UEFA men’s club competitions up and running for 2026/27

Few people realise that around 45% – almost half – of the UEFA Champions League, Europa League and Conference League season is played in July and August, with more than 400 matches taking place across the first, second and third qualifying rounds, as well as the play-offs.

Here, we look at some of the standout stories from the opening week of qualifying, as newcomers and established forces alike began their European adventures.

UEFA Champions League: Veterans shine, first-time winners

With almost 11 months and 286 matches until the final in Madrid’s Estadio Metropolitano, the first goal of the 2026/27 UEFA Champions League season was scored in Gibraltar, where 41-year-old Nano got Lincoln Red Imps off to a flier from the penalty spot, setting his team up for a 3-1 win over Andorra’s Inter Escaldes.

In the Faroe Islands, another veteran, club icon Páll Klettskarð, scored his first-ever UEFA Champions League goal for Klaksvík at the age of 36 as the home side beat Luxembourg’s Atert Bissen 2-1.

Klaskvík's Páll Klettskarð celebrates after scoring against Atert BissenBELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images

Elsewhere, Sabah, who won the Azerbaijan league title for the first time last season, made more history by winning their first-ever game in the UEFA Champions League, recording a 2-0 home win over Welsh side The New Saints.

Northern Irish side Larne also picked up a first victory in the competition, beating San Marino’s Tre Fiori 1-0 away from home, while Malta’s Floriana recorded their first win since the 1993/94 preliminary round, seeing off Shamrock Rovers 2-0.

And there was a landmark first-ever away win in the European Cup or UEFA Champions League for Finnish side KuPS Kuopio, who defeated North Macedonia's Vardar 2-0 in Skopje.

UEFA Europa League: Debutants and returning World Cup stars

In the UEFA Europa League, Qarabağ kicked off their campaign with a 3-0 win against European debutants Vestri. The Icelandic side play in their national second tier but qualified for Europe by winning their domestic cup last season, and made the 7,000km journey from Ísafjarðarbær to Baku.

And fresh from playing at the FIFA World Cup with Haiti, Lenny Joseph came off the bench for Ferencváros to help his side to a 2-1 win at Serbian club Vojvodina.

Bulgaria's CSKA Sofia celebrate a goal during their Europa League 2026/27 qualifying round first leg match against Derry City Getty Images

UEFA Conference League: Statement wins and a hat-trick hero

In the UEFA Conference League, the big opening night winners were Estonia's Levadia Tallinn and North Macedonia's Shkëndija, who both recorded resounding 5-0 away victories over Wales’s Caernarfon and Gibraltar’s Europa respectively.

Elsewhere, Stjarnan forward Emil Atlason scored the first hat-trick of the new European season in a 3-1 victory over Vikingur, while Kazakh newcomers Elimai pulled off a 1-1 draw away to Armenia’s Alashkert.