UEFA Europa League Qualification Preview: Fixtures, Teams & Key Matchups

While most of Europe is still on its summer break, UEFA’s European club football is already back. On 9th July 2026, six ties among twelve clubs will kick off the new UEFA Europa League qualification season, more than two full months before the league phase begins.

Although many of these games go unnoticed, the stakes could not be higher for the clubs involved. For example, for countries like Iceland, Moldova, Ireland, and more, a run through qualifying could be a game-changing opportunity, because it brings in more revenue than an entire domestic season. It also puts a small club’s name in front of a Europe-wide audience.

Meanwhile, for clubs dropping down from Champions League qualifying, it’s a second chance at a European campaign.

By the time the qualifying phase concludes on 27 August, 52 clubs will have played, and only a fraction of them will still be standing when the league phase draw is made a day later. These clubs meet the marquee teams that make it to Europe directly via their domestic competitions.

Below, we tell you the qualifying format, the key dates, and the fixtures and clubs worth following for Europe’s second-tier competition.

UEFA Europa League Qualification Fixtures and Schedule

Teams enter the tournament at various stages depending on their seeding. 

Thirteen teams have qualified directly for the League phase. The remaining sides have secured their place through the first, second, and third qualifying rounds, along with the losing teams transferring from the Champions League third qualifying round. This leads to August’s play-off round, where the 36-team line-up is completed.

These are the teams participating in the 2026-27 season:

12 Teams Entering in the First Qualifying Round

• Aluminij (Slovenia)
• CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria)
• Derry (Ireland)
• Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine)
• Ferencváros (Hungary)
• Hajduk Spilt (Croatia)
• Qarabag (Azerbaijan)
• Sheriff (Moldova)
• U Cluj (Romania)
• Vestri (Iceland)
• Vojvodina (Serbia)
• Zilinia (Slovakia)

12 Teams Entering in the Second Qualifying Round

• RSC Anderlecht (Belgium)
• Benfica (Portugal)
• Besiktas (Turkey)
• Hammarby (Sweden)
• M. Tel-Aviv (Israel)
• Midtjylland (Denmark)
• Pafos (Cyprus)
• PAOK (Greece)
• St. Gallen (Switzerland)
• Tromsø (Norway)
• Twente (Netherlands)
• FC Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic)

3 Teams Entering in the Third Qualifying Round

• Jagiellonia (Poland)
• Rangers (Scotland)
• Salzburg (Austria)

5 Teams Entering in the Play-offs

• MFK Karviná (Czech Republic)
• Lillestrøm (Norway)
• OFI Crete (Greece)
• Sint-Truidense (Belgium)
• Trabzonspor (Turkey)

13 Teams Entering Directly in the Group Stage

• AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands)
• Bournemouth (England)
• Celta (Spain)
• Crystal Palace (England)
• Hoffenheim (Germany)
• Juventus (Italy)
• Leverkusen (Germany)
• Marseille (France)
• Milan (Italy)
• Real Sociedad (Spain)
• Rennes (France)
• Sunderland (England)
• Torreense (Portugal)

Key Dates and Schedule

Currently, only the first and second qualifying round dates are available. More match dates will be released as the third round starts. Note that exact dates may vary depending on the weather.

All match timings are mentioned in BST (British Summer Time).

First Qualifying Round (Leg 1 of 2)

First Qualifying Round (Leg 2 of 2)

Second Qualifying Round (Leg 1 of 2)

Second Qualifying Round (Leg 2 of 2)

Europa League: Qualifiers 2026-27

• First qualifying round: 9 and 16 July 2026
• Second qualifying round: 23 and 30 July 2026
• Third qualifying round: 6 and 13 August 2026
• Play-offs: 20 and 27 August 2026

Europa League: League Phase Matches 2026-27

• Matchday 1: 16 & 17 September 2026
• Matchday 2: 15 October 2026
• Matchday 3: 22 October 2026
• Matchday 4: 5 November 2026
• Matchday 5: 26 November 2026
• Matchday 6: 10 December 2026
• Matchday 7: 21 January 2027
• Matchday 8: 28 January 2027

Europa League: Knockout Phase 2026-27

• Knockout phase play-offs: 18 and 25 February 2027
• Round of 16: 11 & 18 March 2027
• Quarterfinals: 8 & 15 April 2027
• Semifinals: 29 April & 6 May 2027
• Final: 26 May 2027 (Frankfurt)

Format of the Qualification

The 2026-27 campaign will be the 56th season of this club competition – 17th since it was rebranded from the UEFA Cup to the Europa League, and the third under the new format.

How are the Teams Selected?

Several teams are selected from all over Europe based on their performance in domestic competitions. UEFA also uses a coefficient ranking that ranks the combined as well as individual performance of all clubs from every country in European competitions. Based on this, teams are selected in the following way:

• Domestic Cup Winners: The winner of the national cup, like the FA Cup, Copa del Rey, etc, qualify for the Europa League. If the cup winner has already qualified for the Champions League, their Europa League spot goes to the next highest-placed national team.
• League Positions: Depending on the country’s UEFA ranking, teams finishing in 2nd to 6th place in their domestic leagues may enter the Europa League qualifiers. For example, Bournemouth and Sunderland earned a spot after finishing 6th and 7th respectively in the Premier League. German teams, Hoffenheim and Leverkusen, earned their spot after finishing 5th and 6th respectively in the Bundesliga. The higher-ranked teams qualified for the UEFA Champions League.
• Champions League Dropouts: Teams that lose in the early rounds of UEFA Champions League qualification get a second chance by dropping into the Europa League qualifiers.

How are the Teams Placed in Qualifying Rounds?

The qualifying phase is split into two paths: the Champions Path and the Main Path. 

The Champions Path is made up of clubs eliminated from the Champions League’s qualifying rounds. The Main Path, meanwhile, contains clubs that qualified through their league position or by winning their domestic cup. This ensures a broad spread of nations are represented once the league phase begins.

Each country is given a UEFA country coefficient ranking, which determines the number of teams that they can send to this tournament and the stage at which they enter.

This ranking looks at the performance of each club over the last five seasons. The higher the rank, the more spots the country gets in all UEFA competitions – the Champions League (1st tier), Europa League (2nd tier), and the Conference League (3rd tier). 

This season, 13 highest-ranked teams are entering directly in the group stage, meaning they won’t have to go through the qualifier rounds.

Teams from the lowest-ranked countries like Slovenia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Croatia, must start in the first qualifying round.
The second round is the starting point for most domestic cup winners from lower-ranked teams. Some teams drop into this round after losing the first round of the Champions League qualifiers.
Cup winners from mid-ranked clubs join in the third qualifying round. This round also hosts Champions League second-round losers (Champions Path).
Play-offs are the final hurdle before the group stage starts. Champions League third-round losers enter here and the winners from this round qualify for the group stage.

Notable Teams and Matchups

Ferencvárosi TC (Hungary)

Ferencváros earned an entry into the first qualifying round after winning the Hungarian Cup. They are drawn against Serbia’s Vojvodina. Ferencváros managed to reach the Europa League league phase in 2024-25, so they have more recent European know-how than most sides they’ll face in the qualifying rounds.

Qarabağ FK (Azerbaijan)

Qarabağ was the domestic runner-up and is drawn against Iceland’s Vestri. It’s a striking pairing because this is Vestri’s debut, while Qarabağ reached the UEFA Champions League knockout play-offs last season.

SL Benfica (Portugal)

Benfica will enter in the second qualifying round. They earned their spot after finishing third in the Primeira Liga. They have been in the Europa League several times. They reached the quarter-finals in 2023/24, Round of 32 in 2020/21, and the final in 2013/14.

Rangers FC (Scotland)

Rangers enter at the third qualifying round after finishing third in the Scottish Premiership, behind Celtic and Hearts. They reached the 2021-22 Europa League final, so they have a solid experience than most sides in the qualifying rounds this summer.

Trabzonspor AŞ (Turkey)

They won the Turkish Cup and earned a spot in the play-off round (one tie away from the League phase). They lifted the trophy for the 10th time in May. Domestically, they’re one of Turkey’s most successful clubs, which has kept them in European competition on and off in the last 10 years.

Crystal Palace FC (England)

Crystal Palace enter the League phase directly as last year’s Conference League champions. It’s their first European trophy, so they get to bypass the qualifying rounds altogether despite a mid-table Premier League finish.

AFC Bournemouth & Sunderland AFC (England)

Both clubs have qualified for their maiden UEFA competition. Bournemouth qualified by finishing 6th in the Premier League. Sunderland had a dramatic season. They were recently promoted via the Championship play-offs in 2024-25, and secured their European spot with a nail-biting final-day win over Chelsea in the Premier League.

S.C.U. Torreense (Portugal)

Torreense won the Taça de Portugal and earned a spot straight into the League phase. This is the first time in their history they’ve featured in a UEFA club competition.

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