2025–26 UEFA Champions League qualifying

2025–26 UEFA Champions League qualifying was the preliminary phase of the 2025–26 UEFA Champions League, prior to the competition proper. Qualification consisted of the qualifying phase (first to third rounds) and the play-off round. It began on 8 July and ended on 27 August 2025.

A total of 53 teams competed in the qualifying system of the 2025–26 UEFA Champions League, with 42 teams in Champions Path and 11 teams in League Path. The seven winners in the play-off round (five from Champions Path, two from League Path) advanced to the league phase, to join the 29 teams that entered in the league stage.

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 2025–26 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase and play-off roundRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond legFirst qualifying round17 June 20258–9 July 202515–16 July 2025Second qualifying round18 June 202522–23 July 202529–30 July 2025Third qualifying round21 July 20255–6 August 202512 August 2025Play-off round4 August 202519–20 August 202526–27 August 2025

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' 2025 UEFA club coefficients should the winners of the 2024–25 UEFA Champions League also have qualified for the 2025–26 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 2025 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 Bodø/Glimt49.000 Celtic38.000 Basel33.000 Sturm Graz23.000 +Second qualifying roundTeam Copenhagen44.875 Red Star Belgrade44.000 Ferencváros39.000 Maccabi Tel Aviv37.500 Slovan Bratislava33.500 Qarabağ32.000 Dynamo Kyiv23.500 Lech Poznań19.000 Rijeka12.000 Pafos11.125+First qualifying roundTeam Ludogorets Razgrad24.000 FCSB22.500 Olimpija Ljubljana17.375 Malmö FF14.500 Žalgiris12.000 RFS11.000 Zrinjski Mostar10.000 Lincoln Red Imps10.000 KuPS10.000 The New Saints9.000 Drita9.000 Breiðablik9.000 Linfield8.500 Budućnost Podgorica8.000 Inter Club d'Escaldes7.500 Shkëndija7.500 FCI Levadia6.500 Dinamo Minsk6.000 Hamrun Spartans6.000 Kairat5.500 Milsami Orhei5.500 Noah5.000 Differdange 035.000 Iberia 19994.500 Víkingur Gøta4.000 Shelbourne2.993 Egnatia2.500 Virtus1.500

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 (6 teams): 6 teams which entered in this round. Third qualifying round (8 teams): 5 teams which entered in this round, and 3 winners of the second qualifying round. Play-off round (4 teams): 4 winners of the third qualifying round.

All teams eliminated from the League Path entered the Europa League: The 3 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 2025 UEFA club coefficients), grouped by their starting rounds.

First qualifying round The draw for the first qualifying round was held on 17 June 2025.

Seeding A total of 28 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 three groups, two with five seeded and five unseeded teams and one with four seeded and four unseeded team 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

Summary

The first legs were played on 8 and 9 July, and the second legs were played on 15 and 16 July 2025.

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, and the other two losing teams (selected via a draw) were transferred to the Conference League Champions Path third qualifying round.

Matches

2–2 on aggregate; Hamrun Spartans won 11–10 on penalties.

KuPS won 1–0 on aggregate.

Shkëndija won 2–1 on aggregate.

Malmö FF won 6–2 on aggregate.

RFS won 2–0 on aggregate.

Drita won 4–2 on aggregate.

Lincoln Red Imps won 4–2 on aggregate.

Breiðablik won 5–1 on aggregate.

Shelbourne won 2–1 on aggregate.

FCSB won 4–3 on aggregate.

Zrinjski Mostar won 4–1 on aggregate.

Kairat won 3–1 on aggregate.

Noah won 3–2 on aggregate.

Ludogorets Razgrad won 3–2 on aggregate.

Second qualifying round The draw for the second qualifying round was held on 18 June 2025.

Seeding A total of 30 teams played in the second qualifying round. Seeding of the teams was based on their 2025 UEFA club coefficients. Before the draw, UEFA allocated the teams into three groups of four seeded teams and four unseeded teams in accordance with 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 2Group 3SeededUnseededSeededUnseededSeededUnseeded

+League PathSeededUnseeded

Notes

Summary

The first legs were played on 22 and 23 July, and the second legs were played on 29 and 30 July 2025.

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

Malmö FF won 5–1 on aggregate.

Dynamo Kyiv won 6–0 on aggregate.

Pafos won 2–1 on aggregate.

Red Star Belgrade won 6–1 on aggregate.

Ferencváros won 6–4 on aggregate.

Lech Poznań won 8–1 on aggregate.

Copenhagen won 3–0 on aggregate.

Ludogorets Razgrad won 3–1 on aggregate.

Shkëndija won 3–1 on aggregate.

Slovan Bratislava won 6–2 on aggregate.

Qarabağ won 4–0 on aggregate.

Kairat won 3–2 on aggregate.

League Path matches

Red Bull Salzburg won 5–2 on aggregate.

Viktoria Plzeň won 3–2 on aggregate.

Rangers won 3–1 on aggregate.

Third qualifying round

The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 21 July 2025.

Seeding A total of 20 teams played in the third qualifying round – 12 in the Champions Path and 8 in the League Path. Seeding of the teams was based on their 2025 UEFA club coefficients. Prior to 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 +League PathSeededUnseeded Notes

Summary

The first legs were played on 5 and 6 August, and the second legs were played on 12 August 2025.

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. The losers of the League Path were transferred to the Europa League league phase.

Champions Path matches

Copenhagen won 5–0 on aggregate.

1–1 on aggregate; Kairat won 4–3 on penalties.

Red Star Belgrade won 4–2 on aggregate.

Ferencváros won 3–0 on aggregate.

Pafos won 3–0 on aggregate.

Qarabağ won 6–1 on aggregate.

League Path matches

Club Brugge won 4–2 on aggregate.

Rangers won 4–2 on aggregate.

Benfica won 4–0 on aggregate.

Fenerbahçe won 6–4 on aggregate.

Play-off round The draw for the play-off round was held on 4 August 2025. The first legs were played on 19 and 20 August, and the second legs were played on 26 and 27 August.

Seeding A total of 14 teams played in the play-off round. Seeding of the teams was based on their 2025 UEFA club coefficients. The teams were divided into seeded and unseeded pots. The first team drawn in each tie was the home team for the first leg.

SeededUnseeded SeededUnseeded Notes

Summary

The first legs were played on 19 and 20 August, and the second legs were played on 26 and 27 August 2025.

2025–26 UEFA Champions League qualifying

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