandriya Polissya Zhytomyr Novi Pazar Radnički 1923 Hajduk Split Varaždin Raków Częstochowa Jagiellonia Białystok Aris Limassol Omonia Puskás Akadémia Győri ETO Hammarby IF AIK Universitatea Craiova Universitatea Cluj Cherno More Arda Zira Araz-Naxçıvan Žilina Košice Maribor Zimbru Chișinău Ballkani Astana Shamrock Rovers Ararat-Armenia Riga HB Sarajevo Vaduz KA Dungannon Swifts UNA Strassen Banga Hibernians Spaeri Dinamo City First qualifying round Koper Petrocub Hîncești Malisheva Ordabasy HJK SJK St Patrick's Athletic Urartu Pyunik Auda Daugavpils KÍ NSÍ Borac Banja Luka Željezničar Víkingur Reykjavík Valur Larne Cliftonville F91 Dudelange Racing Union Hegelmann Kauno Žalgiris Birkirkara Floriana Torpedo Kutaisi Dila Gori Vllaznia Partizani Nõmme Kalju Paide Linnameeskond Flora Neman Grodno Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino Dynamo Brest Vardar Sileks Rabotnicki Atlètic Club d'Escaldes FC Santa Coloma Penybont Haverfordwest County Dečić Sutjeska Magpies St Joseph's La Fiorita Tre Fiori
Two teams not playing in a national top division took part in the competition: Vaduz (2nd tier) and Spaeri (2nd tier).
Notes
Schedule The schedule of the competition was as follows. Matches were scheduled for Thursdays, with an exclusive day of 18 December, apart from the final, which took place on a Wednesday, though exceptionally could take place on Tuesdays or Wednesdays due to scheduling conflicts.
+Schedule for 2025–26 UEFA Conference LeaguePhaseRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond legQualifyingFirst qualifying round17 June 202510 July 202517 July 2025Second qualifying round18 June 202524 July 202531 July 2025Third qualifying round21 July 20257 August 202514 August 2025Play-offsPlay-off round4 August 202521 August 202528 August 2025League phaseMatchday 129 August 20252 October 2025Matchday 223 October 2025Matchday 36 November 2025Matchday 427 November 2025Matchday 511 December 2025Matchday 618 December 2025Knockout phaseKnockout phase play-offs16 January 202619 February 202626 February 2026Round of 1627 February 202612 March 202619 March 2026Quarter-finalsrowspan="3" 9 April 202616 April 2026Semi-finals30 April 20267 May 2026Final27 May 2026 at Red Bull Arena, Leipzig
Qualifying rounds
First qualifying round
Second qualifying round
Third qualifying round
Play-off round
League phase
The Conference League league phase comprised the 24 winners of the Conference League play-off round, as well as 12 losers of the Europa League play-off round.
The league phase draw for the 2025–26 UEFA Conference League took place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on 29 August 2025. The 36 teams were divided into six pots of six teams each based on their UEFA club coefficient.
The draw ceremony was held along with the league phase draw for the 2025–26 UEFA Europa League, as a change from the previous season. In the previous season's draw the 36 teams were manually drawn one at a time; this season's draw was entirely computer generated with all 36 teams' opponents and home/away locations drawn at once, but revealed pot by pot. Each team faced one opponent from each of the six pots, with one home and one away match from each pot pair of Pots 1 and 2, Pots 3 and 4, and Pots 5 and 6. Teams could not face opponents from their own association, and could only be drawn against a maximum of two sides from the same association.