Rangers, Hibernian and Dundee United are among 10 teams from the UK who will discover their first opponents in the qualification rounds of the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League this week. The draws for the first round of qualifying for all three competitions take place on Tuesday, 17 June with the second round qualifying draws a day later. All three competitions have four rounds of qualifying prior to a league phase. The three Scottish teams enter at the second qualifying round of their respective competition - Rangers in the Champions League, Hibs in the Europa League and Dundee United in the Conference League. Northern Irish champions Linfield and Welsh title winners The New Saints both enter the first round of Champions League qualifying. Dungannon Swifts, who won the Irish Cup, enter the second round of Conference League qualifying alongside Dundee United The remaining four teams from the UK - Penybont and Haverfordwest County from Wales, and Larne and Cliftonville from Northern Ireland - all feature in the Conference League's first qualifying round. The first and second rounds of qualifying for all three competitions take place across July. Send us your questions Rangers will have to get through three rounds of qualifying to reach the Champions League for the first time since the 2022-23 season The 28 teams in the Champions League's first qualifying round have been split into two pots - seeded and unseeded. The New Saints and Linfield are both seeded, meaning that - on paper - they have a more advantageous draw. Teams they could potentially face include Dinamo Minsk of Belarus, Shelbourne from the Republic of Ireland and Armenian side Noah, who met Chelsea in the group stages of the 2024-25 Conference League. Should either side advance to the second qualifying round, they will enter the champions path - for clubs who qualified as national champions. Both teams would enter as unseeded teams, where potential opponents include Danish champions Copenhagen or Slovakian champions Slovan Bratislava. Rangers enter at this point, but are in a separate section known as the league path. The Glasgow side are one of three seeded teams in that path and will face either Panathinaikos (Greece), Servette (Switzerland) or Brann (Norway) in the second round. Scottish champions Celtic enter at the play-off qualifying round and will face one of eight sides for a place in the Champions League, with Basel (Switzerland) and Sturm Graz (Austria) among their potential opponents. Hibernian finished third in the Scottish Premiership during the 2024-25 season Hibernian are the only British side entering either of the first two Europa League qualifying rounds. As one of eight unseeded sides in the second qualifying round, their potential opponents include Braga of Portugal, Belgian outfit Anderlecht or Midtjylland from Denmark. PAOK (Greece) and Young Boys (Switzerland) will enter later in the competition, as well as 16 losing sides from earlier qualifying rounds in the Champions League. Aberdeen will enter the final round of Europa League qualifying and will be an unseeded team in the draw. Larne played in the league phase of the Conference League during the 2024-25 season Of the 10 UK teams featured in the first two qualification rounds for Europe's three club competitions, six are going into the Conference League. Northern Irish duo Larne and Cliftonville and Welsh sides Penybont and Haverfordwest County all enter the first round. Larne enter as a seeded team, with the other three sides all unseeded. Dundee United and Dungannon Swifts enter the second round of qualifying, with the former seeded and the latter unseeded. Larne are guaranteed to be a seeded side in the second qualifying round, should they get that far. Nottingham Forest will enter the final round of Conference League qualifying and are guaranteed to be a seeded side in that draw, meaning they will avoid a meeting with Fiorentina (Italy), Rayo Vallecano (Spain), Mainz (Germany) and Strasbourg (France), among others. This article is the latest from BBC Sport'sAsk Me Anythingteam. Ask Me Anything is a service dedicated to answering your questions. We want to reward your time by telling you things you do not know and reminding you of things you do. The team will find out everything you need to know and be able to call upon a network of contacts including our experts and pundits. We will be answering your questions from the heart of the BBC Sport newsroom, and going behind the scenes at some of the world's biggest sporting events. Our coverage will span the BBC Sport website, app, social media and YouTube accounts, plus BBC TV and radio. Who has qualified for the 2025-26 Champions League? How can Celtic & Rangers qualify for Champions League? When does the summer transfer window close? Why can 23-year-olds play at Euro U21s?
How does European qualifying work for clubs from UK?
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"UK Clubs Prepare for Draws in European Football Qualifying Rounds"
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TruthLens AI Summary
This week marks a significant moment for ten teams from the United Kingdom as they prepare to learn their opponents in the qualification rounds of the Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League. The draws for the first round of qualifying for all three competitions are scheduled for Tuesday, June 17, followed by the second round draws on June 18. Notably, three Scottish teams will enter their respective competitions at the second qualifying round: Rangers in the Champions League, Hibernian in the Europa League, and Dundee United in the Conference League. Meanwhile, the Northern Irish champions Linfield and Welsh title holders The New Saints will compete in the first round of Champions League qualifying. Other UK teams like Dungannon Swifts, who won the Irish Cup, will also join the second round of the Conference League qualifying alongside Dundee United. The remaining four teams from the UK will participate in the first qualifying round of the Conference League, including Welsh teams Penybont and Haverfordwest County, as well as Northern Irish clubs Larne and Cliftonville.
As the qualification process unfolds in July, teams like Rangers will face a challenging path. They must navigate three rounds of qualifying to return to the Champions League group stages for the first time since the 2022-23 season. In the Champions League's first qualifying round, the 28 participating teams are divided into seeded and unseeded pots. Both The New Saints and Linfield are seeded, which theoretically gives them a favorable draw against potential opponents such as Dinamo Minsk and Shelbourne. If successful, they will progress to the second qualifying round as unseeded teams, where they could encounter formidable opponents like Copenhagen or Slovan Bratislava. Rangers, on the other hand, will also enter at this stage as a seeded team, facing off against clubs like Panathinaikos and Servette. Hibernian, finishing third in the Scottish Premiership, is the only British club in the initial rounds of the Europa League, while several teams, including Larne and Nottingham Forest, aim to secure their spots in the Conference League. Overall, this week’s draws will set the stage for an exciting summer of European football for UK clubs.
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