Champions League draw: who will be Dynamo Kyiv’s opponent?

The draw for the third qualifying round of the 2025/26 Champions League took place in Nyon, Switzerland. Dynamo Kyiv received a potential opponent – the winner of the match between Paphos of Cyprus and Maccabi Tel Aviv of Israel. The draw turned out to be relatively favorable for Oleksandr Shovkovskyi’s team.

The draw for the third qualifying round of the Champions League took place at UEFA headquarters in Nyon on Monday, July 21. Ukrainian fans were particularly keen to see the results, as Dynamo Kyiv were also there, currently in the second qualifying round, where they face Hamrun Spartans of Malta.

Despite being among the unseeded teams, the “white-and-blue” managed to avoid the most formidable opponents, such as “Copenhagen” or “Red Star”. According to the draw, in case of victory over the Maltese, “Dynamo” will meet the winner of the confrontation “Paphos” (Cyprus) – “Maccabi” Tel Aviv (Israel) .

Both clubs have strong European ambitions. Israeli Maccabi is an experienced European contender, while Cypriot Paphos is showing ambitions to become a new force in its league.

This draw is a relatively favorable option for Dynamo, given the club’s experience in European competitions. At the same time, there are no easy opponents in this phase – especially in the format of two-match duels.

In total, more than ten pairs have been formed in two main paths – champions and league representatives.

The path of champions – clubs that became champions of their countries

Along the way, two main groups were formed:

Group 1

• The teams are:
  • Winner of Pair 1: “Copenhagen” (Denmark) – “Drita” (Kosovo).
  • Winner of Pair 2: Lincoln Red Imps (Gibraltar) – Crvena Zvezda (Serbia).
  • Winner of Pair 3: Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia) – Zrinski (Bosnia and Herzegovina).
• Unseeded teams:
  • Winner of Pair 4: Lech (Poland) – Breidablik (Iceland).
  • Winner of Pair 5: RFU (Latvia) – Malmo (Sweden).
  • Winner of Pair 6: “KuPS” (Finland) – “Kairat” (Kazakhstan).

Group 2

• The teams are:
  • Winner of Pair 7: “Noah” (Armenia) – “Ferencvaros” (Hungary).
  • Winner of Pair 8: Paphos (Cyprus) – Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel).
  • Winner of Pair 9: Shelbourne (Ireland) – Qarabag (Azerbaijan).
• Unseeded teams:
  • Winner of Pair 10: Rijeka (Croatia) – Ludogorets (Bulgaria).
  • Winner of Pair 11: Hamrun Spartans (Malta) – Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine).
  • Winner of Pair 12: “Shkendija” (North Macedonia) – “FKSB” (Romania).

Thus, in case of victory over Hamrun, Dynamo will face the winner of the Paphos – Maccabi Tel Aviv match.

The path of league representatives – teams that did not become champions of their countries.

This path consists mainly of clubs from stronger European championships.

Pairs of the third qualifying round (league representative route):

• Nice (France) – Benfica (Portugal).
• Feyenoord (Netherlands) – Fenerbahce (Turkey).
• Winner of Pair 2: Brann (Norway) – Salzburg (Austria) vs. Club Brugge (Belgium).
• Winner of Pair 1: Rangers (Scotland) – Panathinaikos (Greece) vs. Winner of Pair 3: Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic) – Servette (Switzerland).

The third qualifying round consists of two matches – home and away. The winners advance to the Champions League play-off round, while the losers are relegated to the Europa League.

Also follow “Pryamim” on Facebook , Twitter , Telegram , and Instagram.