Crystal Palace won the Conference League in Leipzig with a single goal
Crystal Palace beat Rayo Vallecano 1–0 at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig to win the fifth Conference League, UEFA's third-tier club competition. Their prize was a Europa League place for 2026–27. Chelsea, who had won the previous edition, could not defend it: they were already playing in the Champions League.
The 2025–26 edition gathered 164 entrants from 54 of UEFA's 55 member associations, with Russia, still suspended, the one absentee. Places followed the 2024 association coefficients, built from European results between 2019–20 and 2023–24. Countries ranked 34 to 50 sent three clubs apiece, apart from Liechtenstein with one, while those ranked 13 to 33 and 51 to 55 sent two.
The tournament also caught teams tumbling from above. Fifteen clubs eliminated from the Champions League and 41 from the Europa League were transferred in, so a side could begin its summer in one competition and finish it in another. Two entrants did not even play in their country's top division: Vaduz and Spaeri, both from second tiers.
This was the second season under the 36-team league-phase format, which carries a one-way rule. The Conference League winner is promoted to the next Europa League, and once the league phase starts no club can be moved down from the Europa League, so Chelsea had no route back to defend their title. They had already earned a Champions League berth domestically before lifting the trophy, which left the Europa League slot normally reserved for the winner unused. The access list was rebalanced: Finland's cup winners moved up into Europa League qualifying, and the cup winners of Malta and Georgia skipped the first qualifying round.
Russia's absence and Paris Saint-Germain's domestic qualification for the Champions League reshuffled the lower rungs as well. Cup winners from six associations, Iceland and Northern Ireland among them, began in the second qualifying round rather than the first, and two clubs arriving from Champions League qualifying received byes into the third round. The first qualifying draw took place on 17 June 2025, first legs followed on 8 and 10 July, and matches were generally played on Thursdays, with 18 December set aside as an exclusive matchday. Palace had not qualified for next season's Champions League or Europa League through their league finish, so the win in Leipzig supplied their route into Europe's second competition.
Source: 2025–26 UEFA Conference League
