The four Northern Ireland representatives in UEFA club competitions in the 2025-26 season now know who their opponents will be as they embark on European journeys next month.
NIFL Premiership champions Linfield are set to face League of Ireland Premier Division champions Shelbourne in the first round of UEFA Champions League qualifying.
The first leg of the two-legged qualifier will take place at Tolka Park in Dublin on Tuesday 8 or Wednesday 9 July, while the return fixture is scheduled to be played at the Clearer Water National Stadium at Windsor Park on 15 or 16 July.
Linfield won Northern Ireland’s top flight title for a record 57th time last season, while Shelbourne won their first LOI Premier Division title in 18 years in 2024.
The exact dates and kick-off times for the two Champions League qualifiers will be announced by UEFA by Friday.
The winner of the tie between Linfield and Shelbourne will play Azerbaijan champions Qarabag FK in round two of the qualifiers at the end of July.
And the winner of that round two tie will then enter the UCL third qualifying round in early August. The next stage after that is play-offs at the end of August for a place in the league phase of the UCL, which begins in mid-September.
The losers of next month’s Linfield-Shelbourne tie will drop to round two of the UEFA Conference League qualifiers where they will play the losers of the UCL first round tie between Lithuanian side Zalgiris and Maltese outfit Hamrun Spartans.
Dungannon Swifts, who lifted the Clearer Water Irish Cup for the first time last month, will face Liechtenstein side FC Vaduz in the second round of UEFA Conference League qualifying.
The first leg of the qualifier is due to be staged on 24 July, with the second leg on 31 July. The dates and kick-off times for the matches will be confirmed by UEFA by 23 June.
The Swifts will play their ‘home’ game at Cliftonville’s Solitude ground as their Stangmore Park home in Dungannon does not meet UEFA criteria for staging European matches.
Cliftonville and Larne will also be in UEFA Conference League action next month – in the first round of the qualifiers.
The Reds, who won the NIFL Premiership European play-offs, are set to take on St Joseph's of Gibraltar, who finished second in Gibraltar’s top flight last season.
The games will be played on 10 and 17 July – and the winners of the tie will face current League of Ireland Premier Division leaders Shamrock Rovers in round two of the UECL qualifiers.
NIFL Premiership runners-up Larne have been drawn to face FK Auda of Latvia in the first round of UECL qualifying.
Larne, who became the first NIFL Premiership team to qualify for the league stage of European competition last season, will meet the Latvians on 10 and 17 July.
The winners of that tie will play either Moldovan side Sheriff Tiraspol or Kosovan team FC Prishtina in round two.
The dates and kick-off times for the Cliftonville and Larne UECL matches in R1 of the qualifiers will be confirmed by UEFA in the coming days.
There will be three rounds of qualifiers in the Conference League this summer followed by play-offs for a place in the league phase of the Conference League, which begins in the autumn.
The draws for the various qualifiers were staged at UEFA HQ in Switzerland over the past two days.
Image: Larne reached the UEFA Conference League group stages last season – becoming the first team from Northern Ireland to qualify for the league stage of European competition.
