The 2004–05 UEFA Cup qualifying rounds was the qualification competition that determined the teams participating in the main competition of the 2004–05 UEFA Cup. It began on 13 July 2004 with the first qualifying round and ended on 26 August 2004 with the second qualifying round. The two qualifying rounds narrowed the clubs down to 80 teams in preparation for the first round.
Regions used to divide teams in the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Cup:
Northern
Central–East
Southern–Mediterranean
In total, 89 teams entered qualifying stage, which consisted of the following rounds:
First qualifying round (50 teams): 50 teams which enter in this round.
Second qualifying round (64 teams): 39 teams which enter in this round, and 25 winners of the first qualifying round.
The 32 winners of the second qualifying round advanced to the first round, joining 42 other teams.
In the qualifying rounds, UEFA divided the participating teams into three geographical regions: Northern, Central–East, and Southern–Mediterranean. Teams were then seeded within their respective regions, rather than being seeded among all participating teams of the round. This meant that a club potentially seeded in an open draw format could be unseeded in the regional system, or vice versa. The regional allocation of countries was generally as follows:[1]
Central–East: Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Switzerland, Ukraine
Southern–Mediterranean: Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Israel, Italy, Macedonia, Malta, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey
However, UEFA could make exceptions to these allocations to ensure an even number of teams in each region.
Below were the participating teams of the qualifying rounds (with their 2004 UEFA club coefficients), grouped by their starting rounds.[2]
Key to colours
Winners of second qualifying round advance to first round
Each tie is played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scores more goals on aggregate over the two legs advance to the next round. If the aggregate score is level, the away goals rule is applied, i.e. the team that scores more goals away from home over the two legs advances. If away goals are also equal, then extra time is played. The away goals rule is again applied after extra time, i.e. if there are goals scored during extra time and the aggregate score is still level, the visiting team advances by virtue of more away goals scored. If no goals are scored during extra time, the tie is decided by penalty shoot-out.[3]
In the draws for each round, teams are seeded based on their UEFA club coefficients at the beginning of the season, with the teams divided into seeded and unseeded pots containing the same number of teams. A seeded team is drawn against an unseeded team to determine the ties. Prior to the draws, UEFA forms "groups" in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee, but they are purely for convenience of the draw and do not resemble any real groupings in the sense of the competition. Teams from the same association or from associations with political conflicts as decided by UEFA may not be drawn into the same tie. After the draws, the order of legs of a tie may be reversed by UEFA due to scheduling or venue conflicts.
A total of 50 teams played in the first qualifying round. Prior to the draw, UEFA divided the teams into three regions, with each region containing seeded and unseeded teams in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee.[6] Seeding of teams within each region was based on their 2004 UEFA club coefficients.[2]
A total of 64 teams played in the first qualifying round: 39 teams which entered in this round, and 25 winners of the first round. Prior to the draw, UEFA divided the teams into three regions, with each region containing two groups of seeded and unseeded teams in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee.[8] Seeding of teams within each region was based on their 2004 UEFA club coefficients.[2]
^Kassies, Bert. "UEFA Cup regions". UEFA European Cup Football. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
^ abcde"UEFA Cup ready to go". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 23 June 2004. Archived from the original on 27 June 2004. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
Note: Between the 1999–2000 and 2008–09 seasons, the competition was still known as the UEFA Cup. All seasons are included following the competition's absorption of the Cup Winners' Cup.
Maribor
Željezničar
Dinamo Tirana
Banants
Shamkir
Tiraspol
Honvéd
Bohemians
FH
Žalgiris
Ventspils
Etzella Ettelbruck
Rijeka
Levski Sofia
Bnei Sakhnin
Železnik
Lech Poznań
Wil
Dunfermline Athletic