According to the updated format of UEFA club tournaments for the 2026-2027 season, 82 teams will enter the Champions League, 45 the Europa League, and 111 the Conference League.
Medianews.az reports that each of the three tournaments has four qualifying rounds. Teams eliminated in the first round of the Champions League will move to the Conference League, and those eliminated in later rounds will transfer to the Europa League; teams eliminated in the Europa League qualifiers will move to the Conference League.
In the 36-team league stages, those finishing in the top 8 positions will advance to the round of 16, while those in positions 9-24 will enter the round of 32.
In the 2025-2026 season, the Azerbaijani champion "Sabah" will start the Champions League from the first qualifying round.
The national cup winner will start the Europa League in the first qualifying round; the bronze medalist will start the Conference League in the first round, and the silver medalist in the second round.
The 2nd to 5th places in the country's top league division are occupied by the following teams: "Qarabağ", "Turan Tovuz", "Neftçi", "Zirə".
"Sabah" and "Zirə" have qualified for the Azerbaijan Cup final. If the champion "Sabah" also wins the cup, the country will be represented in the Europa League by the silver medalist. In this case, the team finishing in fourth place in the championship will participate in the Conference League along with the bronze medalist.
Among the teams invited to the main tournament - the Champions League - 29 will start at the league stage. This round will include 5 teams each from England and Spain, 4 each from Italy and Germany, 3 from France, 2 from the Netherlands, and 1 team each from Portugal, Belgium, Czech Republic, and Turkey.
The winner of the 2025-2026 Europa League will also start at the league stage, but if that team qualifies through its national championship results, the format will be updated again.