Europa League format explained: league phase to the final

The UEFA Europa League opens with a league phase: 36 clubs in one table, each playing eight matches against eight different opponents. The top eight go straight to the round of 16, the clubs placed 9th to 24th meet in two-legged knockout phase play-offs, and the bottom twelve are out of Europe. From there it is home-and-away knockout football up to a single-match final, which in 2026/27 is in Frankfurt on 26 May 2027.

The format at a glance

This is the 56th season of the competition counting its years as the UEFA Cup, the 18th under the Europa League name and the third with a league phase. Qualifying began on 9 July 2026.

Who is in the league phase

The 36 places were filled in four ways:

• 13 automatic qualifiers: twelve clubs that entered directly through their domestic league or cup, plus the place reserved for the Conference League title holders.
• 12 winners of the Europa League play-off round, the last step of the competition's own summer qualifying.
• 4 clubs beaten in the Champions League third qualifying round (league path).
• 7 clubs beaten in the Champions League play-off round.

So almost a third of the field arrives from Champions League qualifying, which is why names such as Lyon, who lost their Champions League play-off to Fenerbahçe, appear here. The traffic stops once the league phase begins: nobody drops in from the Champions League in winter any more, and nobody drops down to the Conference League.

England has three clubs. Bournemouth and Sunderland qualified through their Premier League finishes of sixth and seventh, while Crystal Palace took the title holders' place after winning the 2025/26 Conference League final against Rayo Vallecano. Scotland is represented by Celtic. The other clubs are Ararat-Armenia, Salzburg, Sturm Graz, Anderlecht, Union SG, Levski Sofia, Dinamo Zagreb, Omonia, Sparta Praha, Viktoria Plzeň, Lyon, Marseille, Rennes, Hoffenheim, Bayer Leverkusen, OFI Crete, Olympiacos, Ferencváros, Hapoel Beer-Sheva, Milan, Juventus, AZ Alkmaar, N.E.C., Lillestrøm, Jagiellonia, Lech Poznań, Benfica, Torreense, Celje, Real Sociedad, Celta and Beşiktaş.

How the league phase works

The draw

For the draw, held in Monaco on 28 August 2026, the clubs were split into four pots of nine by UEFA club coefficient. Each club was drawn against two opponents from every pot, its own included, playing one of each pair at home and the other away. In principle a club cannot be drawn against a side from its own association, and it can face no more than two clubs from any other single association.

One table, ten tiebreakers

Every result goes into one 36-club table. Because clubs play different opponents, head-to-head records are not used. Clubs level on points after the eighth matchday are separated in this order:

1. Goal difference
2. Goals scored
3. Away goals scored
4. Wins
5. Away wins
6. Points obtained collectively by the club's league phase opponents
7. Collective goal difference of those opponents
8. Collective goals scored by those opponents
9. Fewer disciplinary points (yellow and red cards for players and team officials)
10. Higher club coefficient

While the phase is still in progress, on matchdays 1 to 7, only the first five criteria are applied. For a comparison with domestic competitions, see how league table tiebreakers work.

What the final position decides

• 1st to 8th: straight to the round of 16, and seeded there.
• 9th to 16th: seeded in the knockout phase play-offs, with the second leg in principle at home.
• 17th to 24th: unseeded in the play-offs.
• 25th to 36th: out of European football for the season.

The knockout phase

The bracket is built from the league table. In the play-offs a draw only decides which of two possible opponents a club meets:

The top eight are paired in the same way for the round of 16 (1st and 2nd, 3rd and 4th, and so on) and drawn into bracket positions against the play-off winners. After that draw, the quarter-final and semi-final pairings follow a fixed bracket, so every club can see its route to Frankfurt.

League position keeps its value. The seeded club plays the second leg at home in the play-offs and the round of 16; clubs that finished in the top four do so in the quarter-finals, and the top two in the semi-finals as well. If a seeded club is eliminated, the side that beat it inherits its position in the bracket.

All ties before the final are decided on aggregate over two legs. There is no away goals rule: UEFA removed it from its club competitions from 2021/22. If the aggregate score is level after the second leg, two 15-minute periods of extra time are played, followed by a penalty shoot-out if needed. The procedure is covered in stoppage time, extra time and penalties.

Dates for 2026/27

Thursday is the competition's regular night, and dates are subject to change.

What the winners get

The trophy weighs 15 kg, which makes it the heaviest piece of UEFA silverware. With it comes a place in the league phase of the 2027/28 Champions League, if the winners have not already qualified through their domestic competition, and a meeting with the Champions League winners in the 2027 UEFA Super Cup. For a club outside its league's top places, the Europa League is therefore a second road into the Champions League.

The other European competitions

All three UEFA club competitions now share the same outline. The Champions League sits above the Europa League and the Conference League below it; the twelve clubs beaten in the Europa League play-off round in August moved to the Conference League league phase.

Following the Europa League on ScoreMondo

The Europa League page has the full league phase table, fixtures and results, and the knockout ties once they are drawn. On Thursday evenings the live scores update as the goals go in, and every match page carries events, statistics and line-ups. Yesterday's results are listed by day, and the leagues overview leads to the other European competitions, with the Premier League table one click away. In the apps you can add clubs to your favourites and switch on goal alerts. If a match shows a label you do not recognise, match statuses explained has the answer.

A short history

The UEFA Cup began in 1971/72, and Tottenham Hotspur were the first winners, beating Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-2 on aggregate. Finals were played over two legs until 1997/98, when a single match at a neutral venue took over. A group stage arrived in 2004/05, and in 2009/10 the competition was renamed the UEFA Europa League, with a 48-club group stage. Since 2014/15 the winners have qualified for the following season's Champions League. The league phase replaced the groups in 2024/25.

Sevilla are the record winners with seven titles, the latest in 2023; no other club has more than three. The holders are Aston Villa, who beat Freiburg 3-0 in Istanbul on 20 May 2026 to win the competition for the first time.

Questions and answers

How many matches does a club need to win the Europa League?

Fifteen for a club that finishes in the top eight: eight league phase matches, six across the round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals, and the final. A club that comes through the knockout phase play-offs plays 17.

Do Champions League clubs still drop into the Europa League?

Only during summer qualifying. Clubs beaten in certain Champions League qualifying rounds enter the Europa League league phase, but the clubs that finish 25th to 36th in the Champions League league phase are simply eliminated.

Do head-to-head results count in the table?

No. Goal difference comes first, then goals scored, away goals scored, wins and away wins, followed by the criteria based on opponents' results, disciplinary points and club coefficient.

Can two clubs from the same country meet?

Not in the league phase, in principle. From the knockout phase play-offs onwards they can.

Is the final played over two legs?

No. It is a single match at a stadium chosen in advance. If it is level after 90 minutes, extra time and, if necessary, penalties decide the winner.