Shamrock Rovers have been paired with Maltese champions Floriana in the first qualifying round of the 2026-27 Champions League. The draw took place in Switzerland on Tuesday afternoon.Rovers will play the first leg away from home on July 7th or 8th. The return leg will be at Tallaght Stadium on July 14th or 15th. The specific dates and kick-off times are yet to be finalised by Uefa, while the prospect of live Irish TV coverage of the tie has yet to be confirmed. Floriana are the most successful club in Malta and were once coached briefly by former Shamrock Rovers player and manager Roddy Collins. He was in charge for nine games in 2009. It is a relatively favourable draw for Rovers. Their other potential opponents threw up the possibility of arduous trips to play the champions of Armenia, Georgia or Azerbaijan. Conversely, possible pairings with the champions of Andorra and San Marino would have been considered a dream draw.Rovers were the best-ranked team in Tuesday’s draw and they will learn their potential second-round opponents on Wednesday. Should the League of Ireland champions progress against Floriana, they will need to win just one more knockout tie to guarantee a place in the Conference League proper for a third straight season.Derry City were, meanwhile, given a far stiffer test against CSKA Sofia in the first round of qualifying for the Europa League. The 31-times champions of Bulgaria finished fourth last term and won the Bulgarian Cup. The sides faced each other in the third qualifying round of the 2009/10 Europa League, when a Derry City side managed by Stephen Kenny were narrowly beaten 2-1 on aggregate. Derry will travel to Bulgaria for the first leg on July 9th before hosting the return leg on the new grass surface at the Ryan McBride Brandywell one week later. The Candystripes have benefited from the League of Ireland’s improved coefficient within the Uefa ranking system. Even if they lose against CSKA, Tiernan Lynch’s team have the comfort of knowing they will drop into the second round of the Conference League qualifiers. Bohemians embark on their first European campaign for five years with no such safety net should they suffer elimination. They have, however, been handed a favourable draw in the first round of Conference League qualifying against St Joseph’s of Gibraltar. St Joseph’s have been knocked out of Europe by Irish opposition across each of the last two seasons, narrowly by Shelbourne in 2024 and comfortably by Shamrock Rovers last year. The first leg is slated for Dalymount Park on July 9th, with the return leg away from home on 16th July. Shelbourne have earned a bye to the following round of qualifying in the Conference League. They will learn their opponents in Wednesday’s second-round draw.