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

Thirteen teams qualify directly for the league phase of the 2025/26 UEFA Europa League, with 11 transferring from the UEFA Champions League. The final 12 spots come through qualifying.

There is a first, second and third qualifying round, then the play-offs. The round at which teams enter is based on their association club coefficient rankings.

We explain how qualifying works and keep track of all the draws, fixtures and results.

First qualifying round

Teams involved
16 (enter in this round)

First legs: 10 July 2025
Shakhtar Donetsk 6-0 Ilves Tampere
Sheriff Tiraspol 4-0 Prishtina
Spartak Trnava 0-1 Häcken
Sabah 2-3 Celje
Legia Warszawa 1-0 Aktobe
Levski Sofia 0-0 Hapoel Beer-Sheva
AEK Larnaca 1-0 Partizan
Paksi 0-0 CFR Cluj

Second legs: 17 July 2025
Ilves Tampere 0-0 Shakhtar Donetsk (agg: 0-6)
Prishtina 2-1 Sheriff Tiraspol (agg: 2-5)
Häcken 2-2 Spartak Trnava (agg: 3-2)
Celje 3-3 Sabah (agg: 6-5)
Aktobe 0-1 Legia Warszawa (agg: 0-2)
Hapoel Beer-Sheva 1-1 Levski Sofia (aet, agg: 1-1, Levski win 3-1 on pens)
Partizan 2-1 AEK Larnaca (aet, agg: 2-2, AEK Larnaca win 6-5 on pens)
CFR Cluj 3-0 Paksi (agg: 3-0)

How does it work?
• The winners of each tie advance to the second qualifying round.
• Defeated sides switch to the UEFA Conference League second qualifying round Main Path).

Second qualifying round

Teams involved
16 (eight enter in this round, eight winners from the first qualifying round)

First legs: 24 July 2025

Lugano 0-0 CFR Cluj
Celje 1-1 AEK Larnaca  
Levski Sofia 0-0 Braga
Baník Ostrava 2-2 Legia Warszawa
Anderlecht 1-0 Häcken
Sheriff Tiraspol 1-3 Utrecht
Midtjylland 1-1 Hibernian
Beşiktaş 2-4 Shakhtar Donetsk

Second legs: 31 July 2025

CFR Cluj 1-0 Lugano (aet, agg: 1-0)
AEK Larnaca 2-1 Celje (agg: 3-2)
Braga 1-0 Levski Sofia (aet, agg: 1-0)
Legia Warszawa 2-1 Baník Ostrava (agg: 4-3) 
Häcken 2-1 Anderlecht (aet, agg: 2-2, Häcken win 4-2 on pens) 
Utrecht 4-1 Sheriff Tiraspol (agg: 7-2)
Hibernian 1-2 Midtjylland (aet, agg: 2-3) 
Shakhtar Donetsk 2-0 Beşiktaş (agg: 6-2)

How does it work?
• The winners of each tie advance to the third qualifying round Main Path.
• Defeated sides switch to the UEFA Conference League third qualifying round Main Path.

Third qualifying round

Teams involved
Champions Path: 12 (defeated sides from the UEFA Champions League second qualifying round Champions Path)
Main Path: 14 (three enter in this round, eight winners from the second qualifying round, three defeated sides from the UEFA Champions League second qualifying round Main Path)

First legs: 7 August 2025

Champions Path

Hamrun Spartans 1-2 Maccabi Tel-Aviv *
RFS 1-2 KuPS Kuopio **
Rijeka 1-2 Shelbourne **
Lincoln Red Imps 1-1 Noah
Zrinjski 1-1 Breidablik
FCSB 3-2 Drita

Main Path

AEK Larnaca 4-1 Legia Warszawa
Fredrikstad 1-3 Midtjylland
CFR Cluj 1-2 Braga
PAOK 0-0 Wolfsberger
Servette 1-3 Utrecht
Häcken 0-2 Brann
Panathinaikos 0-0 Shakhtar Donetsk

* game played 5 August
** games played 6 August

Second legs: 14 August 2025

Champions Path

Shelbourne 1-3 Rijeka (agg: 3-4) *
Noah 0-0 Lincoln Red Imps (aet, agg: 1-1, Lincoln win 6-5 on pens)
KuPS Kuopio 1-0 RFS (agg: 3-1)
Maccabi Tel-Aviv 3-1 Hamrun Spartans (agg: 5-2)
Breidablik 1-2 Zrinjski (agg: 2-3)
Drita 1-3 FCSB (agg: 3-6)

Main Path

Legia Warszawa 2-1 AEK Larnaca (agg: 3-5)
Midtjylland 2-0 Fredrikstad (agg: 5-1)
Braga 2-0 CFR Cluj (agg: 4-1)
Wolfsberger 0-1 PAOK (aet, agg: 0-1)
Utrecht 2-1 Servette (agg: 5-2)
Brann 0-1 Häcken (agg: 2-1)
Shakhtar Donetsk 0-0 Panathinaikos (aet, agg: 0-0, Panathinaikos win 4-3 on pens)

* game played 12 August

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 and Main Path switch to the UEFA Conference League play-off round.

Play-off round

Teams involved
24 (five enter in this round, 13 winners from the third qualifying round, six defeated sides from the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round)

First legs: 21 August

Maccabi Tel-Aviv vs Dynamo Kyiv
Shkëndija vs Ludogorets
Slovan Bratislava vs Young Boys
Malmö vs Sigma Olomouc
Panathinaikos vs Samsunspor
Aberdeen vs FCSB
Lech Poznań vs Genk
Midtjylland vs KuPS Kuopio
Lincoln Red Imps vs Braga
Zrinjski vs Utrecht
Brann vs AEK Larnaca
Rijeka vs PAOK

Second legs: 28 August

Dynamo Kyiv vs Maccabi Tel-Aviv
Ludogorets vs Shkëndija
Young Boys vs Slovan Bratislava
Sigma Olomouc vs Malmö
Samsunspor vs Panathinaikos
FCSB vs Aberdeen
Genk vs Lech Poznań
KuPS Kuopio vs Midtjylland
Braga vs Lincoln Red Imps
Utrecht vs Zrinjski
AEK Larnaca vs Brann*
PAOK vs Rijeka

*game played 27 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 Conference League.

League phase draw

UEFA via Getty Images

The league phase draw for the 2025/26 Europa League takes place at the Grimaldi Forum, Monaco, on Friday 29 August.

The draw will feature 36 teams, including the 12 teams that come through Europa league qualifying.