UEFA Youth League domestic champions path: Third-round ties set
Wednesday, November 4, 2026
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Twenty teams are through to the third and final round in the domestic champions path.
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The second of three rounds in the UEFA Youth League domestic champions path is complete with 20 teams through to compete for ten round of 32 slots.
Former champions AZ Alkmaar, Salzburg and Benfica – who became the first non-Spanish club to play 100 Youth League games in last week's first leg – all went through from the second round. However, another past winner, Chelsea, went out to Flora Tallinn, who came through the first round on debut and are the first Estonian side to reach the third round.
Flora twice trailed in their away second leg before sealing a 3-2 victory to eliminate Chelsea 5-4 on aggregate; Sander Alamaa struck twice in the return including the penalty winner to add to his two home goals in the tie. Another team that progressed from the first round on debut had an impressive win as Super Nova of Latvia wiped out a 1-0 deficit from their away leg with a 2-0 home victory against Hammarby.
HJK Helsinki, who made it from the first round to the last 16 in 2025/26, sealed a 3-0 aggregate win against another side that got through this path last season, Žilina. Crvena Zvezda, Legia Warszawa and Dinamo Tbilisi have also reached the third round for the second year running, the Georgian club beating Copenhagen on penalties despite the Danes overturning a 3-0 first-leg deficit in their home return.
Sheriff Tiraspol trailed their own tie against Farul Constanța 3-0 overall early in the second leg but came back to force an epic penalty shoot-out which the Moldovan team won 7-6. Debutants Hradec Králové and Stabæk advanced while Fiorentina and Saint Patrick's Athletic also successfully navigated a round for the first time.
In all, 50 clubs entered the tournament in this path, with ten teams eventually due to emerge to join the top 22 sides in the UEFA Champions League path in the round of 32. Twenty clubs took part in the ten first-round ties, and the winners of those contests joined the 30 teams beginning in the second round.
The bracket for all three two-legged rounds was set by the draw on 1 September.
Third round ties (25 November & 9 December)
Flora Tallinn vs St. Patrick's Athletic
Salzburg vs Crvena Zvezda
Rangers vs AZ Alkmaar
Legia Warszawa vs Super Nova
HJK Helsinki vs Stabæk
Hradec Králové vs Kairat Almaty
Dinamo Tbilisi vs Fiorentina
GNK Dinamo vs Benfica
Sheriff Tiraspol vs Maccabi Tel-Aviv
Hoffenheim vs PAOK
- Flora and Super Nova came through the first round on debut (it is Super Nova's first appearance in any UEFA club competition). In the second round, Hradec Králové and Stabæk made their competition debuts.
- AZ, Benfica and Salzburg are past winners. AZ and Salzburg have won this competition after starting in the domestic champions path. Hoffenheim are former semi-finalists.
- AZ are aiming to get through the domestic champions path for the sixth year in a row; only Midtjylland have previously done so as many times overall.
- AZ, HJK and Legia all came through this path in 2025/26 and reached the round of 16.
- HJK went from the the first round to the last 16 last year and can do so again; Dinamo Tbilisi, Flora, Kairat and Super Nova also remain from the opening stage.
- Benfica maintain their record of entering all 13 editions. In the second round first leg, Benfica played their 100th game in this competition, the fourth club and first from outside Spain to reach that mark.
- In the second round, Fiorentina and St. Patrick's Athletic got through a stage of this competition for the first time.
- Dinamo Tbilisi, Kairat and Maccabi Tel-Aviv are also aiming to make their debut in the post-New Year knockout phase.
- Benfica beat Dinamo 3-1 in the 2019/20 quarter-finals, a tie played in Nyon in an expanded final stage due to Covid.
Second round
Second legs
Wednesday 4 November:
Kairat Almaty 2-2 MTK Budapest (agg: 5-3)
Septemvri Sofia 0-3 Fiorentina (agg: 0-8)
GNK Dinamo 7-0 Qarabağ (agg: 9-1)
Pafos 1-3 Benfica agg: 1-9)
Chelsea 2-3 Flora Tallinn (agg: 4-5)
Crvena Zvezda 1-0 Bravo (agg: 2-0)
Copenhagen 3-0 Dinamo Tbilisi (agg: 3-3, Dinamo Tbilisi win 5-4 on penalties)
PAOK 3-0 Zrinjski Mostar (agg: 6-1)
Žilina 0-0 HJK Helsinki (agg: 0-3)
Super Nova 2-0 Hammarby (agg: 2-1)
Sheriff Tiraspol 3-1 Farul Constanța (agg: 3-3, Sheriff win 7-6 on penalties)
Hradec Králové 3-0 Partizani (agg: 9-0)
Hoffenheim 9-0 AP Brera Strumica (agg: 12-0)
Žalgiris 0-1 St. Patrick's Athletic (agg: 1-2)
Clermont 1-2 Legia Warszawa (agg: 2-5)
Rangers 3-0 Dynamo Kyiv (agg: 5-3)
Cardiff Met 0-4 Stabæk (agg: 0-12)
Tuesday 3 November:
Salzburg 4-3 Genk (agg: 5-4)
Maccabi Tel-Aviv 0-0 Zürich (agg: 1-1, M. Tel-Aviv win 5-3 on penalties)
Göztepe 1-2 AZ Alkmaar (agg: 2-5)
First legs
Wednesday 28 October:
Legia Warszawa 3-1 Clermont
Qarabağ 1-2 GNK Dinamo
Dynamo Kyiv 3-2 Rangers
Partizani 0-6 Hradec Králové
AP Brera Strumica 0-3 Hoffenheim
Farul Constanța 2-0 Sheriff Tiraspol
Fiorentina 5-0 Septemvri Sofia
Genk 1-1 Salzburg
Zrinjski Mostar 1-3 PAOK
Dinamo Tbilisi 3-0 Copenhagen
Benfica 6-0 Pafos
Bravo 0-1 Crvena Zvezda
MTK Budapest 1-3 Kairat Almaty
Flora Tallinn 2-2 Chelsea
HJK Helsinki 3-0 Žilina
Stabæk 8-0 Cardiff Met
Hammarby 1-0 Super Nova
Zürich 1-1 Maccabi Tel-Aviv
St. Patrick's Athletic 1-1 Žalgiris
Tuesday 27 October:
First round
HJK Helsinki, who made it from the first round of this path to the last 16 in 2025/26, are on their way again after eliminating debutants Ballkani. However, the other team that got through this path a year ago after starting in the first round, Dinamo-Minsk, fell on penalties to Dinamo Tbilisi in a thrilling tie that ended 6-6 on aggregate.
Four Youth League newcomers made it through: Cardiff Met, Flora Tallinn, Partizani and Super Nova, the Latvian club's first representatives in any UEFA competition. Cardiff Met are the first team from Wales to get through a round or register a victory in this competition, feats matched on behalf of North Macedonia by Brera Strumica.
Antonio Arapović scored five goals across the two legs of Zrinjski Mostar's victory against Lincoln Red Imps, while Kairat Almaty and Žalgiris both went through from this round for the second time in three seasons.
Second legs
Wednesday 14 October:
Kairat Almaty 8-1 Mladost Donja Gorica (agg: 13-1)
Ballkani 1-2 HJK Helsinki (agg: 1-8)
Partizani 4-0 Valletta (agg: 6-0)
Dinamo-Minsk 2-3 Dinamo Tbilisi (agg: 6-6, Dinamo Tbilisi win 3-1 on penalties)
AP Brera Strumica 8-0 FC Santa Coloma (agg: 11-0)
Super Nova 1-0 Cliftonville (agg: 1-0)
Žalgiris 2-0 Thór (agg: 6-3)
UNA Strassen 1-0 Cardiff Met (agg: 1-4)
HB 1-4 Flora Tallinn (agg: 1-7)
Tuesday 13 October:
Lincoln Red Imps 1-4 Zrinjski Mostar (agg: 1-10)
First legs
Saturday 10 October:
Dinamo Tbilisi 3-4 Dinamo-Minsk
Wednesday 16 September:
FC Santa Coloma 0-3 AP Brera Strumica
Zrinjski Mostar 6-0 Lincoln Red Imps
Thór 3-4 Žalgiris
Flora 3-0 HB
HJK Helsinki 6-0 Ballkani
Valletta 0-2 Partizani
Cliftonville 0-0 Super Nova
Cardiff Met 4-0 UNA Strassen
Tuesday 15 September:
Mladost Donja Gorica 0-5 Kairat Almaty
UEFA Youth League knockout calendar
Round of 32 draw: 11 December, Nyon
Round of 32: 2/3 February
Knockout draw (round of 16 onwards): 5 February, Nyon
Round of 16: 23/24 February
Quarter-finals: 16/17 March
Semi-finals: 16 April
Final: 19 April