Thursday's second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League produced plenty of talking points beyond Dinamo Kyiv's elimination. One of the biggest surprises saw CSKA Sofia crash out after losing to Qarabag FK, the Azerbaijani side that has established itself as a regular contender in European competitions in recent seasons. Following their exit, CSKA Sofia will now drop into the UEFA Conference League, where they are set to face Dinamo Kyiv.

PAOK also secured their place in the next stage and will now take on RSC Anderlecht. The Greek side progressed after a spirited comeback victory against Hammarby, with the team featuring Ukrainian forward Danylo Sikan showing resilience to overturn the tie.

Meanwhile, Benfica, with Ukrainian goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin starting between the posts, delivered one of the standout performances of the evening. The Portuguese giants cruised to a commanding 5-0 victory over St. Gallen, booking a third qualifying round clash against Heart of Midlothian.

The most dramatic comeback of the night belonged to Pafos FC. The Cypriot club forced extra time with a late equaliser before completely overwhelming Hajduk Split, scoring four unanswered goals to complete a stunning turnaround and seal an emphatic 4-0 victory.

2026-27, Europa League

Day : 2026-07-30

"Anderlecht" - "Hammarby" 3:1 (0:1)
Goals : Abraham P., 3 (0:1); Sikan, 48 (1:1); Cvetkoviс, 81 (2:1); Degreef, 89 (3:1)
Yellow Cards : Cvetkoviс 65 - Abraham P. 27; Eriksson V. 55

"CSKA Sofia" - "Qarabag" 0:0, shoot-out 5:4

"Ferencvaros" - "Twente" 2:2 (1:0)
Goals : Raemaekers, 22 (penalty) (1:0); Joseph Le., 50 (2:0); Weghorst, 82 (2:1); Vennegoor of Hesselink, 86 (2:2)
Yellow Cards : Cadu 58 - van den Belt 58; Lemkin 61
Red cards : Rommens 36' -

"FC Midtjylland" - "Besiktas" 0:2 (0:0)
Goals : Rashica, 70 (0:1); Kökçü, 76 (penalty) (0:2)

"Pafos FC" - "HNK Hajduk" 4:0 (1:0)
Goals : Guga, 40 (1:0); David, 90 (2:0); Biel, 93 (3:0); Correia J., 117 (4:0)

"Maccabi Tel Aviv" - "Sheriff" 1:0 (1:0)
Goals : Kone Sa., 29 (own goal) (1:0)

"Benfica" - "St.Gallen" 5:0 (1:0)
Goals : Pavlidis E., 11 (1:0); Pavlidis E., 55 (2:0); Pavlidis E., 65 (3:0); Pavlidis E., 74 (penalty) (4:0); Lenglet, 82 (5:0)
Yellow Cards : - Stanic 21, 57; Okoroji 50
Red cards : - Stanic 57'

"PAOK" - "Dynamo" 2:0 (1:0)
Goals : Konstantelias, 45 (1:0); Konstantelias, 48 (2:0)
Yellow Cards : Chatzidiakos 35 - Ponomarenko M. 50; Shaparenko 78

"Hradec Kralové" - "Tromso" 3:1 (1:1)
Goals : Larsen H., 25 (0:1); van Buren, 30 (1:1); Slončík, 48 (2:1); Mihalik O., 54 (3:1)
Yellow Cards : Uhrinčať 14; Slončík 50 -