The 2026–27 UEFA Conference League is the sixth season of the UEFA Conference League, Europe's tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA.
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.
As the reigning champions, Crystal Palace automatically qualified for the Europa League league phase, and are unable to defend their title as the new format does not allow clubs to transfer from the Europa League into the Conference League from the league phase onwards.
Association team allocation A total of 165 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: Associations 1–12 each have one team. Associations 13–33 and 51–55 (except Russia) each have two teams. Associations 34–50 each have three teams (except Liechtenstein, which has one). 15 teams eliminated from the 2026–27 UEFA Champions League and 41 teams eliminated from the 2026–27 UEFA Europa League were 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.
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 2026–27 UEFA Conference LeagueRankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes1115.1961297.2313 94.453486.331573.093667.150762.266856.850944.1001043.9001139.6871239.3121336.45021435.5501535.0001633.9811733.6251831.6251927.537RankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes2027.12522127.0252225.5002324.4002424.0002523.2502622.63202721.25022820.3432919.8753019.6253114.9683214.5003313.5203413.03133512.2503612.2503712.0413811.750RankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes3911.12534010.750418.500428.333438.250448.0001457.9573467.875477.208486.875496.791506.625516.1662526.000535.498545.457552.498
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 (52 teams)11 domestic cup winners from associations 45–55 21 domestic league runners-up from associations 34–55 (except Liechtenstein) 20 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 30–50 (except Liechtenstein)Second qualifying round (98 teams)Champions Path(12 teams)12 teams eliminated from Champions League first qualifying roundLeague Path(86 teams)11 domestic cup winners from associations 34–44 17 domestic league runners-up from associations 16–33 (except Russia) 16 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 13–29 (except Russia 9 domestic league fourth-placed teams from associations 7–15 1 domestic league fifth-placed team from association 626 winners from the first qualifying round6 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)43 winners from the second qualifying round (League Path)9 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 from European football, and so the following changes to the default access list were made:
The cup winners of associations 38 to 44 (Finland, Kazakhstan, the Faroe Islands, Malta, Northern Ireland, Lithuania, and Liechtenstein) entered the second qualifying round instead of the first qualifying round. As a result of corresponding changes to the Champions League access list, one fewer loser from the Champions League first qualifying round was 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 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, one fewer loser from the Champions League first qualifying round (two fewer in total) was 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).
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 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 2026–27 UEFA Conference LeagueEntry roundTeamsLeague phase Sint-Truiden Trabzonspor AGF Thun Mjällby AIF Red Star Belgrade Universitatea Craiova CSKA Sofia Kairat Kauno Žalgiris Egnatia Iberia 1999 Play-off round Shamrock Rovers Víkingur Reykjavík KuPS KÍ Larne Lincoln Red Imps Brighton & Hove Albion Atalanta Getafe SC Freiburg Monaco Hradec Králové PAOK Heart of Midlothian Rangers Górnik Zabrze Maccabi Tel Aviv Pafos Third qualifying round Inter Club d'Escaldes Tre Fiori Twente Tromsø Midtjylland St. Gallen Hammarby IF Hajduk Split Dynamo Kyiv Qarabağ Sheriff Tiraspol Second qualifying round ETO Győr Petrocub Hîncești Borac Banja Luka Riga Drita Floriana Flora Sutjeska Atert Bissen The New Saints Vardar ML Vitebsk Vojvodina Universitatea Cluj Žilina Aluminij Derry City Vestri Ajax Braga Gent Jablonec İstanbul Başakşehir Brann Panathinaikos Austria Wien Rapid Wien Motherwell Hibernian Raków Częstochowa GKS Katowice Nordsjælland Copenhagen Lugano Sion Beitar Jerusalem Hapoel Tel Aviv AEK Larnaca Apollon Limassol GAIS IFK Göteborg Varaždin Rijeka Partizan Železničar Pančevo LNZ Cherkasy Polissya Zhytomyr Paks Debrecen CFR Cluj FCSB DAC Dunajská Streda Spartak Trnava Koper Bravo CSKA 1948 Ludogorets Razgrad Neftçi Shelbourne Zimbru Chișinău Valur Zrinjski Mostar Noah Auda Dukagjini HJK Tobol HB Valletta Coleraine Panevėžys Vaduz First qualifying round Zira Bohemians Milsami Orhei Stjarnan Sarajevo Velež Mostar Pyunik Alashkert RFS Liepāja Malisheva Ballkani Inter Turku Ilves Astana Yelimay NSÍ Víkingur Gøta Marsaxlokk Hamrun Spartans Glentoran Linfield Hegelmann Žalgiris FCI Levadia Nõmme Kalju Paide Linnameeskond Dinamo City Elbasani Vllaznia Mornar Petrovac Dečić Differdange 03 Mondorf-les-Bains UNA Strassen Caernarfon Town Connah's Quay Nomads Penybont Dila Gori Torpedo Kutaisi Dinamo Tbilisi Sileks Shkëndija BATE Borisov Dinamo Minsk Atlètic Club d'Escaldes FC Santa Coloma St Joseph's Europa La Fiorita Virtus
Notes
Schedule
+Schedule for 2026–27 UEFA Conference LeaguePhaseRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond legQualifyingFirst qualifying round16 June 20269 July 202616 July 2026Second qualifying round17 June 202623 July 202630 July 2026Third qualifying round20 July 20266 August 202613 August 2026Play-offsPlay-off round3 August 202620 August 202627 August 2026League phaseMatchday 128 August 202615 October 2026Matchday 222 October 2026Matchday 35 November 2026Matchday 426 November 2026Matchday 510 December 2026Matchday 617 December 2026Knockout phaseKnockout phase play-offs15 January 202718 February 202725 February 2027Round of 1626 February 202711 March 202718 March 2027Quarter-finalsrowspan="3" 8 April 202715 April 2027Semi-finals29 April 20276 May 2027Final2 June 2027 at Beşiktaş Stadium, Istanbul
Qualifying rounds
First qualifying round
Second qualifying round
Third qualifying round
Play-off round
League phase
The Conference League league phase will feature 36 teams: the 24 winners of the Conference League play-off round and the 12 losing teams from the Europa League play-off round.
AGF, Egnatia, Iberia 1999, Inter Club d'Escaldes, Kauno Žalgiris, Mjällby, Riga and Sint-Truiden will make their debut appearances in a major UEFA competition group stage or league phase. Inter Club d'Escaldes will be the first team from Andorra to play in a major UEFA competition group or league phase.
A total of 30 national associations will be represented in the league phase.
Table The top eight ranked teams receive a bye to the round of 16. Teams ranked from 9th to 24th contested the knockout phase play-offs, with the teams ranked from 9th to 16th seeded for the draw, while those ranked 17th to 24th were not. Teams ranked from 25th to 36th are eliminated from European competition.
Results
Statistics Statistics exclude qualifying rounds and play-off round.
Table correct as of 15 October 2026.
Top goalscorers RankPlayerTeamGoalsMinutes played1
See also 2026–27 UEFA Champions League 2026–27 UEFA Europa League 2026–27 UEFA Women's Champions League 2026–27 UEFA Women's Europa Cup
References
External links