The 2022/23 UEFA Champions League qualifiers will represent the final hurdle for teams hoping to reach the lucrative group stage. The playoff matches will be known after the August 2 draw.
With the preliminaries, first qualifying round and second qualifying round already complete, the path for the teams currently participating in the third qualifying round will be defined by the August 2 playoff draw. The teams that survive the third round will know their potential opponents. in the elimination round.
There are only six unclaimed spots left in the 32-team group stage, with four awarded to the “Champions Path” teams (champions of their domestic league) and two to the survivors of the “League Path” ( teams qualified after finishing second or lower in their national ranking).
Reaching the group stage is a huge boost to a team’s tally, with teams receiving a guaranteed cash injection, as well as potential cash prizes for each of the six group stage matches. There is also the global brand exposure that the group stage brings: teams that reach the group stage get the chance to play iconic global clubs such as Liverpool, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich , with millions of fans around the world logging on to watch.
MORE: Champions League qualifying results and clashes so far
Champions League qualifying draw, meetings and calendar
The draw for the Champions League qualifiers will take place on August 2 at 6 a.m. ET / 11 a.m. BST / 8 p.m. AEST. The draw will be broadcast on UEFA.com.
Six tickets to the lucrative group stage will be up for grabs in the qualifiers. Four of these will go to the winner of each of the four aggregate goal series involving domestic league champions, while two will be given to the two winners of League Path playoff games featuring teams that did not win their national league.
Only two clubs had guaranteed places in the knockout round at the time of the draw: FC Copenhagen and Trabzonspor, both entering the competition for the first time at this stage.
Path of champions
Match | 1st run | Return match |
---|---|---|
TBD versus TBD | August 16-17 | August 23-24 |
FC Copenhagen (Denmark) vs. TBD | August 16-17 | August 23-24 |
TBD v Trabzonspor (Turkey) | August 16-17 | August 23-24 |
TBD versus TBD | August 16-17 | August 23-24 |
league path
Match | 1st run | Return match |
---|---|---|
TBD versus TBD | August 16-17 | August 23-24 |
TBD versus TBD | August 16-17 | August 23-24 |
The teams in the Champions League qualifying draw
While the third qualifying round is not yet complete, the teams that emerge over the next two weeks will know their potential playoff opponent.
Path of champions
The Champions Path teams all earned their place in the competition by winning their national championship title last season.
Two teams enter the competition in the knockout round – Danish champions FC Copenhagen and Turkish champions Trabzonspor – and will join six winners who advance from the third qualifying round.
Country | Crew | How qualified |
---|---|---|
Armenia | FC Pyunik | 1st – Armenian Premier League |
Azerbaijan | Qarabag | 1st – Azerbaijan Premier League |
Bulgaria | Ludogorets Razgrad | 1st – First Professional Football League |
Croatia | Dinamo Zagreb | 1st – HNL (Liga Hrvatska Nogometna) |
Czech Republic | Viktoria Pilsen | 1st – Czech Premier League |
Denmark | FC Copenhagen* | 1st – Danish Superliga |
Hungary | Ferencvaros | 1st – Nemzeti Bajnoksag |
Israel | Maccabi Haifa | 1st – Israeli Premier League |
Lithuania | Zalgiris | 1st – A Lyga |
Moldova | Sheriff Tiraspol | 1st – Moldovan Super Liga |
Norway | Bodo/Glimt | 1st – Elite Series |
Serbia | The Red Star of Belgrade | 1st – Serbian SuperLiga |
Swiss | FC Zurich | 1st – Swiss Super League |
Turkey | Trabzonspor* | 1st – Turkish Super League |
* = Teams entering the competition in the elimination round
league path
These clashes involve clubs that didn’t win their domestic title last season, but are from European leagues strong enough to have the chance to compete for two available places in the Champions League group stage.
All eight teams are currently in the third qualifying round, with the four survivors reaching the playoffs.
Country | Crew | How qualified |
---|---|---|
Austria | Sturm Graz | 2nd – Austrian Bundesliga |
Belgium | Union Saint-Gilloise | 2nd – Belgian First Division |
Denmark | FC Midtjylland | 2nd – Danish Superliga |
France | AS Monaco | 4th – Ligue 1 |
Netherlands | PSV Eindhoven | 2nd – Eredivisie |
Portugal | Benfica | 2nd – Liga Portugal |
Scotland | Rangers | 2nd – Scottish Premier League |
Ukraine | Dynamo Kyiv | 2nd – Ukrainian Premier League |
How to watch the Champions League 2022/23
Country | TV channel | Diffusion |
---|---|---|
UK | BT Sport 1/BT Sport Ultimate | BT Sport app, BT Sport YouTube |
UNITED STATES | CBS (EN), Univision/TUDN (ESP) | fuboTV, Paramount+, ViX |
Australia | 9Gem | Stan Sports |
Canada | — | DAZN |
How do the Champions League qualifying rounds and playoffs work in 2022/23?
Before the highly publicized Champions League group stage, there are several qualifying rounds culminating in the knockout round which ultimately hands out six group stage tickets.
Which teams are in which rounds?
The teams participating in each round are pre-determined based on their country’s UEFA coefficient ranking. It is a mathematical formula that takes into account the final position of the teams of this league in European competitions during the previous five years.
Teams from countries at the bottom of these coefficient rankings (Ex. San Marino and Iceland) join the early rounds and must survive a longer path to reach the group stage.
Which teams are seeded?
There is also a classification by coefficient of clubs which is obviously different from the classification by coefficient of countries. The club coefficient formula is only used to determine which teams are seeded against each other in each round.
As in the case of the knockout round draw, when the participants are not yet known because the clashes have not been completed, the clashes featuring the highest ranked clubs according to the UEFA Club Coefficient Ranking are automatically seeded for the elimination round.
League Path vs Champions Path
An additional wrinkle to the Champions League: not all participating teams qualify by winning their national championship title.
A handful of top leagues also have places reserved in the Champions League competition for teams that finish in second place or as low as fourth place (as in the case of the English Premier League).
Non-champions who are part of the qualifying rounds commit to the “League Path”, which is separate from the “Champions Path” which is reserved for league champions.
2022/23 Champions League schedule
Schedule of preliminary and qualifying rounds
Round | To draw | 1st run | Return match |
---|---|---|---|
Preliminary qualifying round | June 7, 2022 | June 21, 2022 | June 24, 2022 |
First qualifying round | June 14, 2022 | July 5-6, 2022 | July 12-13, 2022 |
Second qualifying round | June 15, 2022 | July 19-20, 2022 | July 26-27, 2022 |
Third qualifying round | July 18, 2022 | August 2-3, 2022 | August 9-10, 2022 |
Elimination round | August 2, 2022 | August 16-17, 2022 | August 23-24, 2022 |
Group stage schedule
The draw for the 2022/23 Champions League group stage will take place on August 25, 2022 in Istanbul, Turkey.
game day | Appointment |
---|---|
1 | September 6-7, 2022 |
2 | September 13-14, 2022 |
3 | October 4-5, 2022 |
4 | October 11-12, 2022 |
5 | October 25-26, 2022 |
6 | November 1-2, 2022 |
Knockout stage schedule
The 2022/23 Champions League Round of 16 draw will take place on November 7, 2022.
The draw for the remaining rounds (quarter-finals and semi-finals) of the 2022/23 Champions League knockout stage will take place on 17 March 2023.
Round | 1st run | Return match |
---|---|---|
Round of 16 | February 14-22, 2023 | March 7-15, 2023 |
Quarter-finals | April 11-12, 2023 | April 18-19, 2023 |
Semi-finals | May 9-10, 2023 | May 16-17, 2023 |
Final | June 10, 2023 |