The qualifying rounds for the 2005–06 UEFA Cup began on 14 July 2005. In total, there were two qualifying rounds which narrowed clubs down to 80 teams in preparation for the first round.
Times are CEST (UTC+2), as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).
Regions used to divide teams in the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Cup:
Northern
Central–East
Southern–Mediterranean
In total, 87 teams entered qualifying stage, which consisted of the following rounds:
First qualifying round (50 teams): 50 teams which entered in this round.
Second qualifying round (62 teams): 37 teams which entered in this round, and 25 winners of the first qualifying round.
The 31 winners of the second qualifying round advanced to the first round, joining 49 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 2005 UEFA club coefficients), grouped by their starting rounds.[2][3]
Key to colours
Winners of second qualifying round advance to first round
†Mainz 05 of Germany (usually in Central–East) were moved to the Northern region for the second qualifying round (while remaining in their usual region for the first qualifying round).
‡Vaduz of Liechtenstein (usually in Central–East) were moved to the Southern–Mediterranean region for the second qualifying round (while remaining in their usual region for the first qualifying round).
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.[5] Seeding of teams within each region was based on their 2005 UEFA club coefficients.[2]
A total of 62 teams played in the first qualifying round: 37 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 2005 UEFA club coefficients.[2]
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.