Who could Hearts face in European play-offs?

The Allianz Stadion in Vienna is a likely destination for Hearts in a few weeks [Getty Images] Hearts have found out their potential opponents in both the Europa League and Conference League play-offs, depending on the result of their tie with Benfica. Wouter Vrancken's men face the Portuguese giants in a Europa League third qualifying round double header over the next two weeks. If the Jambos were to pull off a huge upset and beat Benfica over two legs, they would face either a trip to Denmark to battle AGF Aarhus , or Azerbaijan to play FC Sabah . Those two face off in Champions League third round qualifying, with the loser dropping down to face either Hearts or Benfica. You may not have heard of Sabah, but they are in fact the Azerbaijani league champions, finishing nine points above the more well-known Qarabag. They were only founded in 2017, and play in Masazir on the northern outskirts of Baku. So far, they've beaten TNS of Wales and KuPS of Finland to get to this stage. As for AGF Aarhus, they were tipped for relegation from the Danish Superliga last season - and went on to win the title for the first time in 40 years. Incredibly, they lost the first leg of their Champions League qualifier 4-1 to Lech Poznan, before winning the second leg by the same margin and triumphing on penalties. Former Hearts players to appear for them include Danish striker Mike Tullberg - who went on to be the caretaker manager of Borussia Dortmund - and left-back Adam Eckersley, who scored 16 goals there in a four-year spell. But, in all likelihood, it will be one of Austrians Rapid Vienna or Estonians Paide Linnameeskond in the Conference League play-off. Hearts are no strangers to Austria, having travelled there just weeks ago in Vrancken's first game in charge to play Sturm Graz - a game that is remembered for the wrong reasons as they collapsed to a 4-0 win. Rapid finished fifth, while Sturm finished second, in the Austrian Bundesliga last season. Scottish fans generally will remember them from last season, when they defeated Dundee United on penalties in the Conference League third qualifying round. As for Paide, they finished fourth in the 2025 Meistriliiga, 12 points behind league winners Flora. They hail from Paide, an hour south from Tallinn by car. Their odds of beating Rapid are, according to bookmakers, even smaller than Hearts beating Benfica. Make of that what you will.