Following the culmination of Pico Lopes’s remarkable international football journey with Cape Verde at the World Cup on Monday, Shamrock Rovers turn their attention attention to Uefa HQ in Switzerland for the 2026-27 Champions League first round qualifier draw. Having played in the league phase of the Conference League in each of the previous two seasons, Rovers are the top-ranked side in Tuesday’s draw, which begins at 3pm Irish time. Stephen Bradley’s side may be handed a very difficult tie in spite of their impressive ranking. Their pool of 14 potential opponents includes Bulgarian giants Levski Sofia along with the champions of Hungary (ETO Gyor) and Azerbaijan (Sabah), both of whom won their league titles ahead of European mainstays Ferencvaros and Qarabag last season.Rovers’ tie will be played over two legs on July 7th/8th and July 14th/15th. As they are part of the champions’ path, victory would mean they are subsequently guaranteed at least a play-off to return to the Conference League for a third straight season. Such has been the Rovers-powered uplift in the League of Ireland’s Uefa coefficient across recent years, Derry City are in the hat for Tuesday’s first round of Europa League qualifying. Derry are unseeded and will thus be paired with a heavy hitter – with Ferencvaros, Qarabag and Hajduk Split among their potential opponents. Bohemians will also learn their opponents in the first qualifying round of the Conference League, with Bate Borisov of Belarus, RFS of Latvia and Astana of Kazakhstan the teams to avoid. Shelbourne have earned a bye to the second round of qualifying, the draw for which will be conducted on Wednesday. Athlone Town are Ireland’s sole representatives in the first round of qualifying of the women’s Champions League, the draw for which will take place on Thursday. Athlone will be drawn into one of five groups, in which they must win a one-off semi-final and then a final to qualify for the next round, scheduled for July 22nd and 25th respectively. Israeli club Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem are among Athlone’s possible opponents.Shamrock Rovers potential opponents: Inter Club d’Escaldes (Andorra), Levski Sofia (Bulgaria), Ararat-Armenia (Armenia), Sabah (Azerbaijan), Kauno Zalgiris (Lithuania), Sutjeska Niksic (Montenegro), Gyor (Hungary), Iberia (Georgia), Egnatia Rrogozhine (Albania), Floriana (Malta), Tre Fiori (San Marino), Vadar Skopje (North Macedonia), Vitebsk (Belarus), Atert Bissen (Luxembourg)Derry City potential opponents: Ferencvaros (Hungary), Qarabag (Azerbaijan). Sheriff (Moldova), Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine), Hajduk Split (Croatia), CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria)