2026–27 UEFA Champions League qualifying

The 2026–27 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase and play-off round began on 7 July and ended on 26 August 2026.

A total of 52 teams competed in the qualifying system of the 2026–27 UEFA Champions League, which included the qualifying phase and the play-off round. Of these, 42 teams competed in the Champions Path and 10 in the League Path. The seven winners of the play-off round—five from the Champions Path and two from the League Path—advanced to the league phase, where they joined the 29 teams that had already entered the league phase.

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 League Path. The Champions Path contained teams which qualified as the winners of their domestic league, and the League Path contained teams which qualified as runners-up, third-placed or fourth-placed teams from their domestic league.

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 determined 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.

+Schedule for 2026–27 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase and play-off roundRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond legFirst qualifying round16 June 20267–8 July 202614–15 July 2026Second qualifying round17 June 202621–22 July 202628–29 July 2026Third qualifying round20 July 20264–5 August 202611 August 2026Play-off round3 August 202618–19 August 202625–26 August 2026

Teams The information below reflects Russia's ongoing suspension from UEFA. Champions Path The Champions Path included all league champions which did not qualify directly for the league phase and consisted of the following rounds: First qualifying round (28 teams): 28 teams which entered in this round. Second qualifying round (24 teams): 10 teams which entered in this round, and 14 winners of the first qualifying round. Third qualifying round (12 teams): 12 winners of the second qualifying round. Play-off round (10 teams): 4 teams which entered in this round, and 6 winners of the third qualifying round.

The default access list could be altered based on the qualifying teams' 2026 UEFA club coefficients should the winners of the 2025–26 UEFA Champions League also have qualified for the 2026–27 edition via their domestic league.

All teams eliminated from the Champions Path entered either the Europa League or the Conference League: The losers of the first qualifying round entered the Conference League Champions Path second qualifying round unless drawn to receive a bye to the Conference League Champions Path third qualifying round. The 12 losers of the second qualifying round entered the Europa League Champions Path third qualifying round The 6 losers of the third qualifying round entered the Europa League play-off round. The 5 losers of the play-off round entered the Europa League league phase.

Below were the participating teams of the Champions Path (with their 2026 UEFA club coefficients), grouped by their starting rounds.

Key to coloursWinners of play-off round advanced to league phaseLosers of play-off round entered Europa League league phaseLosers of third qualifying round entered Europa League play-off roundLosers of second qualifying round entered Europa League third qualifying roundLosers of the first qualifying round that received a bye entered Conference League third qualifying roundLosers of the first qualifying round entered Conference League second qualifying round +Play-off roundTeam Celtic44.000 AEK Athens24.000 LASK21.000 Viking8.247 +Second qualifying roundTeam Red Star Belgrade46.500 Dinamo Zagreb46.500 Slovan Bratislava36.000 Lech Poznań27.250 Celje23.000 Omonia21.250 Hapoel Be'er Sheva14.000 AGF8.421 Thun6.940 Mjällby AIF5.925+First qualifying roundTeam Shamrock Rovers19.375 KuPS14.000 Drita13.625 Lincoln Red Imps13.500 Borac Banja Luka13.125 Víkingur Reykjavík11.750 Kairat11.000 Universitatea Craiova10.500 Riga10.500 KÍ10.500 Flora10.000 Larne9.000 Petrocub Hîncești9.000 The New Saints9.000 Inter Club d'Escaldes7.500 Levski Sofia7.000 Ararat-Armenia7.000 Sabah6.000 Kauno Žalgiris6.000 Sutjeska6.000 ETO Győr5.437 Iberia 19995.000 Egnatia4.500 Floriana4.000 Tre Fiori2.500 Vardar1.551 ML Vitebsk1.325 Atert Bissen1.325

League Path The League Path included all league non-champions which did not qualify directly for the league phase, and consisted of the following rounds: Second qualifying round (4 teams): 4 teams which entered in this round. Third qualifying round (8 teams): 6 teams which entered in this round, and 2 winners of the second qualifying round. Play-off round (4 teams): 4 winners of the third qualifying round.

The default access list could be altered based on the qualifying teams' 2026 UEFA club coefficients should the winners of the 2025–26 UEFA Europa League also have qualified for the 2025–26 edition via their domestic league.

All teams eliminated from the League Path entered the Europa League: The 2 losers of the second qualifying round entered the Main Path third qualifying round. The 4 losers of the third qualifying round entered the league phase. The 2 losers of the play-off round entered the league phase.

Below were the participating teams of the League Path (with their 2026 UEFA club coefficients), grouped by their starting rounds.

First qualifying round The draw for the first qualifying round was held on 16 June 2026.

Seeding A total of 28 teams played in the first qualifying round. Seeding of the teams was based on their 2026 UEFA club coefficients. Before the draw, UEFA divided the teams into two groups of seven seeded and seven unseeded teams per the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee. The first team drawn in each tie was designated as the home team for the first leg. + Champions PathGroup 1Group 2SeededUnseededSeededUnseeded

Summary

The first legs were played on 7 and 8 July, and the second legs were played on 14 and 15 July 2026.

The winners of the ties advanced to the Champions Path second qualifying round. Twelve of the losing teams were transferred to the Conference League Champions Path second qualifying round, while the losers of matches 4 and 5, selected following an additional draw for rebalancing purposes, were transferred to the Conference League Champions Path third qualifying round.

Matches

Sabah won 4–1 on aggregate.

Shamrock Rovers won 5–3 on aggregate.

Iberia 1999 won 5–4 on aggregate.

Lincoln Red Imps won 4–2 on aggregate.

Larne won 3–1 on aggregate.

Ararat-Armenia won 4–3 on aggregate.

KuPS won 4–3 on aggregate.

Kauno Žalgiris won 4–3 on aggregate.

Universitatea Craiova won 5–1 on aggregate.

Egnatia won 7–2 on aggregate.

Levski Sofia won 5–1 on aggregate.

Víkingur Reykjavík won 3–2 on aggregate.

Kairat won 4–1 on aggregate.

KÍ won 4–2 on aggregate.

Second qualifying round The draw for the second qualifying round was held on 17 June 2026.

Seeding A total of 28 teams played in the second qualifying round. Seeding of the teams was based on their 2026 UEFA club coefficients. For the winners of the first qualifying round, whose identity was not known at the time of the draw, the club coefficient of the highest-ranked remaining team in each tie was used. Before the draw, UEFA divided the teams and/or pairings into groups in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee. In the Champions Path, the 24 teams and/or pairings were divided into two groups of twelve, each containing six seeded and six unseeded entries. In the League Path, the four teams were divided into one group containing two seeded and two unseeded teams. The team or pairing represented by the ball drawn first was designated as the home team for the first leg.

+Champions PathGroup 1Group 2SeededUnseededSeededUnseeded

+League PathSeededUnseeded Notes

Summary

The first legs were played on 21 and 22 July, and the second legs were played on 28 and 29 July 2026.

The winners of the ties advanced to the third qualifying round. The losers were transferred to the Europa League third qualifying round.

Champions Path matches

Mjällby AIF won 3–0 on aggregate.

Red Star Belgrade won 9–0 on aggregate.

Sabah won 3–0 on aggregate.

Kauno Žalgiris won 1–0 on aggregate.

5–5 on aggregate; AGF won 4–3 on penalties.

Ararat-Armenia won 3–2 on aggregate.

Levski Sofia won 3–2 on aggregate.

1–1 on aggregate; Kairat won 6–5 on penalties.

Dinamo Zagreb won 4–3 on aggregate.

Hapoel Be'er Sheva won 3–2 on aggregate.

Slovan Bratislava won 3–1 on aggregate.

5–5 on aggregate; Celje won 4–1 on penalties.

League Path matches

Fenerbahçe won 2–1 on aggregate.

Sturm Graz won 6–0 on aggregate.

Third qualifying round The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 20 July 2026.

Seeding A total of 20 teams played in the third qualifying round. Seeding of the teams was based on their 2026 UEFA club coefficients. The teams were divided into seeded and unseeded pots. The first team drawn in each tie was designated as the home team for the first leg.

+Champions PathSeededUnseeded

+League PathSeededUnseeded Notes

Summary

The first legs were played on 4 and 5 August, and the second legs were played on 11 August 2026.

The winners of the ties advanced to the play-off round. The losers of the Champions Path were transferred to the Europa League play-off round, and the losers of the League Path were transferred to the Europa League league phase.

Champions Path matches

Dinamo Zagreb won 7–1 on aggregate.

Slovan Bratislava won 4–1 on aggregate.

Levski Sofia won 2–0 on aggregate.

Sabah won 5–2 on aggregate.

Celje won 3–2 on aggregate.

Hapoel Be'er Sheva won 3–0 on aggregate.

League Path matches

NEC won 2–1 on aggregate.

Bodø/Glimt won 6–5 on aggregate.

Fenerbahçe won 3–0 on aggregate.

Lyon won 4–2 on aggregate.

Play-off round The draw for the play-off round was held on 3 August 2026.

Seeding

2026–27 UEFA Champions League qualifying

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