Before the 36-team league phase kicks off, 52 clubs have to win their way in through a summer of Champions League qualifiers, played out over two legs between clubs you might not know yet and a few you definitely do.
For the champions of Europe’s smaller leagues it is the only route to the top table. For bigger names who slipped up at home, it is a nervy detour they would rather avoid. Either way, it all starts on 7 July.
Odds are live now, so you can back every qualifying tie on our Champions League betting page.
UEFA Champions League Qualification Fixtures and Schedule
The 2026/27 qualifying campaign runs from 7 July to 26 August, which means there is European football to follow all summer, even while the World Cup is still reaching its closing stages in North America. It opens with the first qualifying round, where 28 clubs across 14 ties play their first legs on 7 and 8 July and the return legs a week later on 14 and 15 July.
Every side in that opening round is the champion of one of UEFA’s lower-ranked nations, and there is plenty for British and Irish fans to keep an eye on. The New Saints carry Welsh hopes, Shamrock Rovers fly the flag for the League of Ireland, Larne represent Northern Ireland and Gibraltar’s Lincoln Red Imps are back on the European trail.
This is the full first qualifying round draw, with first-leg hosts listed first:
- Sabah (Azerbaijan) vs The New Saints (Wales)
- Lincoln Red Imps (Gibraltar) vs Inter Escaldes (Andorra)
- Floriana (Malta) vs Shamrock Rovers (Republic of Ireland)
- Tre Fiori (San Marino) vs Larne (Northern Ireland)
- Ararat-Armenia (Armenia) vs Riga (Latvia)
- Kauno Žalgiris (Lithuania) vs Drita (Kosovo)
- Vardar (North Macedonia) vs KuPS Kuopio (Finland)
- Borac Banja Luka (Bosnia and Herzegovina) vs Levski Sofia (Bulgaria)
- KÍ Klaksvík (Faroe Islands) vs Atert Bissen (Luxembourg)
- Víkingur Reykjavík (Iceland) vs Győri ETO (Hungary)
- Kairat Almaty (Kazakhstan) vs Sutjeska (Montenegro)
- Flora Tallinn (Estonia) vs Iberia Tbilisi (Georgia)
- ML Vitebsk (Belarus) vs Universitatea Craiova (Romania)
- Petrocub (Moldova) vs Egnatia (Albania)
Qualification round calendar and important dates
From the first round, the competition builds week by week: the second qualifying round is played on 21/22 and 28/29 July, the third qualifying round on 4/5 and 11 August, and the play-offs on 18/19 and 25/26 August. Win your tie and you go through. Lose it and your Champions League is over, at least for this season.
Seven clubs come out the other side of the play-offs and join the 29 sides who qualified directly, completing the 36-team league phase. That field is finalised at the league phase draw on 27 August, with the opening matchday following between 8 and 10 September.
Only the first and second qualifying rounds have been drawn so far (with the second still showing placeholder slots for the sides who’ll come through the first round). The later rounds are paired off as the summer goes on, with the third qualifying round draw on 20 July and the play-off draw on 3 August, so the marquee ties will take shape over the coming weeks.
Format of the Qualification
Champions League qualifying is a four-stage climb. There is a first, second and third qualifying round, followed by the play-offs, and every tie across all four stages is settled over two legs, home and away.
From the second round onwards the bracket splits into two separate routes:
- The Champions Path is reserved for clubs that won their domestic league but were not high-ranked enough to go straight into the league phase.
- The League Path is for the runners-up, third and fourth-placed sides from Europe’s stronger leagues who also have to qualify.
Keeping the two apart means a champion of a smaller nation is matched against similar opposition instead of being thrown straight in against a heavyweight that happened to finish fourth in one of the big five.
In total, 52 clubs participate in the qualifiers: 42 in the Champions Path and 10 in the League Path.
Only seven of them make it, five from the Champions Path and two from the League Path.
How teams are seeded
The round a club enters is set by its national association’s coefficient, so the champions of the lowest-ranked countries start in the first round, while better-ranked sides are seeded straight into later stages.
Within each round, the draw is seeded using 2026 UEFA club coefficients, splitting teams into seeded and unseeded groups so the strongest names are kept apart for as long as possible.
The wider field works on the same coefficient logic. Twenty-nine teams qualify directly for the league phase, including the holders and the Europa League winners, with the top leagues handed the most places and lower-ranked nations getting fewer.
The access list can also shift right up to the start of qualifying. This season, because both 2025/26 finalists Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal had already booked their places through their domestic leagues, the berth normally reserved for the title holders passed down the rankings to Shakhtar Donetsk, who move straight into the league phase as a result.
Key Dates and Schedule
If you want the whole calendar in one place, here is how the 2026/27 qualifying schedule lines up, from the draws through to the final ties.
| Round | Draw | First legs | Second legs |
| First qualifying round | 16 June | 7–8 July | 14–15 July |
| Second qualifying round | 17 June | 21–22 July | 28–29 July |
| Third qualifying round | 20 July | 4–5 August | 11 August |
| Play-off round | 3 August | 18–19 August | 25–26 August |
Once the play-offs are settled, the seven winners join the directly qualified clubs at the league phase draw on 27 August, with matchday one following between 8 and 10 September.
A defeat in qualifying does not always mean a club’s European season is finished, and this is where the Champions League connects to UEFA’s other two competitions.
- In the Champions Path, clubs knocked out in the first round move into the Conference League, while those eliminated in the second and third rounds parachute into the Europa League.
- League Path casualties also land in the Europa League. The result is a safety net that keeps a steady flow of clubs moving between the three tournaments.
UK & Irish Teams and Key Matchups
The New Saints (Wales), Shamrock Rovers (Republic of Ireland), Larne (Northern Ireland) and Lincoln Red Imps (Gibraltar) all begin in the first qualifying round. Hearts (Scotland) will play during the second qualifying round – their first match is on 21 or 22 July against Sturm Graz.
The marquee British name arrives much later. Celtic, as Scottish champions, skip the summer slog entirely and enter at the Champions Path play-off round in mid-to-late August.
The League Path is where several recognisable continental sides have to grind their way through. Olympiacos, Lyon and Bodø/Glimt all enter at the third qualifying round.
Over in the Champions Path, established European regulars Red Star Belgrade and Dinamo Zagreb are seeded into the second round and will fancy their chances of going deep.
For now, the first qualifying round is the only fully drawn stage. The third qualifying round draw on 20 July and the play-off draw on 3 August will finally pair up the heavyweights.
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