With the Champions and Conference League third qualifying rounds complete, Baltic Football News sat down to look at how much clubs from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia have secured from the UEFA this year, to date.
European qualifying has already delivered a substantial financial return for Baltic football, with the 12 clubs representing Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia having secured approximately €13.99m in minimum UEFA distributions from the 2026-27 campaign following the conclusion of the third qualifying round.
Lithuanian clubs currently account for €5.795m of that amount, Latvia’s four representatives have secured €4.385m, while Estonia’s campaign has ended with its four clubs collecting approximately €3.81m between them.
It should be noted that the figures are based on UEFA’s provisional 2026-27 distribution system and represent the minimum amounts clubs have secured through their progress in qualifying, rather than money that has necessarily already been transferred, with the eventual distributions also subject to adjustment once UEFA’s final competition revenues are confirmed.
The picture across the region has become much clearer after QR3, which began with seven Baltic clubs still involved across UEFA’s three competitions and ended with only two remaining, although those two clubs now occupy very different positions heading into the play-off round.
Riga FC have reached the Conference League play-offs and remain one tie away from the league phase, while Kauno Žalgiris have dropped from the Champions League into the Europa League play-offs and, because of the structure of the champions path, are already guaranteed to spend the autumn in either the Europa League or Conference League.
Riga move within one tie of the Conference League
Riga were the only Baltic club to emerge from the Conference League QR3, protecting the 1-0 advantage they had earned in Latvia with a 1-1 draw away to Győri ETO, which took them through 2-1 on aggregate and ensured that Latvia will have at least one representative in the final round of qualifying.
That progression takes Riga’s minimum UEFA income to approximately €1.71m, a figure which reflects four qualifying-round payments worth €175,000 each, the €750,000 available to clubs eliminated in the Conference League play-offs and the additional €260,000 payment available to domestic champions who fail to reach a league phase.
The financial significance of their next tie is considerably greater because qualification for the Conference League league phase brings a starting fee of €3.17m, after which further payments are available through UEFA’s value pillar, league ranking and match results, with each league-phase victory worth €400,000 and each draw worth €133,000.
Riga’s European campaign began in the Champions League, where defeat against Ararat-Armenia dropped them into the Conference League, before they came through an eventful tie against Vardar and then eliminated Győr, meaning that one more successful round would convert what has already been a lucrative qualifying campaign into a much larger source of revenue.
Auda and RFS bow out after strong runs
Latvia’s other two representatives in QR3 were unable to join Riga in the play-offs, although both had already earned significant sums through their progress earlier in the summer.
Auda entered the third qualifying round after one of the most eye-catching Baltic results of the campaign, having beaten Romanian champions FCSB home and away to complete a 7-3 aggregate victory, and they appeared well placed to continue after taking a 1-0 lead from the first leg against Dinamo City.
The return match in Albania changed the direction of the tie, however, as Dinamo won 4-0 to progress 4-1 on aggregate, leaving Auda with an estimated UEFA distribution of €900,000, made up of €350,000 for participating in two qualifying rounds and the €550,000 payment attached to elimination in QR3.
RFS also reached the third qualifying round after overcoming Glentoran and Vestri, although a 2-0 first-leg defeat against Jablonec left them with a difficult task in the return match and the Czech side ultimately progressed, bringing the Latvian club’s campaign to an end with approximately €1.075m secured from UEFA.
Liepāja, who had already been eliminated by Austria Wien in QR2 after progressing past Dečić, finish on approximately €700,000, which leaves Latvia’s four clubs with a combined minimum of €4.385m and Riga still capable of pushing that total considerably higher.
Estonia finish with €3.81m
Estonia went into QR3 with Flora Tallinn and Paide still involved, although the elimination of both clubs means that the country’s final UEFA return for the campaign is now effectively settled at approximately €3.81m.
Flora faced a demanding task after losing 2-0 away to Inter Club d’Escaldes in the first leg, and the Andorran side completed the tie with a 4-0 victory in Tallinn, which produced a 6-0 aggregate score and ended Flora’s European campaign after a route that had begun in the Champions League.
Their progression through three qualifying rounds, combined with the QR3 elimination payment and the additional allocation available to domestic champions who miss out on league-phase football, takes Flora’s minimum distribution to approximately €1.335m.
Paide, meanwhile, had already enjoyed a productive campaign after defeating Lithuanian side Hegelmann and then overcoming Zira, although Rapid Wien proved a considerably more difficult opponent in QR3 and ended the Estonian club’s run, leaving Paide with approximately €1.075m.
Levadia and Nõmme Kalju, both eliminated in QR2 after successfully negotiating the opening round, had already secured around €700,000 each, meaning Estonia finishes the summer with a total which sits only €575,000 behind Latvia despite having no club remaining in the competition.
Kauno Žalgiris keep Lithuania on top
Lithuania has also been reduced to one surviving club, although its position at the top of the Baltic financial comparison remains secure because Kauno Žalgiris have reached the point in UEFA’s champions pathway where league-phase football is already guaranteed.
Žalgiris Vilnius had produced one of the most dramatic results of the Baltic qualifying campaign when they recovered from a 3-0 first-leg defeat against Dinamo Tbilisi by winning the return match 7-2, but Hajduk Split brought that run to an end in QR3 after winning 5-2 in Vilnius and then 4-0 in Croatia.
That leaves Žalgiris with approximately €1.075m, while Panevėžys finish on €525,000 following their QR2 elimination by Tobol and Hegelmann receive around €325,000 after losing to Paide in the opening qualifying round.
Those three clubs account for less than half of Lithuania’s overall European income, with the decisive contribution coming from Kauno Žalgiris and a Champions League campaign which has already changed the scale of the country’s UEFA earnings.
Kauno defeat still leads to a European autumn
Kauno Žalgiris’ Champions League third qualifying-round tie against Dinamo Zagreb ended with a heavy defeat, as the Croatian champions followed a 5-0 first-leg victory with a 2-1 win in Lithuania to progress 7-1 on aggregate, although the consequences of that result are very different from those faced by Baltic clubs eliminated from the Conference League.
Because Kauno reached this stage through the Champions League champions path, they now move into the Europa League play-offs, where victory would take them into the Europa League league phase and defeat would send them directly into the Conference League league phase.
That competition structure means Kauno have already guaranteed themselves European football in the autumn and, as a result, their minimum financial return is considerably larger than that of any other Baltic club involved this season.
Their least lucrative remaining route would see them lose in the Europa League play-offs and enter the Conference League league phase, under which they would receive €700,000 for participating in four qualifying rounds before adding the €3.17m Conference League starting fee, producing a fixed minimum of approximately €3.87m.
The eventual amount should be slightly higher because league-phase clubs also receive value-pillar and ranking payments, which take Kauno’s practical minimum close to €4m even before any league-phase match bonuses are earned, while qualification for the Europa League would push their income further because the starting fee in that competition is €4.31m.
For a club whose maiden Champions campaign began with Champions League qualifying victories over Drita and KÍ Klaksvík, those two successful ties have therefore produced the largest single financial return achieved by any Baltic side this summer.
Almost €14m already secured
Across all 12 clubs, Kauno Žalgiris currently have the largest minimum entitlement at approximately €3.87m, followed by Riga FC on €1.71m and Flora Tallinn on €1.335m, while RFS, Paide and Žalgiris Vilnius each finish on approximately €1.075m.
Auda have secured around €900,000, Liepāja, Levadia and Nõmme Kalju each finish on approximately €700,000, Panevėžys receive around €525,000, and Hegelmann complete the list with €325,000.
Together, those amounts produce a fixed Baltic minimum of approximately €13.99m, with Lithuania responsible for €5.795m, Latvia accounting for €4.385m and Estonia finishing on €3.81m.
With ten of the original 12 Baltic entrants now eliminated, attention turns to Riga and Kauno Žalgiris, whose situations could yet increase the regional total substantially over the coming weeks.
Kauno already know that they will be part of UEFA’s league phase in the autumn, with their play-off determining whether that campaign takes place in the Europa League or Conference League, while Riga remain one successful tie away from joining them and giving the Baltic region two league-phase representatives in the same European season.
