A total of 64 teams from 32 UEFA member associations participate in the 1981–82 UEFA Cup. The association ranking based on the UEFA country coefficients is used to determine the number of participating teams for each association:
Associations 1—3 each have four teams qualify.
Associations 4—8 each have three teams qualify.
Associations 9–22 each have two teams qualify.
Associations 23–33 each have one team qualify.
Association ranking
For the 1981–82 UEFA Cup, the associations are allocated places according to their 1980 UEFA country coefficients, which takes into account their performance in European competitions from 1975–76 to 1979–80. England 4 clubs Netherlands 3 clubs France 3 clubs Yugoslavia 2 clubs
Teams
The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for competition:
Valencia won 2–0 on aggregate. ---- Neuchâtel Xamax won 6–3 on aggregate. ---- 2-2 on aggregate, Real Madrid won. ---- Aris won 8-2 on aggregate ---- Dinamo București won 4–2 on aggregate. ---- Carl Zeiss Jena won 4-1 on aggregate ---- Spartak Moscow won 6-2 on aggregate ---- Dynamo Dresden won 6-2 on aggregate ---- FC Winterslag won 3-2 on aggregate ---- Rapid Wien won 4-2 on aggregate ---- IFK Göteborg won 7-2 on aggregate ---- Boavista won 5-4 on aggregate ---- Southampton won 4-1 on aggregate ---- Hajduk Split won 5-3 on aggregate ---- Malmö won 5-1 on aggregate ---- Internazionale won 7-2 on aggregate ---- Arsenal won 3-0 on aggregate ---- PSV Eindhoven won 8-2 on aggregate ---- 2-2 on aggregate, Sturm Graz won on away goals ---- Beveren won 8-0 on aggregate ---- Argeș Pitești won 5–1 on aggregate. ---- Feyenoord won 3-1 on aggregate ---- Grasshoppers won 4-1 on aggregate ---- Hamburg won 6-4 on aggregate ---- Kaiserslautern won 3-1 on aggregate ---- 3-3 on aggregate, Mönchengladbach won on away goals ---- Lokeren won 5-3 on aggregate ---- Aberdeen won 4-2 on aggregate ---- Dundee United won 6-4 on aggregate ---- 2-2 on aggregate, Radnički Niš won on away goals ---- Sporting won 11-0 on aggregate ----
Aberdeen won 5–2 on aggregate. ---- Lokeren won 5–1 on aggregate. ---- Dundee United won 5–2 on aggregate. ---- Hamburg won 3–2 on aggregate. ---- Kaiserslautern won 5–2 on aggregate. ---- Feyenoord won 3–2 on aggregate. ---- 3–2 on aggregate, Radnički Niš won 3-0 on penalties. ---- Dinamo București won 4–3 on aggregate. ---- 2–2 on aggregate, Winterslag won on away goals. ---- 4-4 on aggregate, Hajduk Split won on away goals. ---- Neuchâtel Xamax won 2–0 on aggregate. ---- Real Madrid won 3–2 on aggregate. ---- 2–2 on aggregate, Rapid Wien won on away goals. ---- Göteborg won 5–4 on aggregate. ---- Sporting won 4–2 on aggregate. ---- Valencia won 2–1 on aggregate.
Third round
First leg
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Second leg
Hamburg won 5–4 on aggregate. ---- Göteborg won 4–1 on aggregate. ---- Dundee United won 5–0 on aggregate. ---- Kaiserslautern won 4–2 on aggregate. ---- Radnički Niš won 2–1 on aggregate. ---- Real Madrid won 1–0 on aggregate. ---- Neuchâtel Xamax won 1–0 on aggregate. ---- Valencia won 6–5 on aggregate.
Quarter-finals
First leg
---- ---- ----
Second leg
Radnički Niš won 3–2 on aggregate. ---- Hamburg won 3–2 on aggregate. ---- Kaiserslautern won 6–3 on aggregate. ---- Göteborg won 4–2 on aggregate.
Semi-finals
First leg
----
Second leg
2-2 after extra time. IFK Göteborg won 3-2 on aggregate. ---- Hamburg won 6-3 on aggregate.
Ipswich Town 
Hamburg 
Real Madrid 
FC Utrecht 
Lokeren 
Nantes 
Carl Zeiss Jena 
Spartak Moscow 
Napoli 
FC Bohemians Praha 
Hajduk Split 
Grasshoppers 
FC Tatabánya 
Aberdeen 
Sporting 
Levski-Spartak Sofia 
Aris 
Malmö 
Wisła Kraków 
Sturm Graz 
Dinamo București 
Næstved 
Limerick United 
Adanaspor 
Bryne 
APOEL 
Linfield 
Sliema Wanderers 
Red Boys Differdange 
Dinamo Tirana 
Haka 
Víkingur