Champions League

Polish clubs score 15 European goals to defend UEFA spot

Polish football clubs scored 15 goals in European cup qualifiers this week, boosting their chances of keeping 10th place in the UEFA ranking.

By Elena Farouk 21 August 2026, 12:05

Polish clubs score 15 European goals to defend UEFA spot

Polish football clubs scored a rare 15 goals across their European cup qualifying matches this week, boosting the country's chances of holding onto a crucial 10th place in the UEFA country coefficient ranking.

The UEFA ranking determines how many qualification spots each nation receives for European competitions, based on their clubs' continental performances. Holding onto 10th place would grant the Polish Ekstraklasa champions direct entry into the Champions League league phase for the 2028/29 season.

Lech Poznan recorded their biggest ever European victory by thrashing Swiss champions FC Thun 7:0, placing them firmly on course for the Europa League league phase. In the qualifiers for the same competition, Jagiellonia Bialystok defeated Georgian side Iberia 4:0.

Return legs crucial for Gornik and Rakow

Poland's hopes of defending their 10th place in the UEFA ranking now depend heavily on upcoming return legs. Gornik Zabrze lost 3:2 to French side AS Monaco after a hard fought match, and face a difficult away trip in their second leg against their titled opponents. Rakow Czestochowa drew 2:2 with Croatian club Hajduk Split despite playing with a man advantage, but will have home advantage for the return fixture.

Lech and Jagiellonia are now guaranteed to play in European competitions, with all signs pointing to the Europa League. However, having only two teams in Europe will likely be insufficient to maintain Poland's ranking against their closest rivals.

To match the coefficient points Poland earned last year or two seasons ago, the Polish champions and Polish Cup winners would need to finish near the top of the league table and advance at least to the round of 16 in those competitions.

Last season, four Polish clubs collected a record 15.750 coefficient points. Those points were divided by four, the number of entering teams. This year, points are divided by five, reflecting the total number of Polish teams that entered the qualifiers. This means each victory carries less weight, illustrating the diminished impact of having only two scoring clubs. Getting three Polish teams into the cups would be considered a satisfactory result.

Czech Republic poses major threat

Poland's main rivals for the 10th spot will likely have at least three teams in the league phase. The Czech Republic currently sits 11th. Czech champions Slavia Prague are in the Champions League, while Sparta Prague will play in the Europa League.

Elsewhere, Viktoria Plzen are fighting for the Europa League. They lost their first leg 3:0 to Red Star Belgrade (Crvena Zvezda), but will drop into the Conference League if eliminated. Hradec Kralove face an uphill battle to reach the Conference League after a fortunate 2:2 draw in their first match with Greece's Panathinaikos, while FK Jablonec lost 1:0 to Scottish side Rangers.

Czech teams added only 0.1 points to the ranking from Thursday's matches, compared to the 0.5 points added by Poland. However, Slavia Prague will receive bonus points for the Champions League, which will add 1.2 points to the Czech country ranking in September.

Greece on track for five European teams

Greece, in 12th place, also performed well in this round, gaining 0.5 points and staying on track to have up to five teams in the cups.

AEK Athens played out a goalless draw with Bulgarian side Levski Sofia in their first Champions League qualifying match. In the fight for the Europa League, OFI Crete beat CSKA Sofia 3:0. PAOK drew 1:1 with Norwegian club Brann in a battle for the Conference League.

Fortunately for Poland, their current advantage over Greece is almost three points, and they maintain a clear advantage over the rest of their rivals in the standings.

Even if Poland slips from 10th, finishing in the top 12 of the ranking ensures the top team in the Ekstraklasa starts the qualifiers from the Champions League play off phase, guaranteeing at least Europa League football in the worst case scenario.