The biggest story of the round came in Estonia, where Andorran side Inter Club d'Escaldes scored thrice in 12 second-half minutes to complete a dominant 4-0 success at Flora Tallinn. That, combined with their 2-0 home win last week, sends them through 6-0 over the two legs.
Inter, playing in Europe for the seventh season in a row, had never gotten farther than the second qualifying round before this summer. That changed after they were given a bye to this stage despite their elimination in the Champions League first qualifying round.
The club from Escaldes-Engordany are Andorra's second-ever playoff round participants after UE Santa Coloma achieved the same feat two years ago. However, no side from the microstate have ever gotten to the group stage/league phase in Europe. The only other nations that can make the same claim are San Marino and Montenegro.
Flora made the Conference League group stage in 2021/22, but have yet to make it back since.
Inter's next opponent are Kosovo's Drita, who enjoyed a 5-0 victory over Tre Fiori. Kemelho Nguena and Arb Manaj scored twice each for the home side, who move on 9-1 on aggregate.
Drita made the knockout round playoffs in the UECL last term, ultimately falling to Celje.
Borac Banja Luka needed penalties to beat ML Vitebsk after the team from Belarus, making their European debut, scored in the 125 minute in extra time to win 2-1 on the night.
With the aggregate score being 2-2, Borac held their nerve from the spot, converting all four of their attempts to triumph 4-2 in the shootout.
In Hungary, Riga FC's Caio Ferreira was the hero for the visitors, who drew 1-1 away to Gyor. That was just enough for them to prevail 2-1 overall and make the playoff round for the second year running. They have never gotten further than that in a UEFA club competition.
Swiss trio move through
It was a very good day for Switzerland's three teams, who all managed to advance to the playoff round.
Lugano were given the most trouble, having went down 2-0 at NSI Runavik with half an hour left. It did not take long for the visitors to recover, retaking the aggregate lead five minutes later before adding another later on to complete a 2-2 draw and 4-2 victory overall.
Bianconeri will be looking to make the UECL proper for the second time after doing so in 2024/25.
Sion were also able to successfully negotiate their match against Armenia's Noah, winning 2-1 at home. Winsley Boteli and Baltazar got the goals for the hosts as they move through.
Sion had played in the Europa League group stage 11 years ago, getting as far as the round of 32.
St. Gallen had far fewer issues in their tie as they topped Sheriff Tiraspol 5-1 to complete a resounding 8-2 aggregate win. Two players scored braces for Espen, allowing them to qualify for the playoff round just as they did two years ago.
On both previous occasions where St. Gallen made it to the final qualifying round, they advanced past that stage.
Dinamo Tirana complete turnaround as big names struggle
There were some comebacks throughout the week in the UECL, with the largest one coming from Dinamo Tirana. The Albanian club got past FK Auda 4-0 at home to progress 4-1 on aggregate.
Two goals in either half did the trick for Dinamo, who are one of two teams to make this season's playoff stage from the opening qualifying round. They also made it this far a year ago before being knocked out.
Also winning a third tie of the summer is Inter Turku thanks to their 4-3 result over Vaduz. The game ended 2-2 in Liechtenstein, which was just enough for the Finnish outfit to move on.
This is the farthest Sinimustat have reached in Europe in a season where they got past the second hurdle for just the second time.
Some of the more established names in the round had a much tougher time in their deciders. Four-time European Cup champions Ajax, for instance, could only manage a 2-2 draw at Shelbourne. The Dutch giants still moved on 5-3 in total, but it was much more work than they would have expected.
Sporting Braga failed to find the back of the net against Dinamo Minsk in Bulgaria, only scraping through thanks to their solitary goal from the opening leg.
Former UECL quarter-finalists Gent held off a late IFK Goteborg attack to move on 2-1 over two legs despite a 1-1 home stalemate.
On Tuesday, Panathinaikos needed extra time to finish off CSKA 1948 Sofia, with the Greek side getting their winner from Cyriel Dessers to come out on top 2-1 away. The aggregate score ended 3-2 for Prassinoi.
Brann were also in need of an extra 30 minutes to get past Apollon Limassol after scoring a stoppage-time leveller. Going behind once again in the opening period of extra time, the Norwegians recovered once again before adding another.
The victory 4-2 in Cyprus (4-3 on aggregate) ended a six-game winless run in European away matches for the side from Bergen.
FC Kobenhavn cruised through on Wednesday against Debrecen, winning 5-1 at home to move on 8-1 overall. They were joined by fellow Danish sides FC Midtjylland and FC Nordsjaelland in the playoff round on Thursday.
Rapid Wien also progressed on Wednesday against Paide, with local rivals Austria Wien needing penalties a day later versus Beiter Jerusalem make it through.
The 30 third qualifying round winners are now through to the playoff round, joining five direct entrants and 13 losing teams from the Europa League. The 24 teams that prevail in the two-legged ties taking place over the next two weeks, along with the 12 defeated teams in the UEL playoffs, will qualify for the league phase, which begins in October.
Follow the closing stages of the UEFA Conference League qualifiers on Flashscore.