Goals Galore and Plenty of Surprises in Europa League Third Round
Ten matches took place in the Europa League third qualifying round on Thursday, and while most favorites secured a solid advantage ahead of next week's second legs, there were a few shocks along the way.
Results (August 6, 2026):
- KuPS 1-1 Universitatea Craiova
- Jagiellonia 2-1 Rangers
- Maccabi Tel Aviv 0-3 CSKA Sofia
- Lincoln Red Imps 1-1 Omonia Nicosia
- Lech Poznań 1-0 KÍ Klaksvík
- Hradec Králové 0-1 Beşiktaş
- RB Salzburg 1-0 Pafos
- PAOK 0-1 Anderlecht
- Thun 3-0 Víkingur Reykjavík
- Benfica 6-1 Hearts
Bulgaria's CSKA Sofia produced the standout result of the night, thrashing Maccabi Tel Aviv 3-0 in Batumi to put themselves firmly in control of the tie. Goals from Max Ebong, Leandro Godoy and Joel Zwarts made it a near-perfect night for the Bulgarian side.
The day kicked off at 6 PM with a 1-1 draw between KuPS and Universitatea Craiova. The Romanian side — freshly eliminated by Levski Sofia in the Champions League qualifiers — took the lead through Ștefan Baiaram, but the Finnish hosts leveled after the break to keep their hopes alive for the return leg.
Poland's Jagiellonia edged Rangers 2-1 in front of 20,000 fans, with all the goals — including two own goals — coming before halftime. Kajetan Szmyt was the hero, scoring the winner in the 21st minute.
Lech Poznań needed until the final minutes to see off Faroese side KÍ Klaksvík 1-0, still smarting from a humiliating Champions League exit to Aarhus and struggling more than expected against lower-ranked opposition.
RB Salzburg beat Pafos 1-0 through a late Haris Tabaković strike in the 88th minute, with Pafos's Ken Sema sent off in stoppage time. The match was halted for over an hour in the 15th minute due to a waterlogged pitch, but Salzburg dominated after the restart to earn a deserved lead heading into the second leg.
PAOK lost at home to Anderlecht 0-1, with Kiril Despodov's side conceding inside the first minute through Mihajlo Cvetković. PAOK's Ioannis Michailidis missed a penalty before the break, and a late Anestis Myrto goal was ruled out for offside.
Omonia Nicosia were made to sweat in Gibraltar, trailing Lincoln Red Imps deep into stoppage time before Panagiotis Andreou salvaged a 1-1 draw — Olivier Rutiens had put the home side ahead midway through the second half.
Beşiktaş beat Hradec Králové 1-0 in the Czech Republic despite playing over half the match a man down after Cassius Ouattara's 71st-minute red card. Semih Kılıçsoy struck the only goal in the 80th minute to give the Turkish side a comfortable cushion ahead of the return leg.
Swiss champions Thun, coming off a rough week that saw them eliminated by Dinamo Zagreb in Champions League qualifying and thrashed 6-0 by Young Boys domestically, found some relief with a 3-0 win over Iceland's Víkingur Reykjavík. Jan Bamert, Breiton Labeau and Fabio Saitz got the goals.
Benfica had no trouble with Hearts, cruising to a 6-1 win in Lisbon. Rafa Silva opened the scoring early, with further goals from Tomás Araújo, Evanilson Pavlidis, Gianluca Prestianni, Jhon Durán and Andreas Schjelderup completing the rout.