The 2025/26 Europa League draw is just around the corner and we analyse how it works and when the draw takes place this season.
When is the Europa League draw and how does it work?
The 2025/26 campaign brings the 55th edition of this European club competition, and the 17th since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League.
As with the UEFA Champions League, this competition moved to the single group league phase last season for the main body of the tournament and will follow the same format in 2025/26, when the Europa League journey culminates with the final in Istanbul on 20th May, 2026.
When is the Europa League draw?
The draw for the 2025/26 league phase will take place on August 29th, 2025, at UEFA Headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.
How does the draw work?
UEFA’s new league phase format replaced the old group stage format last season and was generally received positively by football fans across Europe.
Once the 36 qualifying teams are known, they will be split into four seeded pots of nine times each based on UEFA’s coefficient system of past performance.
Under the new system, UEFA’s seeding mechanism is designed to create a balanced fixture list for every competing club in terms of quality of opponent based on seedings.
With eight games each in the league phase, each team plays four home fixtures and four away.
Each team is allocated to play:
2 teams from Pot 1
2 teams from Pot 2
2 teams from Pot 3
2 teams from Pot 4
This is aimed at providing a balanced difficulty level in the fixtures of each of the 36 competing teams.
What is the draw process?
The UEFA Europa League fixture draw sees every team randomly assigned two opponents from each of the four seedings pots.
While the draw is random, it is controlled by UEFA’s sophisticated algorithm that avoids clashes, such as teams from the same country playing against each other where possible, as well as a fair balance of home and away fixtures and the best logistical outcomes. Teams can only be drawn against a maximum of two sides from one country.
How are the fixtures assigned?
Once all fixtures are determined, UEFA splits the games so that each team gets four at home and four away. There are no return legs in the league phase, so teams phase each other only once in the league phase.
When are the Europa League fixtures being played?
As with last year, the league phase is divided into eight matchdays, with early and late kick-off times to maximise television audiences.
The majority of Europa League games are expected to be played on Thursday’s – though there can be some pre-agreed alterations set out when the fixture list is confirmed following the league phase draw on August 29th.
The eight matchdays for the 2025/26 league phase are:
Matchday 1: 24th & 25th September 2025
Matchday 2: 2nd October 2025
Matchday 3: 23rd October 2025
Matchday 4: 6th November 2025
Matchday 5: 27th November 2025
Matchday 6: 11th December 2025
Matchday 7: 22nd January 2026
Matchday 8: 29th January 2026
Who qualifies for the knockout rounds?
The top eight teams from the league phase receive a bye to the round of 16, while the teams ranked 9th to 24th contest the knockout playoffs, with the winners advancing to the round of 16.
The teams ranked 25th to 36th in the league phase and the losers of the playoffs are eliminated from the competition.
The teams finishing in ninth to 24th place compete in a two-legged knockout phase playoff. Teams finishing between ninth and 16th are seeded, meaning they will face a team in 17th-24th with the return leg at home.
When are the draw for the knockout phases?
Once the league phase is completed, on January 29th, 2026, the draw for the knockout phase playoffs takes place on January 30th.
The last-16, quarter-final and semi-final draw takes place on February 27th, 2026.
When are the knockout matches in the 2025/26 Europa League?
The knockout rounds take place as follows:
Knockout phase play-offs: 19th & 26th February 2026
Round of 16: 12th & 19th March 2026
Quarter-finals: 9th & 16th April 2026
Semi-finals: 30th April & 7th May 2026
Final: 20th May 2026
Which English teams are in the Europa League?
Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest are the only Premier League representatives. Villa, managed by the most successful manager in Europa League history, Unai Emery, earned their spot by finishing sixth in the Premier League last season.
Nottingham Forest finished seventh and were not expected to make the Europa League, but have been promoted as FA Cup winners Crystal Palace are ineligible because of multi-club ownership rules and have instead been placed in the UEFA Conference League.
