Qualifications for the 2026/27 Europa League begin with the first qualifying round draw: the road to the league phase leads through four summer rounds
The qualifying section of the UEFA Europa League for the 2026/27 season is entering the final stage of preparations, and the first official step will be the draw for the first qualifying round on 16 June 2026. According to the calendar published by UEFA, the first matches of the new European season in this competition will be played on 9 July, while the return legs of the first qualifying round are scheduled for 16 July. The competition will then continue with the second and third qualifying rounds and the play-off, after which the 12 clubs that will secure a place in the league phase through the qualifiers will be known. In its official season overview, UEFA stated that this is the 56th edition of the competition, or the 18th season since the former UEFA Cup was renamed the Europa League. The season finale is scheduled for 26 May 2027 in Frankfurt, where the final will be played at Stadion Frankfurt.
Compared with the older group-stage format, the Europa League is continuing for a third season under the new model introduced in the 2024 - 2027 cycle. The league phase will have 36 clubs, and each team will play eight matches against eight different opponents, four at home and four away, as follows from UEFA's competition regulations for the 2026/27 season. According to the same regulations, the clubs placed from first to eighth after the league phase enter the round of 16 directly, the clubs from ninth to 24th place go into the knockout-phase play-offs, while the teams from 25th to 36th place end their European season. This makes the qualifying cycle especially important for clubs that do not enter the competition directly, because the play-off in August represents the final obstacle toward at least eight European matches in the main part of the season.
Schedule of qualifiers and draws
According to UEFA's calendar, the qualifiers will be played in four steps, and all ties before the league phase are scheduled as home-and-away encounters. The first qualifying round begins on 9 July, only a little more than three weeks after the draw, leaving clubs a short window to organize travel, register players and prepare tactically. The second qualifying round follows on 23 and 30 July, the third qualifying round is scheduled for 6 and 13 August, and the play-off for 20 and 27 August. The draw for the second qualifying round will be held on 17 June, the draw for the third qualifying round on 20 July, and the play-off draw on 3 August. In official announcements, UEFA emphasizes that dates are subject to change, but the current calendar gives a clear picture of the rhythm in which the final list of league-phase participants will be formed.
- First qualifying round: draw 16 June 2026; matches 9 and 16 July 2026.
- Second qualifying round: draw 17 June 2026; matches 23 and 30 July 2026.
- Third qualifying round: draw 20 July 2026; matches 6 and 13 August 2026.
- Play-off: draw 3 August 2026; matches 20 and 27 August 2026.
- League phase: draw 28 August 2026; matchday one 16 and 17 September 2026.
The league phase will begin in mid-September and last until the end of January 2027. According to UEFA's schedule, the first matchday will be played on 16 and 17 September, the second on 15 October, the third on 22 October, the fourth on 5 November, the fifth on 26 November, the sixth on 10 December, the seventh on 21 January 2027, and the eighth on 28 January. After that comes the knockout phase, in which clubs placed from ninth to 24th will play an additional play-off for the round of 16. The round of 16 is scheduled for March, the quarter-finals for April, the semi-finals for late April and early May, and the final in Frankfurt for 26 May 2027. In this way, the Europa League maintains the continuity of a long European cycle in which the summer qualifiers directly shape the autumn and winter schedules of clubs.
How the league phase is filled
UEFA has announced that 12 clubs enter the Europa League league phase directly, while one additional place is reserved for the winner of the UEFA Conference League, if its access is not otherwise determined through the domestic championship or a higher European status. For the 2026/27 season, UEFA confirmed that Crystal Palace won the 2025/26 Conference League with a 1:0 victory against Rayo Vallecano in Leipzig, by which the English club earned a place in the Europa League league phase. Another 12 clubs will come through the qualifiers and play-off, while the remaining 11 places will be filled by clubs that transfer to the Europa League from the Champions League qualifiers and play-off. Because of that system, some participants will not be known before the end of August, especially clubs coming from the Champions League after elimination in the later qualifying rounds.
Such a model increases the sporting uncertainty and financial importance of the summer matches. Clubs that start in the first or second qualifying round must overcome more obstacles, but each victory brings not only the continuation of the European season but also a better position in UEFA's coefficient system. According to UEFA's regulations, seeding in draws is linked to club coefficients, while in the earlier stages regional groups may also be used for organizational reasons. The specialized UEFA coefficient tracker Kassiesa states that the list of seeded and unseeded teams is formed according to UEFA's 2026 club ranking, and that pairs from earlier qualifying rounds are treated in the following draws according to the coefficients of the clubs included in the pair. This means that the final picture is not only a matter of sporting results, but also of the position that clubs have built in European competitions during previous seasons.
Participants according to currently available data
According to available lists of qualified clubs and trackers that follow UEFA's access system, a large number of clubs entering through the main path of the competition are already known in the qualifying section of the 2026/27 Europa League. Club participation and the final allocation are subject to UEFA's official confirmation, and additional changes are possible due to licensing, possible appeal procedures or the transfer of clubs from the Champions League. Below is an overview of the clubs that, according to currently available information, are placed in the Europa League qualifying rounds, without the clubs that will join later after elimination from the Champions League.
- Entry stage | Club | Association
- First qualifying round | Ferencváros | Hungary
- First qualifying round | Qarabag | Azerbaijan
- First qualifying round | Sheriff Tiraspol | Moldova
- First qualifying round | Dynamo Kyiv | Ukraine
- First qualifying round | Hajduk Split | Croatia
- First qualifying round | CSKA Sofia | Bulgaria
- First qualifying round | Žilina | Slovakia
- First qualifying round | Vojvodina | Serbia
- First qualifying round | Universitatea Cluj | Romania
- First qualifying round | Aluminij | Slovenia
- First qualifying round | Derry City | Republic of Ireland
- First qualifying round | Vestri | Iceland
- Second qualifying round | Benfica | Portugal
- Second qualifying round | Viktoria Plzeň | Czechia
- Second qualifying round | FC Midtjylland | Denmark
- Second qualifying round | PAOK Thessaloniki | Greece
- Second qualifying round | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Israel
- Second qualifying round | Anderlecht | Belgium
- Second qualifying round | Pafos | Cyprus
- Second qualifying round | FC Twente | Netherlands
- Second qualifying round | Beşiktaş | Turkey
- Second qualifying round | Tromsø | Norway
- Second qualifying round | FC St. Gallen | Switzerland
- Second qualifying round | Hammarby | Sweden
- Third qualifying round | Rangers | Scotland
- Third qualifying round | FC Salzburg | Austria
- Third qualifying round | Jagiellonia Białystok | Poland
- Play-off | Sint-Truiden | Belgium
- Play-off | Karviná | Czechia
- Play-off | Trabzonspor | Turkey
- Play-off | Lillestrøm | Norway
- Play-off | OFI Heraklion | Greece
- Later stages | Clubs transferred from Champions League qualifiers | will be known after Champions League matches in July and August
The list shows how geographically broad the qualifying section of the Europa League is. In the first qualifying round there are clubs from Central, Eastern, Northern and Southeastern Europe, while in the second qualifying round representatives of stronger coefficient associations and clubs with greater European experience join. In the third qualifying round and the play-off, the competition becomes even tougher because clubs with higher status in national championships enter the competition, as do clubs transferring from the Champions League. That is precisely why early draws often have a long-term effect: clubs can receive a relatively more favorable path toward the play-off, but they can also run into opponents with far greater European experience. The final list of first-qualifying-round ties will be known after UEFA's draw on 16 June.
Direct participants in the league phase and the wider picture of the competition
While the qualifying section is only just opening, some clubs already know that they will spend the European autumn in the Europa League league phase. According to trackers of qualified clubs, the direct participants include Crystal Palace, Bournemouth and Sunderland from England, AC Milan and Juventus from Italy, Real Sociedad and Celta Vigo from Spain, Hoffenheim and Bayer Leverkusen from Germany, Olympique Marseille and Rennes from France, AZ from the Netherlands and Torreense from Portugal. This list reflects a combination of placements through national leagues and cups and the status of the Conference League winner. UEFA's official system provides that the league phase will not be fully finalized before the completion of the play-off and the transfer of clubs from the Champions League.
For clubs from the qualifiers, this means that the road to the main part of the competition is not only a sporting challenge, but also an entry into a significantly stronger market and competitive framework. The league phase guarantees eight matches against different opponents, greater international visibility, a more stable schedule of European revenues and an opportunity to collect coefficient points. For clubs from smaller and medium-sized associations, progressing through several qualifying rounds can change the financial structure of the season, but also increase pressure on the summer transfer window, squad depth and management of the domestic schedule. On the other hand, clubs that enter later have fewer matches on the way to the league phase, but they often arrive without the competitive rhythm that opponents have gained in earlier European ties. This is one of the reasons why Europa League qualifiers regularly bring surprises, especially in July and August.
Frankfurt hosts the final and the prize for the winner
UEFA has confirmed that the 2026/27 Europa League final will be played on 26 May 2027 at Stadion Frankfurt in Germany. The arena, originally opened in 1925 and modernized several times, was one of the stadiums of UEFA Euro 2024, and earlier hosted matches of the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2006 World Cup. For the Europa League winner, the stakes are traditionally greater than the trophy itself because UEFA states that the competition winner receives a place in the 2027/28 Champions League league phase, if it has not already qualified there through domestic competition. The winner will also have the right to appear in the UEFA Super Cup against the Champions League winner. In this way, the Europa League remains a competition that connects the wider European club space with the highest level of continental football.
The first concrete decision of the season, however, comes before the big stadiums and final rounds. The first qualifying round draw on 16 June will determine the opening ties for clubs that enter the European season earliest, and already on 9 July the competitive road begins which, for some participants, will end after only two matches. For others, the same road will last almost two months and end with qualification for the league phase, with European matches secured until January. From the perspective of UEFA's format, the qualifiers are therefore much more than an introduction to the season: they determine the final 12 clubs that will secure a place among the 36 participants in the main part of the Europa League through their own results.
Sources:
- UEFA – official season overview of the 2026/27 Europa League, schedule of qualifiers, league phase and final (link)
- UEFA Documents – regulations of the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League, league-phase system and access framework of the competition (link)
- UEFA – official overview of the 2025/26 Conference League winners and Crystal Palace's status (link)
- Kassiesa.net – specialized overview of seeding, coefficients and the 2026/27 Europa League qualifying path (link)
- Flashscore News – tracker of qualified clubs for the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League (link)