2024–25 UEFA Europa League qualifying phase and play-off round
The 2024–25 UEFA Europa League qualifying phase and play-off round will begin on 11 July and end on 29 August 2024.[1]
A total of 53 or 54 teams will compete in the qualifying system which includes the qualifying phase and the play-off round. The 12 winners of the play-off round will advance to the league stage, to join the 13 teams that enter in the league stage and the 11 losers of the Champions League play-off round (five from Champions Path and two from League Path) and the four League Path losers of the Champions League third qualifying round.[2]
Format[edit]
The qualifying phase is split into two paths – the Champions Path and the Main Path. The Champions Path contains teams which were eliminated from the Champions League Champions Path and the Main Path contains teams which qualify as the third-placed or the fourth-placed team from their domestic league or as domestic cup winners. The paths are merged in the play-off round.
Each tie will played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scored more goals on aggregate over the two legs will advance 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 decided by a penalty shoot-out.[3]
In the draws for each round in the Main Path, 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 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 advances to the subsequent round, which means if the team with the lower coefficient advances, it will simply take the seeding of its opponent.
In the draw for the Champions Path third qualifying round, there will be no seeding.
Prior to the draws, UEFA can 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 can not be drawn into the same tie. After the draws, the order of legs of a tie can be reversed by UEFA due to scheduling or venue conflicts.
Schedule[edit]
The schedule of the competition is as follows. All matches are scheduled to be played on Thursdays.[1]
| Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|
| First qualifying round | 18 June 2024 | 11 July 2024 | 18 July 2024 |
| Second qualifying round | 19 June 2024 | 25 July 2024 | 1 August 2024 |
| Third qualifying round | 22 July 2024 | 8 August 2024 | 15 August 2024 |
| Play-off round | 5 August 2024 | 22 August 2024 | 29 August 2024 |
Teams[edit]
In the qualifying stage, the teams will be divided into two paths:
- Champions Path (12 teams):
- Third qualifying round: 12 teams which enter in this round (12 losers of the Champions League Champions Path second qualifying round).
- Main Path:
- First qualifying round (16 teams): 16 teams which enter in this round.
- Second qualifying round (16 teams): 8 teams which enter in this round, and 8 winners of the first qualifying round.
- Third qualifying round (14 teams): 6 teams which enter in this round (including 3 losers of the Champions League League Path second qualifying round), and 8 winners of the second qualifying round.
The winners of the third qualifying round will be combined into a single path for the play-off round:
- Play-off round (24 teams): 11 teams which enter this round (including 6 losers of the Champions League Champions Path third qualifying round), and 13 winners of the third qualifying round.
All teams eliminated from the qualifying phase and play-off round will enter the Conference League:
- The 9 losers of the Main Path first qualifying round enter the Main Path second qualifying round.
- The 8 losers of the Main Path second qualifying round enter the Main Path third qualifying round.
- The 6 losers of the Champions Path third qualifying round enter the Champions Path play-off round.
- The 7 losers of the Main Path third qualifying round enter the Main Path play-off round.
- The 12 losers of the play-off round enter the league stage.
Below are the participating teams (with their 2024 UEFA club coefficients, not to be used as seeding for the Champions Path, however),[4] grouped by their starting rounds.
| Key to colours |
|---|
| Winners of play-off round advance to league stage |
| Losers of play-off round enter Conference League league stage |
| Losers of third qualifying round enter Conference League play-off round |
| Losers of second qualifying round enter Conference League third qualifying round |
| Losers of the first qualifying round enter Conference League second qualifying round |
- Notes
- CH Q3 Losers of Champions League third qualifying round (Champions Path).
- CH Q2 Losers of Champions League second qualifying round (Champions Path).
- LP Q2 Losers of Champions League second qualifying round (League Path).
First qualifying round[edit]
The draw for the first qualifying round will be held on 18 June 2024.
Seeding[edit]
A total of 16 teams will play in the first qualifying round. Seeding of the teams will be based on their 2024 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.
| Seeded | Seeding to be determined | Unseeded |
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Second qualifying round[edit]
The draw for the second qualifying round will be held on 19 June 2024.
Seeding[edit]
A total of 16 teams will play in the second qualifying round. Seeding of the teams will be based on their 2024 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.
| Seeding to be determined |
|---|
|
- Notes
- † Winners of the first qualifying round, whose identity will not be known at the time of draw.
Third qualifying round[edit]
The draw for the third qualifying round will be held on 22 July 2024.
Seeding[edit]
A total of 26 teams will play in the third qualifying round – 12 in the Champions Path and 14 in the Main Path. There will be no seeding in the Champions Path draw. Seeding of the teams in the Main Path will be based on their 2024 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.
|
| Seeding to be determined |
|---|
|
- Notes
- † Losers of the Champions League second qualifying round, whose identity will not be known at the time of draw.
- †† Winners of the second qualifying round, whose identity will not be known at the time of draw.
Play-off round[edit]
The draw for the play-off round will be held on 5 August 2024.
Seeding[edit]
A total of 24 teams will play in the play-off round. Before the draw, UEFA may form groups of 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.
| Seeding to be determined |
|---|
|
- Notes
- † Losers of the Champions League third qualifying round, whose identity will not be known at the time of draw.
- †† Winners of the third qualifying round, whose identity will not be known at the time of draw.
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 14 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 "Club coefficients". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 2 May 2024. Retrieved 2 May 2024.