Teams progressing through the early Europa Conference League rounds have their eyes on a lucrative spot in the group stage, and even harbour dreams of pushing through to the knockout rounds. To get there, they must earn a spot by playing through the qualifying and playoff rounds, which present tough trips across Europe against equally hungry opponents.

As the second qualifying round takes the field with two legs over the next two weeks, the third qualifying round has been constructed so each team has a potential path towards the group stage in focus.

Recognisable teams such as APOEL, CSKA Sofia, BATE Borisov, Young Boys, Slavia Prague, AZ Alkmaar, PAOK, and others will all be in play through the second qualifying round and hoping to be involved as the competition progresses further. Some of the teams include those dropping down after losses in the early rounds of the Champions League.

MORE: Champions League qualifiers 2022: Draws, results, fixtures, and scores

Europa Conference League third qualifying round fixtures and schedule

The matchups for the 2022-23 Europa Conference League third qualifying round were determined at the third qualifying round draw which took place on Monday, July 18.

Champions Path

Team 1 will play first leg at home

Main Path

Team 1 will play first leg at home

How Europa Conference League third qualifying round draw works

The third qualifying round draw will take place before the results of the second qualifying round are complete, meaning matchups will be drawn as placeholders for eventual qualifiers.

Because of this, each matchup is designated as producing either a seeded team or unseeded team, and whoever emerges from that matchup will be considered one or the other, no matter the victor. Seeding is done by the UEFA club coefficient of the higher-ranked team in the matchup, designed as if all higher-ranked teams were to theoretically advance. Therefore, in the event of upsets in the second qualifying round, lower-ranked teams could potentially find themselves seeded above higher-ranked competition.

In the draw, seeded teams will be drawn against unseeded teams in both the Champions Path and Main Path to create the potential matchups for the third qualifying round.

There are also a few teams who enter the competition in the third qualifying round, and their presence is guaranteed no matter the results of the second qualifying round. Those teams include FK RFS and Shakhtyor Soligorsk in the Champions Path and Lugano, Zorya Luhansk, Hajduk Split, Dundee United, Anderlecht, Wolfsberger, Gil Vicente, Panathinaikos, and FC Twente in the Main Path.

Winners from the third qualifying round will advance to the playoff round, which is the final stage of the Europa Conference League before the group stage. There are just six places in the group stage reserved for qualifiers from these early rounds of competition.

How to watch UEFA Europa Conference League 2022, 2023

Select matches from the Europa Conference League preliminary rounds are available for broadcast, chosen by the broadcast partner for each market. Per UEFA, other select matches are made available for streaming by the home team, often via their official YouTube page.

Europa Conference League schedule 2022, 2023

Preliminary and qualifying rounds schedule

Group stage schedule

The draw for the 2022/23 Europa Conference League group stage will take place on Aug. 26, 2022 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Knockout stage schedule

The draw for the 2022/23 Europa Conference League knockout round playoffs will take place on Nov. 7, 2022, and the draw for the Round of 16 will take place on Feb. 24, 2022. The draw for the rest of the 2022-23 Europa League knockout stage will take place on March 17, 2023.

The 2023 Europa Conference League final will be in Prague, Czech Republic on June 7, 2023.