The league phase draw for the 2026-27 Europa League is set to unfold on Friday, 28 August, at 12:00 BST in Monaco. This significant event will see 36 teams enter the draw for Europe's second-tier club competition.
Teams will be allocated into four pots, with pot one containing the highest-ranked clubs based on their UEFA club coefficient from the five seasons concluding in 2025-26. Each team will play eight different opponents once, with four home and four away matches, and cannot face a team from their own country.
Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen leads pot one, joined by Benfica, Juventus, AC Milan, Lyon, AZ Alkmaar, Olympiakos, Real Sociedad, and Marseille. Scottish champions Celtic are in pot two alongside Ferencvaros, Viktoria Plzen, Union Saint-Gilloise, Dinamo Zagreb, Red Bull Salzburg, Sparta Prague, Rennes, and Anderlecht.
The English contingent of Crystal Palace, Bournemouth, and Sunderland are all positioned in pot three. They are joined by Sturm Graz, Lech Poznan, Celje, Jagiellonia Bialystok, Omonia, and Celta Vigo. Pot four includes European debutants Torreense, Hoffenheim, Besiktas, Hapoel Be'er Sheva, NEC Nijmegen, OFI Crete, Lillestrom, Aarat-Armenia, and Levski Sofia.
The top eight teams from the league phase will advance directly to the round of 16, while those finishing between ninth and 24th will enter a play-off knockout round. Teams ranked 25th to 36th will exit the competition.