2025–26 UEFA Conference League qualifying was the preliminary phase of the 2025–26 UEFA Conference League, prior to the competition proper. Qualification consisted of the qualifying phase (first to third rounds) and the play-off round. It began on 10 July and ended on 28 August 2025.
A total of 155 teams competed 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 advanced 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 were split into two paths – the Champions Path and the Main Path. The Champions Path contained teams which were eliminated from the Champions League Champions Path, and the Europa League Champions Path and the Main Path contained teams which qualified through their domestic league or as domestic cup winners, as well as teams eliminated from the Europa League Main Path.
Each tie was played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scored more goals on aggregate over the two legs advanced to the next round. If the aggregate score was level at the end of normal time of the second leg, extra time was played, and if the same number of goals was scored by both teams during extra time, the tie was decided by a penalty shoot-out.
In the draws for each round, teams were 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 was 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 have been known at the time of the draws, the seeding was carried out under the assumption that the team with the higher coefficient of an undecided tie advanced to the subsequent round, which meant if the team with the lower coefficient advanced, it simply took the seeding of its opponent.
Prior to the draws, UEFA could 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 could not be drawn into the same tie. After the draws, the order of legs of a tie could be reversed by UEFA due to scheduling or venue conflicts.
Schedule The schedule of the competition was as follows. Matches were scheduled for Thursdays, though exceptionally could take place on Tuesdays or Wednesdays due to scheduling conflicts.
+Schedule for 2025–26 UEFA Conference LeagueRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond legFirst qualifying round17 June 202510 July 202517 July 2025Second qualifying round18 June 202524 July 202531 July 2025Third qualifying round21 July 20257 August 202514 August 2025Play-off round4 August 202521 August 202528 August 2025
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.
Key to coloursWinners of play-off round advanced to league phase +Play-off roundTeam RFS 11.000 Drita 9.000 Breiðablik 9.000 Hamrun Spartans 6.000 Noah 5.000 Shelbourne2.993+Third qualifying roundTeam Víkingur Gøta 4.000 Virtus 1.500+Second qualifying roundTeam Olimpija Ljubljana 17.375 Žalgiris 12.000 The New Saints 9.000 Linfield 8.500 Budućnost Podgorica 8.000 Inter Club d'Escaldes 7.500 FCI Levadia 6.500 Dinamo Minsk 6.000 Milsami Orhei 5.500 Differdange 03 5.000 Iberia 1999 4.500 Egnatia 2.500
Notes
Main Path The Main Path included league non-champions and domestic cup winners and consisted of the following rounds: First qualifying round (48 teams): 48 teams which entered in this round. Second qualifying round (88 teams): 56 teams which entered in this round, 8 losers of the Europa League Main Path first qualifying round, and 24 winners of the first qualifying round. Third qualifying round (52 teams): 8 losers of the Europa League Main Path second qualifying round, 44 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.
Key to coloursWinners of play-off round advanced to league phase +Play-off roundTeam Fiorentina62.000 Shakhtar Donetsk 52.000 Legia Warsaw 31.000 Crystal Palace23.039 CFR Cluj 19.000 Rayo Vallecano18.890 Mainz 0517.266 Strasbourg14.618 Servette 11.500 Wolfsberger AC 9.500 Fredrikstad 7.937 BK Häcken 7.000 +Third qualifying roundTeam Anderlecht 28.250 Sheriff Tiraspol 20.000 Lugano 19.250 Beşiktaş 15.000 Celje 14.000 Baník Ostrava 8.820 Hibernian 7.110 Levski Sofia 4.500+Second qualifying roundTeam AZ54.500 Rapid Wien32.250 Sparta Prague29.500 İstanbul Başakşehir23.000 Partizan 22.000 Maccabi Haifa18.000 Shamrock Rovers17.875 Omonia17.375 Hapoel Be'er Sheva 16.500 Jagiellonia Białystok14.000 Santa Clara12.453 Astana12.000 Charleroi11.370 Hajduk Split10.000 Riga10.000 Maribor9.500 AEK Athens9.500 Spartak Trnava 8.500 Ballkani8.000 Raków Częstochowa8.000 Rosenborg7.937 Viking7.937 Aris7.862 Ararat-Armenia7.500 Austria Wien7.500 Vaduz7.500 Dundee United7.110 Brøndby7.000 Silkeborg6.796 Lausanne-Sport6.725 Puskás Akadémia6.500 Universitatea Craiova6.500 Beitar Jerusalem6.325 HB6.000 Sarajevo6.000 Aris Limassol5.507 Hammarby IF5.500 Hibernians5.500 AIK5.425 Varaždin5.405 Radnički 19235.100 Novi Pazar5.100 Žilina5.000 Polissya Zhytomyr4.880 Oleksandriya4.880 Paks 4.800 Győri ETO4.800 Universitatea Cluj4.650 Košice 4.250 Zira4.000 Sabah 4.000 Cherno More3.975 Arda3.975 Araz-Naxçıvan3.925 Ilves 3.000 Zimbru Chișinău3.000 Aktobe 3.000 KA2.704 Prishtina 2.500 Dungannon Swifts1.666 Banga1.650 Dinamo City1.575 UNA Strassen1.375 Spaeri1.325+First qualifying roundTeam Borac Banja Luka13.625 HJK12.500 Flora11.500 KÍ11.000 Víkingur Reykjavík10.750 Pyunik8.500 Petrocub Hîncești8.500 Larne7.000 Paide Linnameeskond7.000 F91 Dudelange7.000 Partizani6.500 St Patrick's Athletic5.500 La Fiorita5.500 Sutjeska5.500 Vllaznia5.000 Kauno Žalgiris5.000 Ordabasy4.500 Floriana4.500 Koper4.068 Urartu4.000 Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino4.000 St Joseph's4.000 Dila Gori4.000 Dečić4.000 FC Santa Coloma4.000 Dynamo Brest4.000 Auda3.500 Neman Grodno3.500 Magpies3.500 Atlètic Club d'Escaldes3.500 Torpedo Kutaisi3.000 Valur3.000 Tre Fiori3.000 Željezničar2.606 Cliftonville2.500 Birkirkara2.500 Racing Union2.500 Sileks2.500 Daugavpils2.450 Malisheva2.408 SJK2.350 NSÍ2.150 Hegelmann1.650 Nõmme Kalju1.591 Haverfordwest County1.500 Penybont1.358 Vardar1.233 Rabotnicki1.233 Notes
First qualifying round
The draw for the first qualifying round was held on 17 June 2025.
Seeding A total of 48 teams played 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.
Group 1Group 2Group 3SeededUnseededSeededUnseededSeededUnseededGroup 4Group 5Group 6SeededUnseededSeededUnseededSeededUnseeded
Summary
Matches
Second qualifying round
The draw for the second qualifying round was held on 18 June 2025.
Seeding A total of 100 teams played in the second qualifying round. Seeding of the teams was 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 was the home team for the first leg.
+Champions PathGroup 1Group 2SeededUnseededSeededUnseeded
+Main PathGroup 1Group 2Group 3SeededUnseededSeededUnseededSeededUnseededGroup 4Group 5Group 6SeededUnseededSeededUnseededSeededUnseededGroup 7Group 8Group 9SeededUnseededSeededUnseededSeededUnseeded
Notes
Summary
Matches
Third qualifying round
The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 21 July 2025.
Seeding A total of 60 teams played in the third qualifying round. Seeding of the teams was 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 was the home team for the first leg.
+Champions PathGroup 1Group 2SeededUnseededSeededUnseeded
+Main PathGroup 1Group 2Group 3SeededUnseededSeededUnseededSeededUnseededGroup 4Group 5SeededUnseededSeededUnseeded Notes
Summary
Matches
Play-off round
The draw for the play-off round was held on 4 August 2025.
Seeding A total of 48 teams played in the play-off round. Seeding of the teams was 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 was the home team for the first leg.
+Champions PathSeededUnseeded
+Main PathGroup 1Group 2SeededUnseededSeededUnseededGroup 3Group 4SeededUnseededSeededUnseeded
Notes
Summary
Matches
References
External links