Champions League qualifying: Fixtures, results, dates, how it works

Twenty-nine teams have qualified directly for the league phase of the 2026/27 UEFA Champions League, with the final seven spots coming through qualifying.

There is a first, second and third qualifying round, then the play-offs. From the second qualifying round onwards, each phase is split into two paths – the champions path and the league path. The champions path contains teams that qualified as the winners of their domestic league, and the league path contains teams that qualified through domestic leagues offering more than one place in the competition. The round at which teams enter is based on their association club coefficient rankings.

Qualifying for the UEFA club competitions has been specifically designed to ensure that teams from a minimum of 37 national associations make their way to the league phase of the Champions League, Europa League or Conference League.

Losing sides from the qualifying rounds of the Champions League and Europa League are given another chance to progress when they parachute down into the Europa League or Conference League. Losing sides from the Champions League and Europa League play-offs go directly into the league phase of the Europa League and Conference League respectively.

For more information about the qualifying competition, including the rules around player registration, see the official regulations.

We explain how qualifying works and list all the fixtures and results.

First qualifying round

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

First legs

Tuesday 7 July

Sabah 2-0 The New Saints
Lincoln Red Imps 3-1 Inter Escaldes*
Ararat-Armenia 2-0 Riga
Kauno Žalgiris 1-1 Drita
Vardar 0-2 KuPS Kuopio
Floriana 2-0 Shamrock Rovers
Tre Fiori 0-1 Larne*
Borac 1-1 Levski Sofia
Klaksvík 2-1 Atert Bissen
Víkingur Reykjavík 1-0 Győri ETO

Wednesday 8 July

Kairat Almaty 2-1 Sutjeska 
Flora Tallinn 2-3 Iberia Tbilisi
Vitebsk 1-4 Universitatea Craiova 
Petrocub 1-1 Egnatia 

Second legs

Tuesday 14 July

KuPS Kuopio 2-3aet Vardar (agg: 4-3)
Iberia Tbilisi 2-2 Flora Tallinn (agg: 5-4)
Inter Escaldes 1-1 Lincoln Red Imps* (agg: 2-4)
Riga 3-2 Ararat-Armenia (agg: 3-4) 
Győri ETO 2-2 Víkingur Reykjavík (agg: 2-3)
The New Saints 1-2 Sabah (agg: 1-4) 
Levski Sofia 4-0 Borac (agg: 5-1)
Drita 2-3 Kauno Žalgiris (agg: 3-4)
Shamrock Rovers 5-1 Floriana (agg: 5-3)
Larne 2-1 Tre Fiori* (agg: 3-1)

Wednesday 15 July

Universitatea Craiova 1-0 Vitebsk (agg: 5-1)
Atert Bissen 1-2 Klaksvík (agg 2-4)
Egnatia 6-1 Petrocub (agg 7-2)
Sutjeska 0-2 Kairat Almaty (agg: 1-4)

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).

* Defeated side switched to the UEFA Conference League third qualifying round (champions path)

Second qualifying round

Teams involved
Champions path: 24 (10 enter in this round, along with the 14 winners of the first qualifying round)
League path: 4 (enter in this round)

All kick-off times CET

First legs

Tuesday 21 July

Champions path

Mjällby 3-0 Lincoln Red Imps
Sabah 1-0 KuPS Kuopio
Ararat-Armenia 2-0 Shamrock Rovers
Iberia Tbilisi 0-2 Slovan Bratislava
Aarhus 1-4 Lech Poznań
Thun 1-1 GNK Dinamo
Klaksvík 0-0 Kauno Žalgiris
Larne 0-4 Crvena Zvezda
Víkingur Reykjavík 2-1 Hapoel Beer-Sheva

League path

Fenerbahçe 1-0 Górnik Zabrze
Sturm Graz 4-0 Hearts

Wednesday 22 July

Champions path

Omonia 1-0 Kairat Almaty
Levski Sofia 1-0 Universitatea Craiova
Egnatia 3-3 Celje

Second legs

Tuesday 28 July

Champions path

KuPS Kuopio 0-2 Sabah (agg: 0-3)
Lincoln Red Imps 0-0 Mjällby (agg: 0-3)
GNK Dinamo 3-2aet Thun (agg: 4-3)
Celje 2-2aet Egnatia (agg: 5-5, Celje win 4-1 on penalties)
Shamrock Rovers 2-1 Ararat-Armenia (agg: 2-3)

League path

Hearts 0-2 Sturm Graz (agg: 0-6) 

Wednesday 29 July

Champions path

Kairat Almaty 1-0 Omonia (agg: 1-1, Kairat Almaty win 6-5 on penalties)
Kauno Žalgiris 1-0 Klaksvík (agg: 1-0)
Lech Poznań 1-4 Aarhus (agg: 5-5, Aarhus win 4-3 on penalties)
Universitatea Craiova 2-2 Levski Sofia (agg: 2-3)
Hapoel Beer-Sheva 2-0 Víkingur Reykjavík (agg: 3-2)
Crvena Zvezda 5-0 Larne (agg: 9-0)
Slovan Bratislava 1-1 Iberia Tbilisi (agg: 3-1)

League path

Górnik Zabrze 1-1 Fenerbahçe (agg: 1-2)

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

Third qualifying round

Teams involved
Champions path: 12 (the 12 winners of the second qualifying round)
League path: 8 (6 enter in this round along with the 2 winners of the second qualifying round)

First legs

Tuesday 4 August

Champions path

Mjällby vs Slovan Bratislava (18:00)
Ararat-Armenia vs Celje (18:00)
Levski Sofia vs Kairat Almaty (19:30)
Hapoel Beer-Sheva vs Crvena Zvezda (19:30)
GNK Dinamo vs Kauno Žalgiris (20:00)

League path

Olympiacos vs N.E.C. (20:00)
Union SG vs Bodø/Glimt (20:00)
Sparta Praha vs Lyon (20:00)

Wednesday 5 August

Champions path

Aarhus vs Sabah (18:30)

League path

Fenerbahçe vs Sturm Graz (20:00)

Second legs

Tuesday 11 August

Champions path

Kairat Almaty vs Levski Sofia (17:00)
Sabah vs Aarhus (18:00)
Kauno Žalgiris vs GNK Dinamo (19:00)
Crvena Zvezda vs Hapoel Beer-Sheva (20:00)
Slovan Bratislava vs Mjällby (20:15)
Celje vs Ararat-Armenia (20:15)

League path

Bodø/Glimt vs Union SG (18:00)
N.E.C. vs Olympiacos (19:30)
Sturm Graz vs Fenerbahçe (20:30)
Lyon vs Sparta Praha (21:00)

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

Play-off round

First legs: Tuesday 18/Wednesday 19 August
Second legs: Tuesday 25/Wednesday 26 August

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

League phase draw

UEFA via Getty Images

The league phase draw for the 2026/27 UEFA Champions League takes place on Thursday 27 August.

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