# 2023–24 UEFA Europa League qualifying phase and play-off round

The 2023–24 UEFA Europa League qualifying phase and play-off round began on 8 August and ended on 31 August 2023.
A total of 27 teams competed in the qualifying system which included the qualifying phase and the play-off round. The 10 winners of the play-off round advanced to the group stage, to join the 12 teams that entered in the group stage, the six losers of the Champions League play-off round (four from Champions Path and two from League Path) and the four League Path losers of the Champions League third qualifying round.
Times are CEST (UTC+2), as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).

## Teams

In the third qualifying round (which was the first round of the qualification for the Europa League), the teams were divided into two paths:
* Champions Path (10 teams): 10 teams which entered this round (10 losers of the Champions League Champions Path second qualifying round).
* Main Path (4 teams): 4 teams which entered this round (including 2 losers of the Champions League League Path second qualifying round).
The winners of the third qualifying round were combined into a single path for the play-off round:
* Play-off round (20 teams): 13 teams which entered this round (including 6 losers of the Champions League Champions Path third qualifying round) and 7 winners of the third qualifying round.
All teams eliminated from the qualifying phase and play-off round entered the Europa Conference League:
* The 5 losers of the Champions Path third qualifying round entered the Champions Path play-off round.
* The 2 losers of the Main Path third qualifying round entered the Main Path play-off round.
* The 10 losers of the play-off round entered the group stage.
Below were the participating teams (with their 2023 UEFA club coefficients, not to be used as seeding for qualifying phase and play-off round, however), grouped by their starting rounds.
* Key to colours
* Winners of play-off round advanced to group stage
* Losers of play-off round entered Europa Conference League group stage
* Losers of third qualifying round entered Europa Conference League play-off round
Play-off round :
| Team | Coeff. |
| Ajax | 89.000 |
| Dinamo Zagreb | 55.000 |
| LASK | 36.000 |
| Slovan Bratislava | 24.500 |
| Union Saint-Gilloise | 19.000 |
| Zorya Luhansk | 16.000 |
| Sparta Prague | 14.000 |
| Olimpija Ljubljana | 9.000 |
| KÍ | 8.000 |
| Aberdeen | 8.000 |
| Čukarički | 6.475 |
| Lugano | 6.335 |
| Aris Limassol | 4.895 |
Third qualifying round (Champions Path) :
| Team | Coeff. |
| Qarabağ | 25.000 |
| Ludogorets Razgrad | 21.000 |
| Sheriff Tiraspol | 19.500 |
| BATE Borisov | 15.000 |
| Astana | 14.000 |
| Žalgiris | 11.000 |
| HJK | 11.000 |
| Zrinjski Mostar | 8.500 |
| Breiðablik | 6.000 |
| BK Häcken | 4.750 |
Third qualifying round (Main Path) :
| Team | Coeff. |
| Slavia Prague | 52.000 |
| Olympiacos | 39.000 |
| Genk | 18.000 |
| Dnipro-1 | 8.000 |

### Notes

* $^{CHQ3}$ Losers of Champions League third qualifying round (Champions Path).
* $^{CHQ2}$ Losers of Champions League second qualifying round (Champions Path).
* $^{LPQ2}$ Losers of Champions League second qualifying round (League Path).

## Format

Each tie 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 was scored by both teams during extra time, the tie was decided by a penalty shoot-out.

## Schedule

The schedule of the competition was as follows. Matches were scheduled for Thursdays, though exceptionally could take place on Tuesdays or Wednesdays due to scheduling conflicts.
Schedule for the qualifying phase of the 2023–24 UEFA Europa League :
| Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
| Third qualifying round | 24 July 2023 | 10 August 2023 | 17 August 2023 |
| Play-off round | 7 August 2023 | 24 August 2023 | 31 August 2023 |

## Third qualifying round

The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 24 July 2023.

### Seeding

A total of 14 teams played in the qualifying round. They were divided into two paths:
* Champions Path (10 teams): 10 losers of the 2023–24 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round (Champions Path), whose identity was not known at the time of draw. There was no seeding.
* Main Path (4 teams): The teams were seeded as follows:
** Seeded: 2 teams which entered in this round.
** Unseeded: 2 losers of the 2023–24 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round (League Path), whose identity was not known at the time of draw.
Teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other. The first team drawn in each tie was the home team of the first leg.
Since Olympiacos could not be drawn against Panathinaikos, they were drawn against the loser of the Servette/Genk match, and Slavia Prague were drawn against the loser of the Dnipro-1/Panathinaikos match.
Champions Path :
| Group 1 | Group 2 |
| Žalgiris Qarabağ BK Häcken HJK Breiðablik Zrinjski Mostar | Ludogorets Razgrad BATE Borisov Sheriff Tiraspol Astana |
Main Path :
| Seeded | Unseeded |
| Slavia Prague Olympiacos | Genk Dnipro-1 |

#### Notes

* $^†$ Losers of the UEFA Champions League second qualifying round, whose identity was not known at the time of draw.

### Summary

The first legs were played on 8 and 10 August, and the second legs were played on 17 August 2023.
The winners of the ties advanced to the play-off round. The losers were transferred to the Europa Conference League play-off round of their respective path.
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Champions Path |||||
| Žalgiris | 1–8 | BK Häcken | 1–3 | 0–5 |
| Qarabağ | 4–2 | HJK | 2–1 | 2–1 |
| Zrinjski Mostar | 6–3 | Breiðablik | 6–2 | 0–1 |
| Sheriff Tiraspol | 7–3 | BATE Borisov | 5–1 | 2–2 |
| Astana | 3–6 | Ludogorets Razgrad | 2–1 | 1–5 |
| Main Path |||||
| Olympiacos | 2–1 | Genk | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Slavia Prague | 4–1 | Dnipro-1 | 3–0 | 1–1 |

### Champions Path

BK Häcken won 8–1 on aggregate.
Qarabağ won 4–2 on aggregate.
Zrinjski Mostar won 6–3 on aggregate.
Sheriff Tiraspol won 7–3 on aggregate.
Ludogorets Razgrad won 6–3 on aggregate.

### Main Path

Olympiacos won 2–1 on aggregate.
Slavia Prague won 4–1 on aggregate.

## Play-off round

The draw for the play-off round was held on 7 August 2023.

### Seeding

A total of 20 teams played in the play-off round. The teams were seeded into four "priority groups":
* Priority 1: The 6 teams from the higher ranking association which entered in this round
* Priority 2: 6 losers of the 2023–24 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round (Champions Path), whose identity was not known at the time of the draw
* Priority 3: 5 winners of the third qualifying round (Champions Path), whose identity was not known at the time of the draw
* Priority 4: The remaining team which entered in this round and 2 winners of the third qualifying round (Main Path), whose identity was not known at the time of the draw
The procedure of the draw was as follows:
* Three teams from Pot 1 (Priority 1) were paired with the three teams in Pot 4 (Priority 4).
* The three remaining Pot 1 (Priority 1) teams would then be paired with teams from Pot 3 (Priority 3).
* The two remaining Pot 3 (Priority 3) teams work would then be paired with teams from Pot 2 (Priority 2).
* The four remaining Pot 2 (Priority 2) balls were then drawn one after another to complete the ninth and tenth pairings (open draw).
Association protection was not applied. The first team drawn in each tie was the home team of the first leg.
| Priority 1 | Priority 2 | Priority 3 | Priority 4 |
| Ajax LASK Aberdeen Čukarički Zorya Luhansk Union Saint-Gilloise | Aris Limassol Slovan Bratislava Dinamo Zagreb Olimpija Ljubljana Sparta Prague KÍ | BK Häcken Qarabağ Zrinjski Mostar Sheriff Tiraspol Ludogorets Razgrad | Lugano Olympiacos Slavia Prague |

#### Notes

* $^†$ Winners of the third qualifying round, whose identity was not known at the time of draw.
* $^{††}$ Losers of the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round, whose identity was not known at the time of draw.

### Summary

The first legs were played on 24 August and the second legs were played on 31 August 2023.
The winners of the ties advanced to the group stage. The losers were transferred to the Europa Conference League group stage.
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Slavia Prague | 3–2 | Zorya Luhansk | 2–0 | 1–2 |
| Olympiacos | 6–1 | Čukarički | 3–1 | 3–0 |
| Union Saint-Gilloise | 3–0 | Lugano | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| Ludogorets Razgrad | 2–4 | Ajax | 1–4 | 1–0 |
| BK Häcken | 5–3 | Aberdeen | 2–2 | 3–1 |
| LASK | 3–2 | Zrinjski Mostar | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| KÍ | 2–3 | Sheriff Tiraspol | 1–1 | 1–2 |
| Olimpija Ljubljana | 1–3 | Qarabağ | 0–2 | 1–1 |
| Slovan Bratislava | 4–7 | Aris Limassol | 2–1 | 2–6 |
| Dinamo Zagreb | 4–5 | Sparta Prague | 3–1 | 1–4 |

### Matches

Slavia Prague won 3–2 on aggregate.
Olympiacos won 6–1 on aggregate.
Union Saint-Gilloise won 3–0 on aggregate.
Ajax won 4–2 on aggregate.
BK Häcken won 5–3 on aggregate.
LASK won 3–2 on aggregate.
Sheriff Tiraspol won 3–2 on aggregate.
Qarabağ won 3–1 on aggregate.
Aris Limassol won 7–4 on aggregate.
Sparta Prague won 5–4 on aggregate.