The 2026–27 UEFA Youth League Domestic Champions Path will begin on 16 September and end on 9 December 2026. A total of 50 teams will compete in the Domestic Champions Path to decide 10 of the 32 places in the knockout phase of the 2026–27 UEFA Youth League.
Times are CET or CEST, as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).
Format In the Domestic Champions Path, each tie will be played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scores more goals on aggregate over the two legs advances to the next round. If the aggregate score is level, as the away goals rule has been scrapped, the match will be decided by a penalty shoot-out with no extra time played.
The ten third round winners will advance to the knockout phase, where they will be joined by the 22 best-ranked teams from the UEFA Champions League Path.
Round and draw dates The schedule of the competition is as follows.
For the Domestic Champions Path first and second rounds, in principle matches were played on Wednesdays (first round on matchdays 2 and 3, second round on matchdays 4 and 5, as scheduled for UEFA Champions League); however, matches could also be played on other dates, including Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
+Schedule for 2026–27 UEFA Youth LeaguePhaseRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond legFirst round1 September 20264 October 202628 October 20264 November 2026Third round
Teams The Domestic Champions Path includes 50 youth domestic champions (or runners-up, if the champions qualified for the UEFA Champions League Path) and consists of the following rounds: First round (20 teams): 20 teams from the 20 lower-ranked member associations according to their 2026 UEFA country coefficients. Second round (40 teams): 30 teams from the top 30 member associations according to UEFA country coefficients, and 10 winners of the first round. Third round (20 teams): 20 winners of the second round.
Below are the participating teams of the Domestic Champions Path, grouped by their starting rounds. Key to coloursWinners of third round advanced to knockout phaseTeams eliminated
+Second roundTeam Chelsea Fiorentina TSG Hoffenheim Clermont AZ Benfica Genk Hradec Králové Göztepe Stabæk PAOK Red Bull Salzburg Rangers Legia Warsaw Copenhagen Zürich Maccabi Tel Aviv Pafos Hammarby Dinamo Zagreb Red Star Belgrade Dynamo Kyiv MTK Budapest Farul Constanța Žilina Bravo Septemvri Sofia Qarabağ St Patrick's Athletic Sheriff Tiraspol+First roundTeam Þór Akureyri Super Nova Zrinjski Mostar Ballkani HJK Kairat HB Valletta Cliftonville Žalgiris Flora Partizani Mladost Donja Gorica UNA Strassen Cardiff Met Dinamo Tbilisi AP Brera Strumica Dinamo Minsk FC Santa Coloma Lincoln Red Imps
First round Draw The draw for the first round was held on 1 September 2026. Group 1Group 2Group 3Group 4
Summary
The first legs will be played on 16 September and the second legs on 14 October 2026.
The winners of the ties will advance to the second round.
Matches
Second round The draw for the second round was held on 1 September 2026. Group 1Group 2Group 3Group 4 Summary
The winners of the ties advanced to the third round.
Matches
Third round Summary
The winners of the ties advanced to the knockout phase.
Matches
Notes
References
External links
UEFA Youth League Matches: 2026–27, UEFA.com