2015–16 UEFA Europa League qualifying
The 2015–16 UEFA Europa League qualifying phase began on 30 June and ended on 6 August 2015. A total of 157 teams competed in the qualifying phase to decide which 44 teams would participate in the play-off round of the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League, the final round before the group stage.
All times were CEST.
Round and draw dates
All draws were held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.| Round | Draw date and time | First leg | Second leg |
| First qualifying round | 22 June 2015, 13:00 & 14:30 | 2 July 2015 | 9 July 2015 |
| Second qualifying round | 22 June 2015, 13:00 & 14:30 | 16 July 2015 | 23 July 2015 |
| Third qualifying round | 17 July 2015, 13:00 | 30 July 2015 | 6 August 2015 |
| Play-off round | 7 August 2015, 13:00 | 20 August 2015 | 27 August 2015 |
Matches could also be played on Tuesdays or Wednesdays instead of the regular Thursdays due to scheduling conflicts.
Format
In the qualifying phase and [|play-off round], each tie was played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scored more goals on aggregate over the two legs advanced to the next round. If the aggregate score was level, the away goals rule was applied, i.e., the team that scored more goals away from home over the two legs advanced. If away goals were also equal, then thirty minutes of extra time was played, divided into two fifteen-minutes halves. The away goals rule was again applied after extra time, i.e., if there were goals scored during extra time and the aggregate score was still level, the visiting team advanced by virtue of more away goals scored. If no goals were scored during extra time, the tie was decided by penalty shoot-out.In the draws for each round, teams were seeded based on their UEFA club coefficients at the beginning of the season, with the teams divided into seeded and unseeded pots. A seeded team was drawn against an unseeded team, with the order of legs in each tie decided by draw. Due to the limited time between matches, the draws for the second and third qualifying rounds took place before the results of the previous round were known. For these draws, the seeding was carried out under the assumption that the team with the higher coefficient of an undecided tie advanced to this round, which means if the team with the lower coefficient was to advance, it simply took the seeding of its defeated opponent. Prior to the draws, UEFA formed "groups" in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee, but they were purely for convenience of the draw and for ensuring that teams from the same association were not drawn against each other, and did not resemble any real groupings in the sense of the competition.
Teams
A total of 157 teams were involved in the qualifying phase and play-off round. The 22 winners of the play-off round advanced to the group stage to join the 16 teams which entered in the group stage and the 10 losers of the Champions League play-off round.Below are the participating teams, grouped by their starting rounds.
| Key to colours |
| Winners of the play-off round advanced to the group stage |
;Notes First qualifying roundSeedingA total of 102 teams played in the first qualifying round. The draw was held on 22 June 2015. Teams were pre-assigned numbers by UEFA so that the draw could be held in one run for all groups with ten teams and another run for the group with twelve teams.Second qualifying roundSeedingA total of 66 teams played in the second qualifying round: 15 teams which entered in this round, and the 51 winners of the first qualifying round. The draw was held on 22 June 2015. Teams were pre-assigned numbers by UEFA so that the draw could be held in one run for all groups with 10 teams and another run for all groups with 12 teams.;Notes Third qualifying roundSeedingA total of 58 teams played in the third qualifying round: 25 teams which entered in this round, and the 33 winners of the second qualifying round. The draw was held on 17 July 2015. Teams were pre-assigned numbers by UEFA so that the draw could be held in one run for the group with 10 teams and another run for all groups with 12 teams.;Notes Play-off roundSeedingA total of 44 teams played in the play-off round: the 29 winners of the third qualifying round, and the 15 losers of the Champions League third qualifying round. The draw was held on 7 August 2015. Teams were pre-assigned numbers by UEFA so that the draw could be held in one run for all groups with 10 teams and another run for all groups with 12 teams.;Notes StatisticsThere were 693 goals in 270 matches in the qualifying phase and play-off round, for an average of 2.57 goals per match. |