The final matches of the Premier League season this past Sunday significantly influenced which clubs will represent England in various European competitions next season, as Manchester City, Chelsea, and Newcastle United secured the coveted UEFA Champions League (UCL) spots.
But the ramifications of these results extended beyond England, impacting Finland where Ilves emerged as unexpected beneficiaries.
Levi Colwill’s goal for Chelsea at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground clinched their place in the 2025/26 UCL, leaving their hosts to settle for UEFA Conference League (UECL) football instead.
This victory for Chelsea ensured both they and their UECL Final opponents tomorrow night, Real Betis, have qualified for UEFA competitions through their respective domestic leagues, with Los Verdiblancos already assured of a UEFA Europa League (UEL) position prior to the final day of LaLiga.
Consequently, the UEL League Phase spot reserved for the UECL winners will go unfilled following tomorrow’s Final.
To address the absence in the UEL, regulations stipulate that a spot in the UEL First Qualifying Round will be allocated to the highest-ranked nation without any UEL representative.
That nation is Finland, where the Veikkausliiga ranks 34th out of UEFA’s 55 leagues, with Ilves profiting by stepping into this opportunity. They were initially set to participate in the Conference League Second Qualifying Round after finishing as runners-up in the 2024 Veikkausliiga.
The Tampere-based team will embark on their UEL qualifying journey in July, and as one of the unseeded teams in the first qualifying round, they could face opponents such as Shakhtar Donetsk, Legia Warsaw, or Partizan.
The other three Finnish clubs remain unaffected in their European aspirations for the upcoming summer.
Veikkausliiga champions KuPS will enter the UCL at the First Qualifying Round. Being a seeded team, they will avoid facing formidable teams like Allsvenskan champions Malmö, as well as Ludogorets Razgrad and FCSB.
Instead, potential opponents could include Sammarinese champions Virtus, Malta’s Hamrun Spartans, or their Estonian neighbours, Levadia.
HJK and SJK, who finished third and fourth in the 2024 Finnish top division, will compete in the UECL, starting in the First Qualifying Round. HJK ranks among the highest-seeded teams in this round, while SJK falls into the unseeded category.
The draws for the First Qualifying Rounds of all three competitions are scheduled for 17th June, with the first-leg matches set to take place the week commencing 7th July.
Veikkausliiga clubs in UEFA competition 2025/26
UEFA Champions League First Qualifying Round: KuPS (seeded)
UEFA Europa League First Qualifying Round: Ilves (unseeded)
UEFA Conference League First Qualifying Round: HJK (seeded), SJK (unseeded)
Compiled by SportArena.com.au.
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