West Ham United have qualified for the 2016/17 UEFA Europa League third qualifying round, bringing European football to their stunning new Stadium on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

Slaven Bilic’s side will kick-off their continental challenge with a first-leg tie on Thursday 28 July, with the return leg to be played on Thursday 4 August. The draw to discover the opposition will be made on Friday 15 July.

Joint-Chairmen David Sullivan and David Gold welcomed the Club’s qualification at the end of a record-breaking Barclays Premier League season which saw the Hammers finish seventh with an all-time high 62 points

“A place in Europe is just reward for the highest points total achieved by West Ham United in the Premier League, and a season full of excellent performances,” said the Joint-Chairmen. “We look forward to starting this exciting new era for the Club as we mean to go on, by competing in Europe.”

West Ham will formally open the Club’s new 60,000-capacity Stratford Stadium with an opening ceremony celebration marking the Betway Cup visit of Italian champions Juventus on Sunday 7 August at 1pm.

The Joint Chairmen added: “We said farewell to the Boleyn Ground with a thrilling match and a magnificent atmosphere under the lights. Our game against Juventus remains the official opening of our iconic new Stadium but a European qualification game will be the perfect preparation for that.”

2016/17 UEFA Europa League draw and round dates:

UEFA Europa League third qualifying round draw: 15 July
UEFA Europa League third qualifying round dates: 28 July and 4 August
UEFA Europa League play-off round draw: 5 August
UEFA Europa League play-off round dates: 18 August and 25 August
UEFA Europa League group stage draw: 26 August