2025–26 UEFA Conference League qualifying
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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.
| Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|
| First qualifying round | 17 June 2025 | 10 July 2025 | 17 July 2025 |
| Second qualifying round | 18 June 2025 | 24 July 2025 | 31 July 2025 |
| Third qualifying round | 21 July 2025 | 7 August 2025 | 14 August 2025 |
| Play-off round | 4 August 2025 | 21 August 2025 | 28 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 colours |
|---|
| Winners of play-off round advanced to league phase |
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 colours |
|---|
| Winners of play-off round advanced to league phase |
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.
Summary
The first legs were played on 8 and 10 July, and the second legs were played on 16 and 17 July 2025.
The winners of the ties advanced to the second qualifying round.
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.
Notes
Summary
The first legs were played on 22, 23 and 24 July, and the second legs were played on 29 and 31 July 2025.
The winners of the ties advanced to the third qualifying round.
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.
Notes
Summary
The first legs were played on 5 and 7 August, and the second legs were played on 13 and 14 August 2025.
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.
Notes
Summary
The first legs were played on 21 August, and the second legs were played on 27 and 28 August 2025.