The next Europa League draw & where to watch
The draw for the league phase of the Europa League took place on August 29th in Monaco, where 36 teams went into the draw and were split into four pots based on UEFA's club coefficient rankings. In a change from the previous season, when the teams were manually drawn one at a time, the draw was entirely computer-generated with all 36 teams' opponents and home/away locations drawn at once, but revealed pot by pot.
Each team got two opponents from each of the four pots, one at home and one away. Teams could not face opponents from their own association, and could only be drawn against a maximum of two sides from the same association.
The next draw in the Europa League will take place after the league phase finishes, for the knockout play-offs, on January 30th at 12:00 GMT.
The draw will be streamed live on UEFA.com and the official UEFA Europa League app.
The final draw, for the round of 16 and beyond, will take place on February 27th. That draw will involve the teams that finish in the top eight of the league phase, plus the eight knockout play-off winners.
The top eight sides after the league phase were (in order):
1. Lyon (FRA), 2. Aston Villa (ENG), 3. Midtjylland (DEN), 4. Betis (SPA), 5. FC Porto (POR), 6. Braga (POR), 7. Freiburg (GER), 8. AS Roma (ITA)
These eight sides progress straight to the round of 16.
The 16 sides set to compete in the knockout play-offs are (in order of league finish):
9. Genk (BEL), 10. Bologna (ITA), 11. Stuttgart (GER), 12. Ferencvaros (HUN), 13. Nottingham Forest (ENG), 14. Plzen (CZE), 15. Crvena zvezda (SER), 16. Celta Vigo (SPA), 17. PAOK (GRE), 18. Lille (FRA), 19. Fenerbahce (TUR), 20. Panathinaikos (GRE), 21. Celtic (SCO), 22. Ludogorets (BUL), 23. Dinamo Zagreb (CRO), 24. Brann (NOR)
The knockout play-off draw:
Dinamo Zagreb (23) v Genk (9)
Brann (24) v Bologna (10)
Ludogorets (22) v Ferencvaros (12)
Celtic (21) v Stuttgart (11)
Panathinaikos (20) v Viktoria Plzen (14)
Fenerbahce (19) v Nottingham Forest (13)
PAOK (17) v Celta Vigo (16)
Lille (18) v Red Star Belgrade (15)
The 12 sides eliminated after the league phase were:
Young Boys (SWI), Sturm Graz (AUS), FCSB (ROM), G.A. Eagles (NET), Feyenoord (NET), Basel (SWI), Salzburg (AUS), Rangers (SCO), Nice (FRA), Utrecht (NET), Malmo FF (SWE), Maccabi Tel Aviv (ISR)
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Key dates for the 2025/26 UEFA Europa League
Draw for the play-off round: August 4th
Third qualifying round: August 5th-7th (first legs), August 14th (second legs)
Play-off round: August 21st (first legs), August 28th (second legs)
Draw for League Phase fixtures: August 29th
League Phase first matchday: September 24th-25th
League Phase last matchday: January 29th, 2026
Draw for knockout play-offs: January 30th
Knockout play-offs: February 19th (first legs), February 26th (second legs)
Final draw (for Round of 16 and beyond): February 27th, 2026
Round of 16: March 12th (first legs), March 19th (second legs)
Quarter-finals: April 9th (first legs), April 16th (second legs)
Semi-finals: April 30th (first legs), May 7th (second legs)
Final: May 20th
When & where is the 2025/26 Europa League final
The Europa League final will take place on Wednesday, May 20th, 2026, at the Besiktas Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey. The stadium is an all-seater with a capacity of approximately 42,590 spectators.
The winners of the final will enter the League Phase of the 2026/27 UEFA Champions League.
UEFA Europa League format explained
Ahead of the 2024/25 season, there was a big overhaul of UEFA’s cup competitions. Gone are the days of the group stage with pools - a 36-team 'League Phase' has replaced that format in the Champions League and Europa League.
This season, just like last, each of the 36 teams plays eight matches. The top eight at the end of the League Phase automatically qualify for the round of 16, while the bottom eight are eliminated and do not drop down to the Conference League.
Meanwhile, the teams that finished between ninth and 24th go into the knockout playoff round to decide which further eight will complete the round of 16. The final draw for the knockout stages takes place after the knockout playoff round.
The round of 16 sees the top eight (seeded) teams drawn against the other (unseeded) teams. The quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final follow as per typical cup competitions.