The 2026–27 UEFA Europa League qualifying phase and play-off round began on 9 July and ended on 27 August 2026.
A total of 52 teams competed in the qualifying system, which included the qualifying phase and the play-off round. The 12 winners of the play-off round advanced to the league phase, where they joined the 13 teams that had entered directly in the league phase, along with the seven losers of the Champions League play-off round – five from the Champions Path and two from the League Path – and the four losers of the Champions League third qualifying round from the League Path.
Times are CEST (UTC+2), as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).
Format The qualifying phase was split into two paths – the Champions Path and the Main Path. The Champions Path contained teams that were eliminated from the Champions League Champions Path, and the Main Path contained teams that qualified as third-placed or fourth-placed team from their domestic league or as domestic cup winners. The paths were merged in the play-off round.
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. In practice, this meant if the team with the lower coefficient advanced in the Europa League or the team with the higher coefficient was eliminated from the Champions League, 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 2026–27 UEFA Europa LeagueRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond legFirst qualifying round16 June 20269 July 202616 July 2026Second qualifying round17 June 202623 July 202630 July 2026Third qualifying round20 July 20266 August 202613 August 2026Play-off round3 August 202620 August 202627 August 2026
Teams In the qualifying stage, the teams were divided into two paths: Champions Path (12 teams): Third qualifying round: 12 losers of the Champions League Champions Path second qualifying round. Main Path: First qualifying round (12 teams): 12 teams which entered in this round. Second qualifying round (18 teams): 12 teams which entered in this round, and 6 winners of the first qualifying round. Third qualifying round (14 teams): 3 teams which entered in this round, 2 losers of the Champions League League Path second qualifying round, and 9 winners of the second qualifying round.
The winners of the third qualifying round were combined into a single path for the play-off round: Play-off round (24 teams): 5 teams which entered this round, 6 losers of the Champions League Champions Path third qualifying round, 6 winners of the Champions Path third qualifying round, and 7 winners of the Main Path third qualifying round.
All teams eliminated from the qualifying phase and play-off round entered the Conference League: The 6 losers of the Main Path first qualifying round entered the Main Path second qualifying round. The 9 losers of the Main Path second qualifying round entered the Main Path third qualifying round. The 6 losers of the Champions Path third qualifying round entered the Champions Path play-off round. The 7 losers of the Main Path third qualifying round entered the Main Path play-off round. The 12 losers of the play-off round entered the league phase.
Below were the participating teams (with their 2026 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 phaseLosers of play-off round entered Conference League league phaseLosers of third qualifying round entered Conference League play-off roundLosers of second qualifying round entered Conference League third qualifying roundLosers of first qualifying round entered Conference League second qualifying round
+Play-off roundTeam Viktoria Plzeň50.500 Red Star Belgrade 46.500 Sint-Truiden12.450 Kairat 11.000 Trabzonspor11.000 OFI9.682 AGF 8.421 Lillestrøm8.247 Ararat-Armenia 7.000 Kauno Žalgiris 6.000 Mjällby AIF 5.925+Team Lech Poznań 27.250 Omonia 21.250 Shamrock Rovers 19.375 KuPS 14.000 Lincoln Red Imps 13.500 Víkingur Reykjavík 11.750 Universitatea Craiova 10.500 KÍ 10.500 Larne 9.000 Thun 6.940 Iberia 1999 5.000 Egnatia 4.500 +Third qualifying round (Main Path)Team Rangers59.250 Red Bull Salzburg45.000 Jagiellonia Białystok22.000 Heart of Midlothian 11.500 Górnik Zabrze 9.350+Second qualifying roundTeam Benfica90.000 Midtjylland48.250 PAOK48.250 Maccabi Tel Aviv32.500 Anderlecht30.750 Pafos24.125 Beşiktaş15.500 Twente13.585 Hradec Králové9.705 Tromsø8.247 St. Gallen6.940 Hammarby IF6.000+First qualifying roundTeam Ferencváros51.250 Qarabağ42.750 Sheriff Tiraspol20.000 Dynamo Kyiv17.500 Hajduk Split10.000 CSKA Sofia6.500 Žilina5.500 Vojvodina5.500 Universitatea Cluj5.050 Aluminij4.893 Derry City4.000 Vestri3.304 Notes
First qualifying round The draw for the first qualifying round was held on 16 June 2026.
Seeding A total of 12 teams played in the first 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.
SeededUnseeded
Summary
The first legs were played on 9 July, and the second legs were played on 16 July 2026.
The winners of the ties advanced to the second qualifying round. The losers were transferred to the Conference League Main Path second qualifying round.
Matches
0–0 on aggregate; Dynamo Kyiv won 4–2 on penalties.
Qarabağ won 6–0 on aggregate.
Hajduk Split won 3–2 on aggregate.
CSKA Sofia won 5–3 on aggregate.
Sheriff Tiraspol won 1–0 on aggregate.
Ferencváros won 5–1 on aggregate.
Second qualifying round The draw for the second qualifying round was held on 17 June 2026.
Seeding A total of 18 teams played in the second qualifying round: 12 teams which entered in this round, and the six winners of the first qualifying round. Seeding of the teams was based on their 2026 UEFA club coefficients. For the winners of first qualifying round ties, whose identity was not known at the time of the draw, the coefficient of the team with the higher coefficient in each tie was used. Prior to the draw, UEFA divided the teams into two groups of seeded and unseeded teams, in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee. The team or pairing represented by the ball drawn first was designated as the home team for the first leg.
Group 1Group 2SeededUnseededSeededUnseeded Notes
Summary
The first legs were played on 23 July, and the second legs were played on 30 July 2026.
The winners of the ties advanced to the Main Path third qualifying round. The losers were transferred to the Conference League Main Path third qualifying round.
Matches
Anderlecht won 4–2 on aggregate.
0–0 on aggregate; CSKA Sofia won 5–4 on penalties.
Hradec Králové won 4–1 on aggregate.
Ferencváros won 4–3 on aggregate.
Beşiktaş won 3–0 on aggregate.
Pafos won 4–2 on aggregate.
Maccabi Tel Aviv won 6–0 on aggregate.
Benfica won 6–2 on aggregate.
PAOK won 5–2 on aggregate.
Third qualifying round The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 20 July 2026.
Seeding A total of 26 teams played in the third qualifying round. Seeding of the teams was based on their 2026 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 designated as the home team for the first leg.
+Champions PathGroup 1Group 2SeededUnseededSeededUnseeded
+Main PathGroup 1Group 2SeededUnseededSeededUnseeded
Notes
Summary
The first legs were played on 4, 5 and 6 August, and the second legs were played on 11, 13 and 14 August 2026.
The winners of the ties advanced to the play-off round. The losers were transferred to the Conference League play-off round.
Champions Path matches
Iberia 1999 won 2–1 on aggregate.
Omonia won 2–1 on aggregate.
Universitatea Craiova won 3–2 on aggregate.
Egnatia won 6–4 on aggregate.
Lech Poznań won 6–0 on aggregate.
Thun won 5–3 on aggregate.
Main Path matches
Beşiktaş won 2–0 on aggregate.
Jagiellonia Białystok won 3–2 on aggregate.
Anderlecht won 4–2 on aggregate.
Red Bull Salzburg won 4–3 on aggregate.
Benfica won 7–2 on aggregate.
CSKA Sofia won 4–3 on aggregate.
Ferencváros won 2–1 on aggregate.
Play-off round The draw for the play-off round was held on 3 August 2026.
Seeding A total of 24 teams played in the play-off round. Seeding of the teams was based on their 2026 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.
Group 1Group 2Group 3SeededUnseededSeededUnseededSeededUnseeded
Notes
Summary
The first legs were played on 20 August, and the second legs were played on 27 August 2026.
The winners of the ties advanced to the league phase. The losers were transferred to the Conference League league phase.
Matches
Ferencváros won 5–0 on aggregate.
Ararat-Armenia won 2–1 on aggregate.
Omonia won 4–3 on aggregate.
Viktoria Plzeň won 5–4 on aggregate.
Lillestrøm won 2–1 on aggregate.
Jagiellonia Białystok won 6–1 on aggregate.
Red Bull Salzburg won 4–0 on aggregate.
Anderlecht won 6–0 on aggregate.
Lech Poznań won 9–2 on aggregate.
Beşiktaş won 3–1 on aggregate.
Benfica won 6–2 on aggregate.
OFI won 5–0 on aggregate.
Notes
References
External links