2025–26 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase and play-off round
The 2025–26 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase and play-off round will begin on 8 July and end on 27 August 2025.[1]
A total of between 52 and 55 teams will compete in the qualifying system of the 2025–26 UEFA Champions League, which will include the qualifying phase and the play-off round, with 42, 43 or 44 teams in Champions Path and 10 or 11 teams in League Path. The seven winners in the play-off round (five from Champions Path, two from League Path) advanced to the league stage, to join the 29 teams that entered in the league stage.[2]
Format
[edit]The qualifying phase and play-off round will be split into two paths – the Champions Path and the League Path. The Champions Path will contain teams which qualified as the winners of their domestic league, and the League Path will contain teams which qualified as runners-up, third-placed or fourth-placed teams from their domestic league.
Each tie will be played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scores more goals on aggregate over the two legs advances to the next round. If the aggregate score is level at the end of normal time of the second leg, extra time will be played, and if the same number of goals is scored by both teams during extra time, the tie will be determined by a penalty shoot-out.[3]
In the draws for each round, teams will be seeded based on their UEFA club coefficients at the beginning of the season, with the teams divided into seeded and unseeded pots containing the same number of teams. A seeded team will be drawn against an unseeded team, with the order of legs in each tie decided by draw. As the identity of the winners of the previous round may not be known at the time of the draws, the seeding will be carried out under the assumption that the team with the higher coefficient of an undecided tie advanced to the subsequent round, which means if the team with the lower coefficient advances, it will simply take the seeding of its opponent. Prior to the draws, UEFA may form "groups" in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee purely for the convenience of the draw and not to resemble any real groupings in the sense of the competition. Teams from associations with political conflicts as decided by UEFA cannot be drawn into the same tie. After the draws, the order of legs of a tie may be reversed by UEFA due to scheduling or venue conflicts.
Schedule
[edit]The schedule of the competition is as follows.[1]
| Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|
| First qualifying round | 17 June 2025 | 8–9 July 2025 | 15–16 July 2025 |
| Second qualifying round | 18 June 2025 | 22–23 July 2025 | 29–30 July 2025 |
| Third qualifying round | 21 July 2025 | 5–6 August 2025 | 12–13 August 2025 |
| Play-off round | 4 August 2025 | 19–20 August 2025 | 26–27 August 2025 |
Teams
[edit]The information below reflects Russia's ongoing suspension from UEFA.
Champions Path
[edit]The Champions Path includes all league champions which do not qualify directly for the league phase, and consists of the following rounds:
- First qualifying round (28 or 30 teams): 28 or 30 teams which enter in this round.
- Second qualifying round (24 teams): 9 or 10 teams which enter in this round, and 14 or 15 winners of the first qualifying round.
- Third qualifying round (12 teams): 12 winners of the second qualifying round.
- Play-off round (10 teams): 4 teams which enter in this round, and 6 winners of the third qualifying round.
The default access list may be altered based on the qualifying teams' 2025 UEFA club coefficients should the winners of the 2024–25 UEFA Champions League also qualify for the 2025–26 edition via their domestic league.
All teams eliminated from the Champions Path enter either the Europa League or the Conference League:
- The losers of the first qualifying round enter the Conference League Champions Path second qualifying round unless drawn to receive a bye to the Conference League Champions Path third qualifying round.
- The 12 losers of the second qualifying round enter the Europa League Champions Path third qualifying round
- The 6 losers of the third qualifying round enter the Europa League play-off round.
- The 5 losers of the play-off round enter the Europa League league phase.
Below are the participating teams of the Champions Path (with their 2025 UEFA club coefficients),[4] grouped by their starting rounds.
| Key to colours |
|---|
| Winners of play-off round advance to league phase |
| Losers of play-off round enter Europa League league phase |
| Losers of third qualifying round enter Europa League play-off round |
| Losers of second qualifying round enter Europa League third qualifying round |
| Losers of the first qualifying round that received a bye enter Conference League third qualifying round |
| Losers of the first qualifying round enter Conference League second qualifying round |
League Path
[edit]The League Path includes all league non-champions which did not qualify directly for the league phase, and consisted of the following rounds:
- Second qualifying round (4 or 6 teams): 4 or 6 teams which enter in this round.
- Third qualifying round (8 teams): 5 or 6 teams which enter in this round, and 2 or 3 winners of the second qualifying round.
- Play-off round (4 teams): 4 winners of the third qualifying round.
The default access list may be altered based on the qualifying teams' 2025 UEFA club coefficients should the winners of the 2024–25 UEFA Europa League also qualify for the 2025–26 edition via their domestic league.
All teams eliminated from the League Path enter the Europa League:
- The 2 or 3 losers of the second qualifying round enter the Main Path third qualifying round.
- The 4 losers of the third qualifying round enter the league phase.
- The 2 losers of the play-off round enter the league phase.
Below were the participating teams of the League Path (with their 2025 UEFA club coefficients),[4] grouped by their starting rounds.
| Key to colours |
|---|
| Winners of play-off round advance to league phase |
| Losers of play-off round enter Europa League league phase |
| Losers of third qualifying round enter Europa League league phase |
| Losers of second qualifying round enter Europa League third qualifying round |
|
|
First qualifying round
[edit]The draw for the first qualifying round will be held on 17 June 2025.
Seeding
[edit]A total of 30 teams will play in the first qualifying round. Seeding of the teams will be based on their 2025 UEFA club coefficients.[4] Before the draw, UEFA may form groups of seeded and unseeded teams per the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee. The first team drawn in each tie will be the home team for the first leg.
| Qualified teams |
|---|
|
Second qualifying round
[edit]The draw for the second qualifying round will be held on 18 June 2025.
Seeding
[edit]A total of 24 teams will play in the second qualifying round. Seeding of the teams will be based on their 2025 UEFA club coefficients.[4] Before the draw, UEFA may form groups of seeded and unseeded teams per the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee. The first team drawn in each tie will be the home team for the first leg.
| Qualified teams |
|---|
|
| Qualified teams |
|---|
|
Third qualifying round
[edit]The draw for the third qualifying round will be held on 21 July 2025.
Seeding
[edit]A total of 12 teams will play in the second qualifying round. Seeding of the teams will be based on their 2025 UEFA club coefficients.[4] Before the draw, UEFA may form groups of seeded and unseeded teams per the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee. The first team drawn in each tie will be the home team for the first leg.
| Qualified teams |
|---|
|
| Qualified teams |
|---|
|
Play-off round
[edit]The draw for the play-off round will be held on 4 August 2025.
Seeding
[edit]A total of 14 teams will play in the second qualifying round. Seeding of the teams will be based on their 2025 UEFA club coefficients.[4] Before the draw, UEFA may form groups of seeded and unseeded teams per the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee. The first team drawn in each tie will be the home team for the first leg.
| Qualified teams |
|---|
|
| Qualified teams |
|---|
|
References
[edit]- ^ a b "UEFA club competitions cycle 2024–27 ("Post 2024")". UEFA Circular Letter. No. 36/2023. Union of European Football Associations. 7 July 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
- ^ UEFA.com (25 October 2023). "New format for Champions League post-2024: Everything you need to know | UEFA Champions League". UEFA.com. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
- ^ "Abolition of the away goals rule in all UEFA club competitions". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 24 June 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Club coefficients". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 29 March 2025. Retrieved 30 March 2025.