The 2023–24 UEFA Europa League qualifying phase and play-off round will begin on 10 August and end on 31 August 2023.[1]
A total of 28 teams will compete in the qualifying system which will include the qualifying phase and the play-off round. The 10 winners of the play-off round will advance to the group stage, to join the 12 teams that enter in the group stage, the six losers of the Champions League play-off round (four from Champions Path and two from League Path) and the four League Path losers of the Champions League third qualifying round.[2]
Times are CEST (UTC+2), as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).
Teams
In the third qualifying round, the teams will be divided into two paths:
- Champions Path (10 teams): 10 teams which enter this round (10 losers of the Champions League Champions Path second qualifying round).
- Main Path (4 teams): 4 teams which enter this round (including 2 losers of the Champions League League Path 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 (20 teams): 13 teams which enter this round (including 6 losers of the Champions League Champions Path third qualifying round) and 7 winners of the third qualifying round.
All teams eliminated from the qualifying phase and play-off round will enter the Europa Conference League:
- The 5 losers of the Champions Path third qualifying round enter the Champions Path play-off round.
- The 2 losers of the Main Path third qualifying round enter the Main Path play-off round.
- The 10 losers of the play-off round enter the group stage.
Below are the participating teams (with their 2023 UEFA club coefficients, not to be used as seeding for qualifying phase and play-off round, however),[3] grouped by their starting rounds.
Note: Teams in Italic text may still qualify for the Champions League.
Key to colours |
---|
Winners of play-off round advance to group stage |
Losers of play-off round enter Europa Conference League group stage |
Losers of third qualifying round enter Europa Conference League play-off 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).
Format
Each tie will be 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 amount of goals is scored by both teams during extra time, the tie will be decided by a penalty shoot-out.[4]
Schedule
The schedule of the competition is as follows.[1][5] Matches are scheduled for Thursdays though exceptionally can take place on Tuesdays or Wednesdays due to scheduling conflicts.
Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
---|---|---|---|
Third qualifying round | 24 July 2023 | 10 August 2023 | 17 August 2023 |
Play-off round | 7 August 2023 | 24 August 2023 | 31 August 2023 |
Third qualifying round
The draw for the third qualifying round will be held on 24 July 2023.
Seeding
A total of 14 teams will play in the qualifying round. They will be divided into two paths:
- Champions Path (10 teams): 10 losers of the 2023–24 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round (Champions Path), whose identity will not be known at the time of draw. There will be no seeding.
- Main Path (4 teams): The teams will be seeded as follows:
- Seeded: 2 teams which enter in this round.
- Unseeded: 2 losers of the 2023–24 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round (League Path), whose identity will not be known at the time of draw.
Teams from the same association will not be drawn against each other. The first team drawn in each tie will be the home team of the first leg.
|
|
Summary
The first legs will be played on 10 August and the second legs on 17 August 2023.
Play-off round
The draw for the play-off round will be held on 7 August 2023.
Seeding
A total of 20 teams will play in the play-off round. The teams will be seeded into four "priority groups":
- Priority 1: The 6 teams from the higher ranking association which enter in this round.
- Priority 2: 6 losers of the 2023–24 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round (Champions Path), whose identity will not be known at the time of the draw
- Priority 3: 5 winners of the third qualifying round (Champions Path), whose identity will not be known at the time of the draw
- Priority 4: The remaining team which enter in this round and 2 winners of the third qualifying round (Main Path), whose identity will not be known at the time of the draw
The procedure of the draw was as follows:
- Three teams from Pot 1 (Priority 1) will be paired with the three teams in Pot 4 (Priority 4).
- The three remaining Pot 1 (Priority 1) teams will then be paired with teams from Pot 3 (Priority 3).
- The two remaining Pot 3 (Priority 3) teams will then be paired with teams from Pot 2 (Priority 2).
- The four remaining Pot 2 (Priority 2) balls will then be drawn one after another to complete the ninth and tenth pairings (open draw).
Country protection will not be applied. The first team drawn in each tie will be the home team of the first leg.
Priority 1 | Priority 2 | Priority 3 | Priority 4 |
---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
Summary
The first legs will be played on 24 August and the second legs on 31 August 2023.
References
- ^ a b "2023/24 UEFA Europa League: Matches, final, key dates". UEFA. 12 October 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
- ^ "Regulations of the UEFA Europa League, 2023/24 Season". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 2023. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
- ^ a b c d "Club coefficients". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 18 April 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
- ^ "Abolition of the away goals rule in all UEFA club competitions". UEFA.com. 24 June 2021.
- ^ "2023 European football calendar: Match and draw dates for all UEFA competitions". UEFA. 20 December 2022. Retrieved 1 January 2023.