SL Benfica v Hearts: Full lineups confirmed for UEFA Europa League 2026-27 third qualifying round
SL Benfica will host Heart of Midlothian FC at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon on Thursday, August 6, in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League 2026-27 third qualifying round, with both clubs naming their starting XIs ahead of the match.
Benfica progressed to this stage after beating St Gallen 6-2 on aggregate in the second qualifying round, having lost the first leg in Switzerland 2-1 before winning the return 5-0 at home. Under new head coach Marco Silva, Benfica won two of their three pre-season friendlies, including a 5-1 victory over Belenenses in their last outing; they also defeated Villarreal 2-0 and lost 2-1 to Flamengo.
Hearts begin the tie under head coach Wouter Vrancken following a difficult start to his tenure: the Jambos lost the Scottish Premiership on the final day of the previous season, opened the new season with a 2-1 defeat to Aberdeen and were eliminated from the UEFA Champions League qualifiers after a 6-0 aggregate loss to Sturm Graz in the second round, leaving Vrancken still searching for his first competitive win in charge.
Benfica starting XI: Samuel Soares; Samuel Dahl, Clément Lenglet, Tomás Araújo (c), Alexander Bah; Enzo Barrenechea, Rafa Silva, Leandro Barreiro; Georgiy Sudakov, Vangelis Pavlidis, Gianluca Prestianni. Bench: Anatoliy Trubin (gk), Dodi Lukébakio, Jakub Kamiński, Manu Silva, Amar Dedić, Richard Ríos, Andreas Schjelderup, Jhon Durán, Gabriel Índio, José Neto, Anísio Cabral, Miguel Figueiredo.
Hearts starting XI: Beau Reus; Jordi Altena, Oisin McEntee, Stuart Findlay, Harry Milne (c); Calvin Miller, Laurent Mendy, Blair Spittal, Alexandros Kyziridis; Cláudio Braga, Pierre Landry Kaboré. Bench: Zander Clark (gk), Ryan Fulton (gk), Jamie McCart, Tom Renaud, Joshua McPake, Sabri Guendouz, James Wilson, Tómas Magnússon, MJ Kamson-Kamara, Sabah Kerjota, Matthew Gillies, Amadou Ba-Sy.
Hearts confirmed their selection on social media with the message: "Your Hearts XI to take on Benfica in the Estádio da Luz 🇱🇻 pic.twitter.com/aocDNTaQ2T".
The first leg of the UEFA Europa League third‑round qualifier will be played on Thursday, August 6, 2026, at the Estadio da Luz; in India the match kicks off at 12:30 AM IST on August 7.