Champions League qualifying: Results, dates, how it worked

Twenty-nine teams qualified directly for the league phase of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League, with the final seven spots coming through qualifying.

There was a first, second and third qualifying round, then the play-offs. From the second qualifying round onwards, each phase was split into two paths – the champions path and the league path. The champions path contained teams that qualified as the winners of their domestic league, and the league path contained teams that qualified through domestic leagues offering more than one place in the competition.

The round at which teams enter was based on their association club coefficient rankings.

We explain how qualifying worked and list all the results.

First qualifying round

Teams involved
Champions path: 28 (enter in this round)

First legs: 8/9 July 2025
KuPS Kuopio 1-0 Milsami
The New Saints 0-0 Shkëndija
Iberia 1-3 Malmö
Levadia Tallinn 0-1 RFS
Drita 1-0 Differdange
Víkingur 2-3 Lincoln Red Imps
Egnatia 1-0 Breidablik
Virtus 0-2 Zrinjski
Olimpija 1-1 Kairat Almaty
Noah 1-0 Budućnost
Žalgiris 2-0 Hamrun Spartans
Shelbourne 1-0 Linfield
FCSB 3-1 Inter Escaldes
Ludogorets 1-0 Dinamo-Minsk

Second legs: 15/16 July 2025
Hamrun Spartans 2-0aet Žalgiris (agg: 2-2; Hamrun Spartans win 11-10 on penalties)
Milsami 0-0 KuPS Kuopio (agg: 0-1)
Shkëndija 2-1aet The New Saints (agg: 2-1)
Malmö 3-1 Iberia (agg: 6-2)
RFS 1-0 Levadia Tallinn (agg 2-0)
Differdange 2-3 Drita (agg: 2-4)
Lincoln Red Imps 1-0 Víkingur (agg 4-2)
Breidablik 5-0 Egnatia (agg: 5-1)
Linfield 1-1 Shelbourne (agg: 1-2)
Inter Escaldes 2-1 FCSB (agg: 3-4)
Zrinjski 2-1 Virtus (agg: 4-1)
Kairat Almaty 2-0 Olimpija (agg 3-1)
Budućnost 2-2 Noah (agg: 2-3)
Dinamo-Minsk 2-2aet Ludogorets (agg: 2-3)

How did it work?
• The winners of each tie advanced to the second qualifying round (champions path).
• Defeated sides switched to the UEFA Conference League second qualifying round (champions path), unless drawn to receive a bye to the UEFA Conference League third qualifying round (champions path).

Second qualifying round

Teams involved
Champions path: 24 (Ten enter in this round, along with the 14 winners of the first qualifying round)
League path: 6 (enter in this round)

First legs: 22/23 July 2025

Champions path

RFS 1-4 Malmö
Hamrun Spartans 0-3 Dynamo Kyiv
Pafos 1-1 M. Tel-Aviv
Lincoln Red Imps 0-1 Crvena Zvezda
Noah 1-2 Ferencváros
Lech Poznań 7-1 Breidablik
Copenhagen 2-0 Drita
Rijeka 0-0 Ludogorets
Shkëndija 1-0 FCSB
Slovan Bratislava 4-0 Zrinjski
Shelbourne 0-3 Qarabağ
KuPS Kuopio 2-0 Kairat Almaty

League path

Brann 1-4 Salzburg
Viktoria Plzeň 0-1 Servette
Rangers 2-0 Panathinaikos

Second legs: 29/30 July 2025

Champions path

Kairat Almaty 3-0 KuPS Kuopio (agg: 3-2)
Dynamo Kyiv 3-0 Hamrun Spartans (agg: 6-0)
Drita 0-1 Copenhagen (agg: 0-3)
Crvena Zvezda 5-1 Lincoln Red Imps (agg: 6-1)
Zrinjski 2-2 Slovan Bratislava (agg: 2-6)
Qarabağ 1-0 Shelbourne (agg: 4-0)
Malmö 1-0 RFS (agg: 5-1)
Ludogorets 3-1aet Rijeka (agg: 3-1)
FCSB 1-2 Shkëndija (agg: 1-3)
M. Tel-Aviv 0-1 Pafos (agg: 1-2)
Ferencváros 4-3 Noah (agg: 6-4)
Breidablik 0-1 Lech Poznań (agg: 1-8)

League path

Panathinaikos 1-1 Rangers (agg: 1-3)
Salzburg 1-1 Brann (agg: 5-2)
Servette 1-3 Viktoria Plzeň (agg: 2-3)

How does it work?
• The winners of each tie advanced to the third qualifying round of their respective path.
• Defeated sides of each tie switched to the UEFA Europa League third qualifying round of their respective path.

Third qualifying round

Teams involved
Champions Path: 12
League Path: 8 (five enter in this round, along with the three winners of the second qualifying round)

First legs: 5/6 August 2025

Champions Path

Malmö 0-0 Copenhagen
Dynamo Kyiv 0-1 Pafos
Shkëndija 0-1 Qarabağ
Kairat Almaty 1-0 Slovan Bratislava
Ludogorets 0-0 Ferencváros
Lech Poznań 1-3 Crvena Zvezda

League Path

Rangers 3-0 Viktoria Plzeň
Salzburg 0-1 Club Brugge
Nice 0-2 Benfica
Feyenoord 2-1 Fenerbahçe

Second legs: 12 August 2025

Champions Path

Qarabağ 5-1 Shkëndija (agg: 6-1)
Copenhagen 5-0 Malmö (agg: 5-0)
Pafos 2-0 Dynamo Kyiv (agg: 3-0)
Slovan Bratislava 1-0aet Kairat Almaty (agg: 1-1; Kairat Almaty win 4-3 on penalties)
Ferencváros 3-0 Ludogorets (agg: 3-0)
Crvena Zvezda 1-1 Lech Poznań (agg: 4-2)

League Path

Viktoria Plzeň 2-1 Rangers (agg: 2-4)
Club Brugge 3-2 Salzburg (agg: 4-2)
Fenerbahçe 5-2 Feyenoord (agg: 6-4)
Benfica 2-0 Nice (agg: 4-0)

How does it work?
• The winners of each tie advanced to the play-off round of their respective path.
• Defeated sides in the champions path switched to the UEFA Europa League play-off round.
• Defeated sides in the league path switched to the league phase of the UEFA Europa League.

Play-off round

Teams involved
Champions path: 10 (four enter in this round, along with the six winners of the third qualifying round)
League path: 4

First legs

19 August

Champions Path

Ferencváros 1-3 Qarabağ
Crvena Zvezda 1-2 Pafos

League Path

Rangers 1-3 Club Brugge

20 August

Champions Path

Bodø/Glimt 5-0 Sturm Graz
Celtic 0-0 Kairat Almaty
Basel 1-1 Copenhagen

League Path

Fenerbahçe 0-0 Benfica

Second legs

26 August

Champions Path

Pafos 1-1 Crvena Zvezda (agg: 3-2)
Sturm Graz 2-1 Bodø/Glimt (agg: 2-6)
Kairat Almaty 0-0aet Celtic (agg: 0-0; Kairat Almaty win 3-2 on penalties)

27 August

Champions Path

Qarabağ 2-3 Ferencváros (agg: 5-4)
Copenhagen 2-0 Basel (agg: 3-1)

League Path

Benfica 1-0 Fenerbahçe (agg: 1-0)
Club Brugge 6-0 Rangers (agg: 9-1)

How does it work?
• The winners of each tie advanced to the league phase.
• All defeated sides switched to the league phase of the UEFA Europa League.

League phase draw

UEFA via Getty Images

The league phase draw for the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League takes place at the Grimaldi Forum, Monaco, on Thursday 28 August.

The draw will feature 36 teams – the 29 automatic qualifiers and seven play-off round winners.