UEFA Cup Format

UEFA Cup format for the qualifying rounds

First Qualifying Round: July

76 teams compete for 38 places in the first qualifying round. The participants are domestic league runners up and domestic cup winners from nations on the lower half of the UEFA League table, third placed domestic league teams from countries ranked in the middle of the UEFA League table and 3 teams from high ranked FIFA Fair Play countries. All fixtures are played over two legs with the team scoring the highest goal aggregate going through to the next round.

Second Qualifying Round: August

The 38 first qualifying round winners are joined in the second qualifying round by 26 teams from the upper half of the UEFA League table. The format of this round is similar to the first qualifying round with new participants divided between domestic cup winners, league runners-up and third place league teams from highly ranked countries. The 11 first round winners from the Intertoto Cup also participate in this round.

UEFA Cup format for the competition proper

First Round: September

The first round proper sees the 32 qualifying round winners joined by an influx of teams from Europe’s top domestic football leagues. 18 league runners-up are admitted into this round, alongside the domestic cup winners from the countries ranked 1-13 on the UEFA League table. Also joining this round are the 16 teams eliminated in the Champions League third qualifying round. The final available berth in this round is given to the current UEFA Cup holders.

Group Stage: October - December

The UEFA Cup format changes in the second round with the 40 winners from the first round entering a group stage featuring 8 groups of 5 teams. The two-legged fixture format is dropped and each group is contested on a round-robin basis. The top 3 teams in each group progress to the third round.

Round 3: February

The 24 survivors from the group stage are now joined by the 8 third placed teams from the Champions League group stage. 16 knockout games are played to decide the final 16.

Round 4: March

The 16 third round victors play 8 knockout games to decide the quarterfinalists.

Quarterfinals/Semi-Finals/Finals: April - May

The remaining 8 teams are reduced to two finalists over the course of the next two games. The final is a single game played at a neutral venue, with a penalty shootout used to determine a winner in the event of a draw.