The 2023–24 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase and play-off round 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, which included the qualifying phase and the play-off round, 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 the group stage, to join the 26 teams that entered in the group stage.[2]
Times are CEST (UTC+2), as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).
The Champions Path included all league champions which did not qualify directly for the group stage, and consisted of the following rounds:
All teams eliminated from the Champions Path entered either the Europa League or the Europa Conference League:
Below were the participating teams of the Champions Path (with their 2023 UEFA club coefficients), grouped by their starting rounds.
| Key to colours | |
|---|---|
| Winners of play-off round advanced to group stage | |
| Losers of play-off round entered Europa League group stage | |
| Losers of third qualifying round entered Europa League play-off round | |
| Losers of second qualifying round entered Europa League third qualifying round | |
| Drawn losers of the first qualifying round entered Europa Conference League third qualifying round | |
| Losers of the preliminary round and first qualifying round entered Europa Conference League second qualifying round |
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The League Path included all league non-champions which did not qualify directly for the group stage, and consisted of the following rounds:
All teams eliminated from the League Path entered the Europa League:
Below were the participating teams of the League Path (with their 2023 UEFA club coefficients), grouped by their starting rounds.
| Key to colours | |
|---|---|
| Winners of play-off round advanced to group stage | |
| Losers of play-off round entered Europa League group stage | |
| Losers of third qualifying round entered Europa League group stage | |
| Losers of second qualifying round entered Europa League third qualifying round |
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Each tie, apart from the preliminary round, was played over two 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 a penalty shoot-out.[3]
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.
The video assistant referee (VAR) was used in the third qualifying round and the play-off round.[4]
In the draws for each round, teams were 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 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.[5] [6] [7] All matches were played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays apart from the preliminary round final.
| Preliminary round | 13 June 2023 | 27 June 2023 (semi-finals) | 30 June 2023 (final) | |
| First qualifying round | 20 June 2023 | 11–12 July 2023 | 18–19 July 2023 | |
| Second qualifying round | 21 June 2023 | 25–26 July 2023 | 1–2 August 2023 | |
| Third qualifying round | 24 July 2023 | 8–9 August 2023 | 15 August 2023 | |
| Play-off round | 7 August 2023 | 22–23 August 2023 | 29–30 August 2023 |
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 2023 UEFA club coefficients,[8] with two seeded teams and two unseeded teams in the semi-finals. The matches took place at Kópavogsvöllur in Kópavogur, Iceland. For administrative purposes, the home team in each draw were the first team drawn in each tie in the semi-finals. 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.
| width=50% | Seeded | width=50% | Unseeded | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| valign=top | valign=top |
The preliminary round matches consisted of two semi-finals on 27 June 2023 and the final on 30 June 2023.
The winner of the preliminary round final advanced to the first qualifying round. The losers of the semi-finals and final transferred to the Europa Conference League second qualifying round Champions Path.
|+Semi-finals|}|+Final|}
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The draw for the first qualifying round was held on 20 June 2023.
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 their 2023 UEFA club coefficients.[8] 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.
| Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=16.7% | Seeded | width=16.7% | Unseeded | width=16.7% | Seeded | width=16.7% | Unseeded | width=16.6% | Seeded | width=16.6% | Unseeded | |
| valign=top | valign=top | valign=top | valign=top | valign=top | valign=top | |||||||
The first legs were played on 11 and 12 July, and the second legs were played on 18 and 19 July 2023.
The winners of the ties advanced to the Champions Path second qualifying round. 13 of the 15 losers were transferred to the Europa Conference League Champions Path second qualifying round and 2 losers received a bye and were transferred to the Europa Conference League Champions Path third qualifying round.
|}Notes
BK Häcken won 5–1 on aggregate.----Ludogorets Razgrad won 4–2 on aggregate.----Breiðablik won 3–1 on aggregate.----Žalgiris won 2–1 on aggregate.----KÍ won 3–0 on aggregate.----Olimpija Ljubljana won 4–2 on aggregate.----HJK won 3–2 on aggregate.----Qarabağ won 6–1 on aggregate.----Raków Częstochowa won 4–0 on aggregate.----Slovan Bratislava won 3–1 on aggregate.----Sheriff Tiraspol won 3–1 on aggregate.----Maccabi Haifa won 6–1 on aggregate.----3–3 on aggregate. Zrinjski Mostar won 4–3 on penalties.----BATE Borisov won 3–1 on aggregate.----Astana won 3–2 on aggregate.
The draw for the second qualifying round was held on 21 June 2023.
A total of 24 teams played in the second qualifying round. They were divided into two paths:
Seeding of teams was based on their 2023 UEFA club coefficients.[8] 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.
| Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=16.65% | Seeded | width=16.65% | Unseeded | width=16.65% | Seeded | width=16.65% | Unseeded | width=16.65% | Seeded | width=16.65% | Unseeded | |
| valign=top | valign=top | valign=top | valign=top | valign=top | valign=top | |||||||
| Unseeded | ||||
| valign=top | valign=top |
The first legs were played on 25 and 26 July, and the second legs were played on 1 and 2 August 2023.
The winners of the ties advanced to the third qualifying round of their respective path. The Champions Path losers were transferred to the Europa League Champions Path third qualifying round, while the League Path losers were transferred to the Europa League Main Path third qualifying round.
|+Champions Path|}|+League Path|}
Galatasaray won 3–2 on aggregate.----Olimpija Ljubljana won 3–2 on aggregate.----Raków Częstochowa won 4–3 on aggregate.----3–3 on aggregate. KÍ won 4–3 on penalties.----Molde won 2–1 on aggregate.----Copenhagen won 8–3 on aggregate.----Maccabi Haifa won 4–2 on aggregate.----Aris Limassol won 11–5 on aggregate.----Slovan Bratislava won 3–2 on aggregate.----Dinamo Zagreb won 6–0 on aggregate.
Panathinaikos won 5–3 on aggregate.----3–3 on aggregate. Servette won 4–1 on penalties.
The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 24 July 2023.
A total of 20 teams played in the third qualifying round. They were divided into two paths:
Seeding of teams was based on their 2023 UEFA club coefficients.[8] 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.
| Group 1 | Group 2 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=25% | Seeded | width=25% | Unseeded | width=25% | Seeded | width=25% | Unseeded | |
| valign=top | valign=top | valign=top | valign=top | |||||
| Unseeded | ||||
| valign=top | valign=top |
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 the Europa League play-off round, while the League Path losers were transferred to the Europa League group stage.
|+Champions Path|}|+League Path|}Notes
Raków Częstochowa won 3–1 on aggregate.----Maccabi Haifa won 5–2 on aggregate.----AEK Athens won 4–3 on aggregate.----Galatasaray won 4–0 on aggregate.----3–3 on aggregate. Copenhagen won 4–2 on penalties.----Molde won 3–2 on aggregate.
Braga won 7–1 on aggregate.----Rangers won 3–2 on aggregate.----2–2 on aggregate. Panathinaikos won 5–3 on penalties.----PSV Eindhoven won 7–2 on aggregate.
The draw for the play-off round was held on 7 August 2023.
A total of 12 teams played in the play-off round. They were divided into two paths:
Seeding of teams was based on their 2023 UEFA club coefficients.[8] 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.
| Unseeded | ||||
| valign=top | valign=top |
| Unseeded | ||||
| valign=top | valign=top |
The first legs were played on 22 and 23 August, and the second legs were played on 29 and 30 August 2023.
The winners of the ties advanced to the group stage. The losers were transferred to the Europa League group stage.
|+Champions Path|}|+League Path|}
Young Boys won 3–0 on aggregate.----Antwerp won 3–1 on aggregate.----Copenhagen won 2–1 on aggregate.----Galatasaray won 5–3 on aggregate.
PSV Eindhoven won 7–3 on aggregate.----Braga won 3–1 on aggregate.