2025–26 UEFA Europa League
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The 2025–26 UEFA Europa League, the 55th season of Europe's secondary club football competition and the 17th since its rebranding from the UEFA Cup, is set to captivate fans once more. This season marks a significant shift with a new 36-team league phase replacing the traditional 32-team group stage. The grand finale will unfold on May 20, 2026, at the iconic Beşiktaş Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey.
Reigning champions Tottenham Hotspur face a unique challenge. Due to the Europa League winner's automatic qualification for the Champions League league phase and the new format's restrictions on inter-competition transfers from that stage onwards, they cannot defend their title in this tournament.
A vast array of talent is expected, with up to 77 teams from 33 to 40 UEFA member associations vying for glory. While 33 associations boast direct qualification, another 12 may see their clubs join after being eliminated from the Champions League. The allocation of these coveted spots is determined by the UEFA association coefficients, a testament to consistent European performance. Notably, the UEFA Conference League title holders will earn an entry into the Europa League, provided they haven't already qualified through their domestic league for the Champions League or Europa League. Associations ranked 1 through 12 will each field two teams, while those from 13 to 33, excluding Russia, will have one representative. Furthermore, 32 teams eliminated from the Champions League qualifying and play-off rounds will be transferred to the Europa League.
The association rankings for this season are based on the 2024 UEFA association coefficients, reflecting performances from 2019–20 to 2023–24. Beyond these coefficients, additional teams can enter the Europa League through transfers from the Champions League (UCL) or the Conference League (CON).
The distribution of teams reflects current footballing realities, including the ongoing suspension of Russia in European competitions. This leads to adjustments, such as the cup winners of association 16, Denmark, entering the second qualifying round instead of the first. In another significant change, Dinamo Zagreb, as the club with the highest coefficient that would have entered qualifying, will now join the league phase directly, a consequence of the Conference League title holders, Chelsea, securing a Champions League league phase spot through their domestic league performance. The cup winners of association 34, Finland, will now enter the first qualifying round, moving from the Conference League second qualifying round.
Teams will qualify for their starting rounds through various routes: as Conference League title holders (CON), cup winners (CW), by league position (3rd, 4th, 5th, etc.), as winners of the regular league phase (RL), transferred from the Champions League (CL), or as losers from the Champions League play-off round (CH/LP PO) or third (CH/LP Q3) or second (CH/LP Q2) qualifying rounds. The third qualifying round is further divided into the Champions Path (CH) and Main Path (MP).
The competition's schedule is set with matches primarily on Thursdays, with the exception of the final, a Wednesday affair, though occasional Tuesday or Wednesday fixtures can occur due to scheduling. A unique week featuring both Wednesday and Thursday matchdays is planned for September 24th and 25th.
The journey begins with the qualifying rounds. The first qualifying round draw took place on June 17, 2025, with first legs on July 10th and second legs on July 17th. Winners progress to the second qualifying round, while losers are transferred to the Conference League Main Path second qualifying round. The second qualifying round draw was held on June 18, 2025, with matches on July 24th and 31st. Winners advance to the Main Path third qualifying round, and losers move to the Conference League Main Path third qualifying round. The third qualifying round draw occurred on July 21, 2025, with first legs on August 5th, 6th, and 7th, and second legs on August 12th and 14th. Winners reach the play-off round, and losers are transferred to the Conference League play-off round.
The play-off round draw was scheduled for August 4, 2025. First legs will be played on August 21st, with second legs on August 27th and 28th. The victorious teams will secure a spot in the league phase, while the defeated will be transferred to the Conference League league phase.
The league phase draw, on August 29, 2025, will see 36 teams divided into four pots based on their UEFA club coefficient. This draw will be conducted alongside the 2025–26 UEFA Conference League league phase draw. In a departure from previous seasons, the draw will be entirely computer-generated, with all opponents and home/away fixtures determined simultaneously, though revealed pot by pot. Each team will face two opponents from each of the four pots, playing one home and one away match. Crucially, teams cannot face opponents from their own association and are limited to a maximum of two encounters with sides from the same nation. This season introduces debut appearances in the league phase for Aston Villa, Bologna, Brann, Go Ahead Eagles, and Nottingham Forest, with Go Ahead Eagles and Nottingham Forest making their first-ever appearances in a major UEFA competition group or league phase. A total of 23 national associations will be represented.
Within the league phase, the top eight ranked teams will secure a direct passage to the round of 16. Teams finishing between 9th and 24th will compete in the knockout phase play-offs, with those ranked 9th to 16th being seeded for the draw. Teams from 25th to 36th will be eliminated from European competition.
The knockout phase will feature two-legged ties, home and away, with the exception of the one-match final. The bracket structure is partially predetermined by seeding, with league phase standings dictating positions. Country protection is absent, allowing teams from the same association to face each other, and previous league phase opponents can be met again.
The draw for the knockout phase play-offs, on January 30, 2026, will pit the eight seeded teams (positions 9–16) against eight unseeded teams (positions 17–24). The draw will be divided into four sections, with seeded teams facing one of their two potential unseeded opponents, and hosting the second leg.
For the round of 16 draw on February 27, 2026, the eight top-ranked league phase teams (positions 1–8) will be seeded, facing eight winners from the knockout phase play-offs. Similar to the play-offs, the draw will be split into four sections, with seeded teams hosting the second leg.
The quarter-finals and semi-finals will see predetermined match pairings and leg order, with higher-seeded teams, provided they advance, playing the second leg at home. If a seeded team is eliminated, their opponent assumes their seeding position. The winner of semi-final 1 will be designated the "home" team for the final.
The knockout phase play-offs will see first legs on February 19th and second legs on February 26th, 2026. The round of 16 first legs are scheduled for March 12th, with second legs on March 19th, 2026. The quarter-final first legs will be played on April 9th, followed by second legs on April 16th, 2026. The semi-finals will commence with first legs on April 30th and conclude with second legs on May 7th, 2026.
The culmination of the season, the final, will take place on May 20, 2026, at the Beşiktaş Stadium in Istanbul, with the winner of semi-final 1 administratively designated as the "home" team.
Statistics, excluding qualifying rounds and the play-off round, will be meticulously tracked, with the table correct as of January 29, 2026. The focus will be on the top goalscorers, crowning the season's deadliest finishers.
This season's Europa League promises drama, upsets, and the crowning of a new champion, all unfolding on the grand European stage.
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The 2025–26 UEFA Europa League is the 55th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 17th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League.
The final will be played on 20 May 2026 at Beşiktaş Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey.
This is the second season played under a new format, which replaced the 32-team group stage with a 36-team league phase.
Tottenham Hotspur are the reigning champions, but will not be able to defend their title as the winner of the Europa League automatically qualifies for the Champions League league phase, and the new format does not allow clubs to transfer from the Champions League into the Europa League from the league phase onwards.
== Association team allocation ==
A total of 77 teams from between 33 and 40 of the 55 UEFA member associations are expected to participate in the 2025–26 UEFA Europa League. Among them, 33 associations have teams directly qualifying for the Europa League, while for the other 12 associations that do not have any teams directly qualifying may have teams playing after being transferred from the Champions League. The association ranking based on the UEFA association coefficients is used to determine the number of participating teams for each association:
The title holders of the UEFA Conference League were given an entry in the Europa League (if they did not qualify for the Champions League or Europa League via league position).
Associations 1–12 each have two teams.
Associations 13–33 (except Russia) each have one team.
32 teams eliminated from the 2025–26 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase and play-off round will be transferred to the Europa League.
=== Association ranking ===
For the 2025–26 UEFA Europa League, the associations are allocated places according to their 2024 UEFA association coefficients, which takes into account their performance in European competitions from 2019–20 to 2023–24.
Apart from the allocation based on the association coefficients, associations may have additional teams participating in the Europa League, as noted below:
(UCL) – Additional teams transferred from the UEFA Champions League
(CON) – Additional teams transferred from the UEFA Conference League
=== Distribution ===
The information here reflects the ongoing suspension of Russia in European football, and so the following changes to the default access list have been made:
The cup winners of association 16 (Denmark) will enter the second qualifying round instead of the first qualifying round.
As the Conference League title holders (Chelsea) qualified for the Champions League league phase via their domestic league's standard berth allocation, the following changes to the default access list have been made:
Dinamo Zagreb, as the club with the highest club coefficient that would otherwise have entered the qualifying phase or play-off round, will enter the league phase instead of the first qualifying round.
The cup winners of association 34 (Finland) will enter the first qualifying round, instead of the Conference League second qualifying round.
=== Teams ===
The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round:
CON: Conference League title holders
CW: Cup winners
3rd, 4th, 5th, etc.: League position of the previous season
RL: Winners of the regular league phase
CL: Transferred from the Champions League
CH/LP PO: Losers from the play-off round (Champions/League Path)
CH/LP Q3: Losers from the third qualifying round (Champions/League Path)
CH/LP Q2: Losers from the second qualifying round (Champions/League Path)
The third qualifying round is divided into Champions Path (CH) and Main Path (MP).
Notes
== Schedule ==
The schedule of the competition is as follows. Matches are scheduled for Thursdays, apart from the final, which takes place on a Wednesday, though exceptionally can take place on Tuesdays or Wednesdays due to scheduling conflicts. One exclusive week was held where both Wednesday and Thursdays were matchdays, on 24 and 25 September.
== Qualifying rounds ==
=== First qualifying round ===
The draw for the first qualifying round was held on 17 June 2025.
The first legs were played on 10 July, and the second legs were played on 17 July 2025.
The winners of the ties advanced to the second qualifying round. The losers were transferred to the Conference League Main Path second qualifying round.
=== Second qualifying round ===
The draw for the second qualifying round was held on 18 June 2025.
The first legs were played on 24 July and the second legs were played on 31 July 2025.
The winners of the ties advanced to the Main Path third qualifying round. The losers were transferred to the Conference League Main Path third qualifying round.
=== Third qualifying round ===
The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 21 July 2025.
The first legs were played on 5, 6 and 7 August, and the second legs were played on 12 and 14 August 2025.
The winners of the ties advanced to the play-off round. The losers were transferred to the Conference League play-off round.
== Play-off round ==
The draw for the play-off round was held on 4 August 2025.
The first legs were played on 21 August, and the second legs will be played on 27 and 28 August 2025.
The winners of the ties will advance to the league phase. The losers will be transferred to the Conference League league phase.
== League phase ==
The league phase draw for the 2025–26 UEFA Europa League took place on 29 August 2025. The 36 teams were divided into four pots of nine teams each, based on their UEFA club coefficient.
The draw ceremony was held along with the league phase draw for the 2025–26 UEFA Conference League, as a change from the previous season. When the 36 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 faced 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.
Aston Villa, Bologna, Brann, Go Ahead Eagles and Nottingham Forest made their debut appearances since the introduction of the group stage (although Aston Villa and Brann had previously appeared in the UEFA Cup group stage). Go Ahead Eagles and Nottingham Forest made their debut appearances in a major UEFA competition group or league phase.
A total of 23 national associations were represented in the league phase.
=== Table ===
The top eight ranked teams received a bye to the round of 16. The teams ranked from 9th to 24th will contest the knockout phase play-offs, with the teams ranked from 9th to 16th seeded for the draw. Teams ranked from 25th to 36th were eliminated from European competition.
=== Results ===
== Knockout phase ==
In the knockout phase, teams will play against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis, except for the one-match final. The bracket structure for the knockout phase was partially fixed in advance using seeding, with teams' positions in the bracket determined by the final standings in the league phase.
In the knockout phase, there is no country protection, with teams from the same association able to face each other in any round. Teams can also face opponents they played during the league phase.
The mechanism of the draws for each round is as follows:
In the draw for the knockout phase play-offs, the eight teams finishing the league phase in positions 9–16 were seeded, and the eight teams finishing the league phase in positions 17–24 were unseeded. The draw was split into four sections based on the predetermined bracket, with the seeded teams in each section drawn against one of their two possible unseeded opponents. The seeded teams will host the second leg.
In the draw for the round of 16, the eight teams finishing the league phase in positions 1–8 will be seeded, and the eight winners of the knockout phase play-offs will be unseeded. Again, the draw will be split into four sections based on the predetermined bracket, with the seeded teams in each section drawn against one of their two possible unseeded opponents. The seeded teams will host the second leg.
In the quarter-finals and semi-finals, the exact match pairings and order of legs were predetermined based on the tournament bracket. The higher-seeded teams, assuming they advance, will play the second leg of each round at home. Should a seeded team be beaten, the team that eliminates them will assume their seeding position. The winner of semi-final 1 will be designated as the "home" team for the final (for administrative purposes as it is played at a neutral venue).
=== Bracket ===
=== Knockout phase play-offs ===
The draw for the knockout phase play-offs was held on 30 January 2026, 13:00 CET.
The first legs will be played on 19 February, and the second legs will be played on 26 February 2026.
=== Round of 16 ===
The draw for the round of 16 will be held on 27 February 2026.
The first legs will be played on 12 March, and the second legs will be played on 19 March 2026.
=== Quarter-finals ===
The first legs will be played on 9 April, and the second legs will be played on 16 April 2026.
=== Semi-finals ===
The first legs will be played on 30 April, and the second legs will be played on 7 May 2026.
=== Final ===
The final will be played on 20 May 2026 at the Beşiktaş Stadium in Istanbul. The winner of semi-final 1 was designated as the "home" team for administrative purposes.
== Statistics ==
Statistics exclude qualifying rounds and play-off round.
Table correct as of 29 January 2026.
=== Top goalscorers ===
== See also ==
2025–26 UEFA Champions League
2025–26 UEFA Conference League
2026 UEFA Super Cup
2025–26 UEFA Women's Champions League
2025–26 UEFA Women's Europa Cup
2025–26 UEFA Youth League
== References ==
== External links ==
Official website
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