The Europa League Explained Teams, Schedules, Draws & More, The 2025/26 UEFA Europa League is fast approaching. Below is everything you need to know about who has qualified, who could qualify, when the next draw is and all the key dates for the upcoming season.
The next Europa League draw & where to watch
The draw for the league phase of the Europa League will take place at 13:00 CET on August 29th in Monaco.
36 teams will go into the draw and will be split into four pots based on UEFA’s club coefficient rankings, with Pot 1 teams being picked out first and Pot 4 teams last.
Once they’ve all been drawn, each side will be given matches – via an automated system – against eight opponents, two from each pot, with half of those matches being played at home and half of them being played away. Teams can’t face another from their country or two from the same country.
You will be able to watch the draw live on UEFA.com.
The following sides have already qualified for the 25/26 Europa League (in alphabetical order):
Aston Villa (ENG), Bologna (ITA), Celta Vigo (ESP), Dinamo Zagreb (CRO), Freiburg (GER), Go Ahead Eagles (NED), Lille (FRA), Nottingham Forest (ENG), Olympique Lyonnais (FRA), Porto (POR), Real Betis (ESP), Roma (ITA), Stuttgart (GER).
Joining the listed 13 sides will be the 12 winners of the playoff round of qualifiers, plus 11 clubs that will drop down from the Champions League qualification process – four losers from the third round, and all seven losers from the playoff round.
Follow the rest of the 25/26 Europa League qualifiers with Flashscore.
Key dates for the 25/26 UEFA Europa League
Draw for the playoff round: August 4th
Third qualifying round: August 5th-7th (first legs), August 14th (second legs)
Playoff 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 playoffs: January 30th
Knockout playoffs: 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 25/26 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.
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