| Tourney Name: | UEFA Cup |
| Year: | 1981–82 |
| Dates: | 15 September 1981 – 19 May 1982 |
| Num Teams: | 64 |
| Associations: | 32 |
| Champion Other: | IFK Göteborg |
| Count: | 1 |
| Second Other: | Hamburger SV |
| Matches: | 126 |
| Goals: | 389 |
| Top Scorer: | Torbjörn Nilsson (IFK Göteborg) 9 goals |
| Prevseason: | 1980–81 |
| Nextseason: | 1982–83 |
The 1981–82 UEFA Cup was the 11th edition of the UEFA Cup, the third-tier club football competition organised by UEFA. The final was played over two legs at Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden, and at the Volksparkstadion, Hamburg, Germany. The final was won by IFK Göteborg of Sweden, who defeated Hamburger SV of Germany by an aggregate result of 4–0 to claim their first UEFA Cup title.
This was the first of two UEFA Cup conquests for Göteborg, which were the only major European titles achiveved by Swedish teams. It was also the first Swedish team to play and win in a UEFA Cup final, while Hamburg went on to win the European Cup a year later. For the second and last time in UEFA Cup or UEFA Europa League history, both finalists won their national championship in the same season.
A total of 64 teams from 32 UEFA member associations participate in the 1981–82 UEFA Cup. The association ranking based on the UEFA country coefficients is used to determine the number of participating teams for each association:
For the 1981–82 UEFA Cup, the associations are allocated places according to their 1980 UEFA country coefficients, which takes into account their performance in European competitions from 1975–76 to 1979–80.
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The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for competition:
The schedule of the competition was as follows. Matches were scheduled for Wednesdays, though some matches exceptionally took place on Tuesdays, and two first round matches were held on Thursdays.
| First round | 15–17 September 1981 | 29 September – 1 October 1981 | |
| Second round | 20–21 October 1981 | 3–4 November 1981 | |
| Third round | 25 November – 1 December 1981 | 9 December 1981 | |
| Quarter-finals | 3 March 1982 | 17 March 1982 | |
| Semi-finals | 7 April 1982 | 21 April 1982 | |
| Final | 5 May 1982 | 19 May 1982 |
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Valencia won 2–0 on aggregate.----Neuchâtel Xamax won 6–3 on aggregate.----2–2 on aggregate; Real Madrid won on away goals.----Aris won 8–2 on aggregate.----Dinamo București won 4–2 on aggregate.----Carl Zeiss Jena won 4–1 on aggregate.----Spartak Moscow won 6–2 on aggregate.----Dynamo Dresden won 6–2 on aggregate.----FC Winterslag won 3–2 on aggregate.----Rapid Wien won 4–2 on aggregate.----IFK Göteborg won 7–2 on aggregate.----Boavista won 5–4 on aggregate.----Southampton won 4–1 on aggregate.----Hajduk Split won 5–3 on aggregate.----Malmö FF won 5–1 on aggregate.----Internazionale won 7–2 on aggregate.----Arsenal won 3–0 on aggregate.----PSV Eindhoven won 8–2 on aggregate.----2–2 on aggregate, Sturm Graz won on away goals----Beveren won 8–0 on aggregate.--------Argeș Pitești won 5–1 on aggregate.----Feyenoord won 3–1 on aggregate.----Grasshoppers won 4–1 on aggregate.----Hamburger SV won 6–4 on aggregate.----1. FC Kaiserslautern won 3–1 on aggregate.----3–3 on aggregate; Borussia Mönchengladbach won on away goals.----Lokeren won 5–3 on aggregate.----Aberdeen won 4–2 on aggregate.----Dundee United won 6–4 on aggregate.----2–2 on aggregate; Radnički Niš won on away goals.----Sporting CP won 11–0 on aggregate.----
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Aberdeen won 5–2 on aggregate.----Lokeren won 5–1 on aggregate.----Dundee United won 5–2 on aggregate.----Hamburger SV won 3–2 on aggregate.----1. FC Kaiserslautern won 5–2 on aggregate.----Feyenoord won 3–2 on aggregate.----2–2 on aggregate; Radnički Niš won 3–0 on penalties.----Dinamo București won 4–3 on aggregate.----2–2 on aggregate; Winterslag won on away goals.----4–4 on aggregate; Hajduk Split won on away goals.----Neuchâtel Xamax won 2–0 on aggregate.----Real Madrid won 3–2 on aggregate.----2–2 on aggregate; Rapid Wien won on away goals.----IFK Göteborg won 5–4 on aggregate.----Sporting CP won 4–2 on aggregate.----Valencia won 2–1 on aggregate.
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Hamburger SV won 5–4 on aggregate.----IFK Göteborg won 4–1 on aggregate.----Dundee United won 5–0 on aggregate.----1. FC Kaiserslautern won 4–2 on aggregate.----Radnički Niš won 2–1 on aggregate.----Real Madrid won 1–0 on aggregate.----Neuchâtel Xamax won 1–0 on aggregate.----Valencia won 6–5 on aggregate.
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Radnički Niš won 3–2 on aggregate.----Hamburger SV won 3–2 on aggregate.----1. FC Kaiserslautern won 6–3 on aggregate.----IFK Göteborg won 4–2 on aggregate.
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IFK Göteborg won 3–2 on aggregate.----Hamburger SV won 6–3 on aggregate.
See main article: 1982 UEFA Cup Final.
IFK Göteborg won 4–0 on aggregate.