Sabah FC make history as youngest club in UEFA Champions League play-offs

Sabah FC is the youngest club among the teams participating in this season's UEFA Champions League play-offs and those that have already secured a place in the league phase, AzerNEWS reports.

The club, founded on September 8, 2017, is just nine years old.

In addition, Sabah is the first Azerbaijani club to have started its Champions League campaign in the first qualifying round and progressed through three rounds.

Note that Sabah will face Israel's Hapoel Be'er Sheva in the Champions League play-offs.

The first leg will be played on August 19 in Bucharest, the capital of Romania, while the return leg will take place in Baku on August 25.

The winner of the tie will qualify for the Champions League league phase, while the loser will enter the Europa League league phase.

The 2026–27 UEFA Conference League will be the sixth edition of UEFA's third-tier European club competition, featuring teams from across the continent competing for the trophy and European success.

The winners will secure an automatic spot in the 2027–28 UEFA Europa League league phase, unless they have already qualified for either the UEFA Champions League or Europa League through their domestic league performance.

Defending champions Crystal Palace will not be able to defend their title, as they have already secured qualification for the 2027–28 UEFA Europa League league phase.

Under UEFA's current competition format, teams participating in the Europa League league phase can no longer drop down to the Conference League later in the campaign.