Two teams from Cyprus will compete in Champions League from 2027, after the country secured its place in the top 15 of Uefa’s club coefficient rankings despite Omonia’s exit from the Conference League at the hands of Croatian side Rijeka on Thursday night.

Results elsewhere, including aggregate defeats for Scottish champions Celtic against German side Stuttgart in the Europa League, and for Swiss outfit Lausanne-Sport against Sigma Olomouc of the Czech Republic in the Conference League, mean that no other country will be able to beat Cyprus to 15th place in the coefficient before the end of this season.

As such, when this season’s results are added into the coefficient rankings, Cyprus will be handed a second berth in the Champions League’s second playoff round from the 2027/28 season, with the 2027 league winners and runners-up to play in Europe’s elite competition.

Cyprus has twice before been able to field two entrants in the Champions League, with both Apoel and Ael competing in the competition in the 2014/15 season.

Apoel, the 2014 league champions, beat Finland’s HJK Helsinki and Denmark’s Aalborg to reach the group stage, before finishing bottom of a Group F which contained veritable giants Ajax, Paris Saint-Germain, and eventual winners Barcelona.

Ael, meanwhile, fell at the first hurdle, losing to Russian side Zenit Saint Petersburg in the third qualifying round.

Eight years later, both Apollon Limassol and Aek Larnaca entered Europe’s elite competition, but neither fared particularly well.

Aek Larnaca, as league runners up, entered the competition in the second qualifying round, and were beaten on penalties by Danish outfit Mitjylland.

Then defending Cypriot champions Apollon Limassol, meanwhile, began their Champions League campaign with a 4-0 shellacking away at Maccabi Haifa, and were knocked out the following week despite winning the return leg 2-0.

Additionally, from 2027, the Cyprus Cup winners will enter the Europa League from the third qualifying round, rather than the current second qualifying round. If the Cyprus Cup winner finishes in the top two in the league, the Europa League berth will be given to the team which finishes in third place in the league.

Qualification for the Conference League’s second qualifying round will then be granted to two other teams, depending on the league position of the Cyprus Cup winner.

If the Cyprus Cup winner finishes in the league’s top three, the teams which finish in fourth and fifth place in the league will be given the Conference League berths.

Equally, if the Cyprus Cup winner finishes in fourth place, the teams in third and fifth place in the league will be given the Conference League berths, while if the Cyprus Cup winner finishes in fifth place or below, the teams in third and fourth place in the league will be given the Conference League berths.

One Cypriot team, Aek Larnaca, remains standing in European competition this year. They will next be in European action in March, when the Conference League’s round of 16 gets underway.

Their opponents will either be Sigma Olomouc or English side Crystal Palace, who they already beat 1-0 at Selhurst Park in October.