Levi Colwill's goal for Chelsea at Nottingham Forest's City Ground sent Chelsea into the 2025/26 UCL at the expense of their hosts, who will play UEFA Conference League (UECL) football instead.
The win for the Blues ensured both they and their UECL Final opponents tomorrow night, Real Betis, have qualified for UEFA competitions via their respective domestic leagues, as Los Verdiblancos were already guaranteed to finish in a UEFA Europa League (UEL) spot ahead of LaLiga's final day.
The UEL League Phase spot reserved for the UECL winners will therefore be left vacant after tomorrow's Final.
However, the empty place in the UEL needs to be filled, and rules state that a place in the UEL First Qualifying Round will be awarded to the highest-ranked nation without a UEL representative.
That nation is Finland, whose Veikkausliiga is ranked 34th of UEFA's 55 leagues, and the profiting team will be Ilves, who were due to enter the Conference League Second Qualifying Round as the Suomen Cup winners.
The team from Tampere will now begin qualifying for the UEL in July, and as one of the unseeded teams in the first round of qualification, can be drawn against the likes of Shakhtar Donetsk, Legia or Partizan.
The other three Finnish sides have had no alterations to the European journeys they will be embarking on in the summer.
Veikkausliiga champions KuPS will enter the UCL in the First Qualifying Round. As one of the seeded teams, they avoid the likes of Allsvenskan champions Malmo, plus the likes of Ludogorets Razgrad and FCSB.
Instead, potential opponents include Sammarinese champions Virtus, Hamrun Spartans of Malta and near-neighbours Levadia from Estonia.
HJK and SJK, third and fourth in the 2024 Finnish top flight, will play in the UECL, beginning in the First Qualifying Round. HJK are among the highest-ranked of the seeded teams in the round, while SJK are among the unseeded teams.
The draws for the First Qualifying Rounds of all three competitions will take place on 17th June, with first leg matches being played 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)
