A total of 80 teams participated in the UEFA Cup qualifiers.
In the 2004-2005 season, the UEFA Cup introduced the qualifying group competition system. These 80 teams from various leagues in Europe will have two rounds of qualifiers. The first round of qualifiers will be based on the away elimination system, resulting in 40 teams participating in the second round of qualifiers. The 40 teams in the second qualifying round were divided into 8 groups, with 5 teams in each group. In the next two months, each team in the group will play against other teams once. Each team has two home games and two away games, and the home and away games will be decided by drawing lots.
The top three in each group can enter the knockout stage, and 24 teams in 8 groups * * * enter the knockout stage; In addition, eight teams ranked third in each group of the Champions League also participated in the UEFA Cup knockout. In this way, 32 teams draw lots for the knockout, and the knockout is home and away. The team that scored more goals advanced to the next round. If the total number of goals is the same, the team with more away goals wins. If the away goal is tied, extra time is needed, and then a penalty shoot-out will be held regardless of the outcome. The UEFA Cup finals also apply the principles of overtime and penalty shootout.