2023–24 UEFA Champions League qualifying was the preliminary phase of the2023–24 UEFA Champions League, prior to the competition proper. Qualification consisted of the qualifying phase (preliminary and first to third rounds) and the play-off round. It began on 27 June and ended on 30 August 2023.[1]
A total of 52 teams competed in the qualifying system of the 2023–24 UEFA Champions League, with 42 teams in Champions Path and 10 teams in League Path. The six winners in the play-off round (four from Champions Path, two from League Path) advanced to thegroup stage, to join the 26 teams that entered in the group stage.[2]
Times areCEST (UTC+2), as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).
Each tie, apart from the preliminary round, was played overtwo legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scored more goals on aggregate over the two legs advanced to the next round. If the aggregate score was level at the end of normal time of the second leg,extra time was played, and if the same number of goals were scored by both teams during extra time, the tie was decided by apenalty shoot-out.[4]
In the preliminary round, the semi-finals and final were played as a single match hosted by one of the participating teams. If the score was level at the end of normal time, extra time was played, and if the same number of goals were scored by both teams during extra time, the tie was decided by a penalty shoot-out.
In the draws for each round, teams were seeded based on theirUEFA 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 was drawn against an unseeded team, with the order of legs (or the administrative "home" team in the preliminary round matches) in each tie decided by draw. As the identity of the winners of the previous round were not known at the time of the draws, the seeding was carried out under the assumption that the team with the higher coefficient of an undecided tie advanced to the subsequent round, which meant if the team with the lower coefficient was to advance, it would simply take the seeding of its opponent. Prior to the draws, UEFA could 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 could not be drawn into the same tie. After the draws, the order of legs of a tie could be reversed by UEFA due to scheduling or venue conflicts.
The schedule of the qualifying phase and play-off round of the competition was as follows.[6][7][8] All matches were played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays apart from the preliminary round final.
Schedule for 2023–24 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase and play-off round
The preliminary round consisted of two semi-finals on 27 June 2023 and a final on 30 June 2023. The draw for the preliminary round was held on 13 June 2023.
A total of four teams played in the preliminary round. Seeding of teams was based on their 2023UEFA club coefficients,[3] with two seeded teams and two unseeded teams in the semi-final round. The matches took place atKópavogsvöllur inKópavogur, Iceland. For administrative purposes, the home team in each draw were the first team drawn in each tie in the semi-final round. The same applied for the final draw, between the two winners of the semi-finals, whose identity was not known at the time of draw.
A total of 30 teams played in the first qualifying round: 29 teams which entered in this round, and 1 winner of the preliminary round. Seeding of teams was based on their2023 UEFA club coefficients.[3] For the winner of the preliminary round, whose identity was not known at the time of draw, the club coefficient of the highest-ranked remaining team was used. Prior to the draw, UEFA formed three groups of five seeded teams and five unseeded teams in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee. The first team drawn in each tie was the home team of the first leg.
† Winner of the preliminary round, whose identity was not known at the time of draw. Teams initalics defeated a team with a higher coefficient, thus effectively taking the coefficient of their opponent in the draw.
A total of 24 teams played in the second qualifying round. They were divided into two paths:
Champions Path (20 teams): 5 teams which entered in this round, and 15 winners of first qualifying round.
League Path (4 teams): 4 teams which entered in this round.
Seeding of teams was based on their2023 UEFA club coefficients.[3] For the winners of first qualifying round, whose identity was not known at the time of draw, the club coefficient of the highest-ranked remaining team in each tie was used. Prior to the draw, UEFA formed three groups for the champions path draw in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee: two groups that produce three ties each (Groups 1 and 2) and one with four ties (Group 3). The first team drawn in each tie was the home team of the first leg.
† Winners of first qualifying round, whose identity was not known at the time of draw. Teams initalics defeated a team with a higher coefficient, thus effectively taking the coefficient of their opponent in the draw.
A total of 20 teams played in the third qualifying round. They were divided into two paths:
Champions Path (12 teams): 2 teams which entered in this round, and 10 winners of the second qualifying round (Champions Path).
League Path (8 teams): 6 teams which entered in this round, and 2 winners of the second qualifying round (League Path).
Seeding of teams was based on their2023 UEFA club coefficients.[3] For the winners of the second qualifying round, whose identity was not known at the time of draw, the club coefficient of the highest-ranked remaining team in each tie was used. Prior to the draw, UEFA formed groups of seeded and unseeded teams in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee. The first team drawn in each tie was the home team of the first leg.
† Winners of the second qualifying round, whose identity was not known at the time of draw. Teams initalics defeated a team with a higher coefficient, thus effectively taking the coefficient of their opponent in the draw.
The first legs were played on 8, 9 and 15 August, and the second legs were played on 15 and 19 August 2023.
The winners of the ties advanced to the play-off round of their respective path. The Champions Path losers were transferred to theEuropa League play-off round, while the League Path losers were transferred to theEuropa League group stage.
^The first leg of the AEK Athens–Dinamo Zagreb tie, originally scheduled to be played on 8 August 2023, was postponed following supporter riots in which one person died.[125] The match was rescheduled for 19 August 2023 and became the second leg of the tie, thus reversing the order of the legs.[126]
A total of 12 teams played in the play-off round. They were divided into two paths:
Champions Path (8 teams): 2 teams which entered in this round, and 6 winners of the third qualifying round (Champions Path).
League Path (4 teams): 4 winners of the third qualifying round (League Path).
Seeding of teams was based on their2023 UEFA club coefficients.[3] For the winners of the third qualifying round, whose identity was not known at the time of draw, the club coefficient of the highest-ranked remaining team in each tie was used. The first team drawn in each tie was the home team of the first leg.
† Winners of the third qualifying round, whose identity was not known at the time of draw. Teams initalics defeated a team with a higher coefficient, thus effectively taking the coefficient of their opponent in the draw.
^Ballkani played their home match at the Fadil Vokrri Stadium in Pristina, instead of their regular stadium, theTheranda City Stadium, inSuva Reka, which did not meet UEFA requirements.
^Struga played their home match at the SRC Biljanini Izvori in Ohrid, instead of their regular stadium, theGradska Plaža Stadium, inStruga, which did not meet UEFA requirements.
^Larne played their home match at Solitude in Belfast, instead of their regular stadium,Inver Park, inLarne, which did not meet UEFA requirements.
^Swift Hesperange played their home match at the Stade de Luxembourg in Luxembourg City, instead of their regular stadium,Stade Alphonse Theis, inHesperange, which did not meet UEFA requirements.
^Hamrun Spartans played their home match at the Centenary Stadium in Ta' Qali, instead of their regular stadium,Victor Tedesco Stadium, inHamrun, which did not meet UEFA requirements.
^Due to theRussian invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian teams were required to play their home matches at neutral venues until further notice.[116]
^KÍ played their third qualifying home match at the Tórsvøllur in Tórshavn, instead of their regular stadium,Við Djúpumýrar, inKlaksvík, which did not meet UEFA requirements.
^Raków Częstochowa played their play-off home match at the Zagłębiowski Park Sportowy in Sosnowiec, instead of their regular stadium, theMiejski Stadion Piłkarski "Raków", inCzęstochowa, which does not meet UEFA requirements.[175]
^Panathinaikos played their play-off home match at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, instead of their regular stadium, theLeoforos Alexandras Stadium, in Athens.[190]
Note: In 1991–92, the competition was still known as the European Cup, but is included as it was the first to use a group stage format. In that season and 1992–93, there was no knockout phase between the group stage and final.
Atlètic Club d'Escaldes
Budućnost Podgorica
Breiðablik
Tre Penne
The New Saints
Ludogorets Razgrad
Struga
Ferencváros
Valmiera
Larne
Qarabağ
Flora
Swift Hesperange
Sheriff Tiraspol
Maccabi Haifa
Zrinjski Mostar
BATE Borisov
Dinamo Tbilisi
Galatasaray
Molde
Copenhagen
Panathinaikos
Genk
Sparta Prague
TSC
Marseille
Sturm Graz
