All draws were held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.[1]
Round
Draw date and time
First leg
Second leg
First qualifying round
25 June 2012, 13:30
5 July 2012
12 July 2012
Second qualifying round
19 July 2012
26 July 2012
Third qualifying round
20 July 2012, 13:30
2 August 2012
9 August 2012
Matches may also be played on Tuesdays or Wednesdays instead of the regular Thursdays due to scheduling conflicts.
Format
Each tie was played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scored more goals on aggregate over the two legs advanced to the next round. In the event that aggregate score finished level, the away goals rule would be applied, i.e., the team that scored more goals away from home over the two legs advanced. If away goals were also equal, then thirty minutes of extra time would be played, divided into two fifteen-minutes halves. The away goals rule would again be applied after extra time, i.e., if there were goals scored during extra time and the aggregate score was still level, the visiting team would advance by virtue of more away goals scored. If no goals were scored during extra time, the tie would be decided by penalty shootout.[2]
In the draws for each round, teams were seeded based on their 2012 UEFA club coefficients,[3] with the teams divided into seeded and unseeded pots. A seeded team was drawn against an unseeded team, with the order of legs in each tie decided randomly. Due to the limited time between matches, the draws for the second and third qualifying rounds took place before the results of the previous round were known. The seeding in these draws (or in any cases where the results of a tie in the previous round were not known at the time of draw) was carried out under the assumption that the higher-ranked teams of the previous round would advance to this round, which means if a lower-ranked team were to advance, it would simply take the seeding of its defeated opponent. Prior to the draws, UEFA may form "groups" in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee, but they were purely for convenience of the draw and for ensuring that teams from the same association were not drawn against each other, and did not resemble any real groupings in the sense of the competition.
Teams
Below were the 168 teams involved in the qualifying phase and play-off round, grouped by their starting rounds (including 14 losing teams from the Champions League third qualifying round which entered the play-off round).[4] The 31 winners of the play-off round qualified for the group stage to join the 7 automatic qualifiers and the 10 losing teams from the Champions League play-off round.
The draw for the first qualifying round was held on 25 June 2012.[5] The first legs were played on 3 and 5 July, and the second legs were played on 10 and 12 July 2012.
† Winners of the previous round whose identity was not known at the time of the draw (teams in italics defeated a team with a higher coefficient in the previous round, thus effectively taking the coefficient of their opponent in the draw for this round)
Matches
The draw for the second qualifying round was held on 25 June 2012, immediately after the first qualifying round draw.[5] The first legs were played on 19 July, and the second legs were played on 26 July 2012.
† Winners of the previous round whose identity was not known at the time of the draw (teams in italics defeated a team with a higher coefficient in the previous round, thus effectively taking the coefficient of their opponent in the draw for this round)
Matches
The draw for the third qualifying rounds was held on 20 July 2012.[158] The first legs were played on 2 August, and the second legs were played on 9 August 2012.
Note 3: UEFA awarded Mura 05 a 3–0 win due to Arsenal Kyiv fielding suspended player Éric Matoukou in the first leg. The original match had ended in a 3–0 win for Arsenal Kyiv.[159]
Note 4: Order of legs reversed after original draw.
Note 5: The match was abandoned in the 82nd minute due to crowd disturbance. Dila Gori was leading 3–0. That result was confirmed standing by UEFA.[160]
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.
