UEFA Conference League PREVIEW 26 Aug 2026: UEFA Conference League: Rapid Wien Host Hearts in Play-Off

SK Rapid host Hearts at the Allianz Stadion on Wednesday in the Conference League play-off round, the two clubs having taken very different paths to get here.

Rapid arrive unbeaten through their qualifying campaign. Having eliminated FC Santa Coloma in the second round, they won the first leg of the third round 4-1 away to Paide Linnameeskond of Estonia: Bendegúz Bolla's early penalty was cancelled out by Daniel Luts before Rapid pulled away with three late goals, two from Moulaye Haïdara and one from Petter Nosa Dahl. The return in Vienna finished 2-0, Marco Tilio scoring in the 38th minute and Louis Schaub adding a penalty in the 82nd, completing a 6-1 aggregate win.

Hearts' route here has been rockier. Their second-place finish in the Scottish Premiership last season, the club's best campaign in decades, earned a place in Champions League qualifying, but Sturm Graz beat them 6-0 on aggregate. Dropping into the Europa League third qualifying round against Benfica, home and away either side of the weekend, Hearts came out on the losing side of that tie as well, sending them into the Conference League play-off round to meet Rapid, the pairing having been set up in advance for the loser of Benfica-Hearts against the winner of Rapid-Paide.

It has been a summer of transition at Tynecastle. Wouter Vrancken was appointed head coach in June after Derek McInnes left for Rangers, and the squad turned over heavily: captain Lawrence Shankland and midfielder Cammy Devlin both followed McInnes to Ibrox, while long-serving goalkeeper Craig Gordon retired. Most of the incoming business was done from abroad and largely for undisclosed fees.

The winner of this tie and its return leg goes into the Conference League league phase; the loser's European season ends here.