 TheBeşiktaş Stadium inIstanbul will host the final | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | Qualifying: 10 July – 28 August 2025 Competition proper: 24 September 2025 – 20 May 2026 |
| Teams | Competition proper: 25+11 Total: 45+32 (from 41 associations) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 144 |
| Goals scored | 386 (2.68 per match) |
| Attendance | 3,550,617 (24,657 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Petar Stanić (Ludogorets Razgrad) 7 goals |
2026–27 → All statistics correct as of 29 January 2026. | |
The2025–26 UEFA Europa League is the 55th season of Europe's secondary clubfootball tournament organised byUEFA, and the 17th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to theUEFA Europa League.
Thefinal will be played on 20 May 2026 atBeşiktaş Stadium inIstanbul, Turkey.[1]
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 theChampions League league phase, and the new format does not allow clubs to transfer from theChampions League into the Europa League from the league phase onwards.
A total of 77 teams from between 33 and 40 of the 55UEFA 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 theUEFA association coefficients is used to determine the number of participating teams for each association:[2]
For the 2025–26 UEFA Europa League, the associations are allocated places according to their 2024UEFA association coefficients, which takes into account their performance in European competitions from 2019–20 to 2023–24.[3]
Apart from the allocation based on the association coefficients, associations may have additional teams participating in the Europa League, as noted below:
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| Teams entering in this round | Teams advancing from the previous round | Teams transferred from Champions League | ||
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| First qualifying round (16 teams) |
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| Second qualifying round (16 teams) |
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| Third qualifying round (26 teams) | Champions Path (12 teams) |
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| League Path (14 teams) |
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| Play-off round (24 teams) |
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| League phase (36 teams) |
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| Knockout phase play-offs (16 teams) |
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| Round of 16 (16 teams) |
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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:
As theConference 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:
The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round:
The third qualifying round is divided into Champions Path (CH) and Main Path (MP).
Notes
The schedule of the competition is as follows.[9] 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.[10]
| Phase | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying | First qualifying round | 17 June 2025 | 10 July 2025 | 17 July 2025 |
| Second qualifying round | 18 June 2025 | 24 July 2025 | 31 July 2025 | |
| Third qualifying round | 21 July 2025 | 7 August 2025 | 14 August 2025 | |
| Play-offs | Play-off round | 4 August 2025 | 21 August 2025 | 28 August 2025 |
| League phase | Matchday 1 | 29 August 2025 | 24–25 September 2025 | |
| Matchday 2 | 2 October 2025 | |||
| Matchday 3 | 23 October 2025 | |||
| Matchday 4 | 6 November 2025 | |||
| Matchday 5 | 27 November 2025 | |||
| Matchday 6 | 11 December 2025 | |||
| Matchday 7 | 22 January 2026 | |||
| Matchday 8 | 29 January 2026 | |||
| Knockout phase | Knockout round play-offs | 30 January 2026 | 19 February 2026 | 26 February 2026 |
| Round of 16 | 27 February 2026 | 12 March 2026 | 19 March 2026 | |
| Quarter-finals | N/a | 9 April 2026 | 16 April 2026 | |
| Semi-finals | 30 April 2026 | 7 May 2026 | ||
| Final | 20 May 2026 atBeşiktaş Stadium,Istanbul | |||
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 theConference League Main Path second qualifying round.
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Shakhtar Donetsk  | 6–0 |  Ilves | 6–0 | 0–0 |
Sheriff Tiraspol  | 5–2 |  Prishtina | 4–0 | 1–2 |
Spartak Trnava  | 2–3 |  BK Häcken | 0–1 | 2–2 |
Sabah  | 5–6 |  Celje | 2–3 | 3–3 (a.e.t.) |
Legia Warsaw  | 2–0 |  Aktobe | 1–0 | 1–0 |
Levski Sofia  | 1–1 (3–1p) |  Hapoel Be'er Sheva | 0–0 | 1–1 (a.e.t.) |
AEK Larnaca  | 2–2 (6–5p) |  Partizan | 1–0 | 1–2 (a.e.t.) |
Paks  | 0–3 |  CFR Cluj | 0–0 | 0–3 |
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 theConference League Main Path third qualifying round.
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Lugano  | 0–1 | CFR Cluj | 0–0 | 0–1 (a.e.t.) |
| Celje | 2–3 | AEK Larnaca | 1–1 | 1–2 |
| Levski Sofia | 0–1 |  Braga | 0–0 | 0–1 (a.e.t.) |
Baník Ostrava  | 3–4 | Legia Warsaw | 2–2 | 1–2 |
Anderlecht  | 2–2 (2–4p) | BK Häcken | 1–0 | 1–2 (a.e.t.) |
| Sheriff Tiraspol | 2–7 |  Utrecht | 1–3 | 1–4 |
Midtjylland  | 3–2 |  Hibernian | 1–1 | 2–1 (a.e.t.) |
Beşiktaş  | 2–6 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 2–4 | 0–2 |
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 theConference League play-off round.
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champions Path | ||||
Lincoln Red Imps  | 1–1 (6–5p) |  Noah | 1–1 | 0–0 (a.e.t.) |
Rijeka  | 4–3 |  Shelbourne | 1–2 | 3–1 |
RFS  | 1–3 | KuPS | 1–2 | 0–1 |
Hamrun Spartans  | 2–5 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 1–2 | 1–3 |
Zrinjski Mostar  | 3–2 |  Breiðablik | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| FCSB | 6–3 | Drita | 3–2 | 3–1 |
| Main Path | ||||
| AEK Larnaca | 5–3 | Legia Warsaw | 4–1 | 1–2 |
Fredrikstad  | 1–5 | Midtjylland | 1–3 | 0–2 |
| CFR Cluj | 1–4 | Braga | 1–2 | 0–2 |
PAOK  | 1–0 |  Wolfsberger AC | 0–0 | 1–0 (a.e.t.) |
| Servette | 2–5 | Utrecht | 1–3 | 1–2 |
| BK Häcken | 1–2 | Brann | 0–2 | 1–0 |
| Panathinaikos | 0–0 (4–3p) | Shakhtar Donetsk | 0–0 | 0–0 (a.e.t.) |
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 theConference League league phase.
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | 3–2 | Dynamo Kyiv | 3–1 | 0–1 |
Shkëndija  | 3–5 | Ludogorets Razgrad | 2–1 | 1–4 (a.e.t.) |
| Slovan Bratislava | 2–4 | Young Boys | 0–1 | 2–3 |
| Malmö FF | 5–0 | Sigma Olomouc | 3–0 | 2–0 |
| Panathinaikos | 2–1 | Samsunspor | 2–1 | 0–0 |
| Aberdeen | 2–5 | FCSB | 2–2 | 0–3 |
| Lech Poznań | 3–6 | Genk | 1–5 | 2–1 |
| Midtjylland | 6–0 | KuPS | 4–0 | 2–0 |
| Lincoln Red Imps | 1–9 | Braga | 0–4 | 1–5 |
| Zrinjski Mostar | 0–2 | Utrecht | 0–2 | 0–0 |
| Brann | 6–1 | AEK Larnaca | 2–1 | 4–0 |
| Rijeka | 1–5 | PAOK | 1–0 | 0–5 |
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 theirUEFA club coefficient.
The draw ceremony was held along with the league phase draw for the2025–26 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.[11] 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.[12][13]
Aston Villa,Bologna,Brann,Go Ahead Eagles andNottingham Forest made their debut appearances since the introduction of the group stage (although Aston Villa and Brann had previously appeared in theUEFA 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.
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.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Lyon | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 5 | +13 | 21 | Advance toround of 16 (seeded) |
| 2 |  Aston Villa | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 6 | +8 | 21 | |
| 3 | Midtjylland | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 8 | +10 | 19 | |
| 4 |  Real Betis | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 7 | +6 | 17[a] | |
| 5 | Porto | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 7 | +6 | 17[a] | |
| 6 | Braga | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 5 | +6 | 17 | |
| 7 |  SC Freiburg | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 4 | +6 | 17 | |
| 8 |  Roma | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 6 | +7 | 16 | |
| 9 | Genk | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 7 | +4 | 16 | Advance toknockout phase play-offs (seeded) |
| 10 | Bologna | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 7 | +7 | 15 | |
| 11 | VfB Stuttgart | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 15 | 9 | +6 | 15 | |
| 12 | Ferencváros | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 11 | +1 | 15 | |
| 13 | Nottingham Forest | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 7 | +8 | 14 | |
| 14 | Viktoria Plzeň | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 14 | |
| 15 | Red Star Belgrade | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 14 | |
| 16 | Celta Vigo | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 11 | +4 | 13 | |
| 17 | PAOK | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 17 | 14 | +3 | 12 | Advance toknockout phase play-offs (unseeded) |
| 18 | Lille | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 9 | +3 | 12 | |
| 19 | Fenerbahçe | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 12 | |
| 20 | Panathinaikos | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 9 | +2 | 12 | |
| 21 | Celtic | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 15 | −2 | 11 | |
| 22 | Ludogorets Razgrad | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 15 | −3 | 10 | |
| 23 | Dinamo Zagreb | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 16 | −4 | 10 | |
| 24 | Brann | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 11 | −2 | 9 | |
| 25 | Young Boys | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 16 | −6 | 9 | |
| 26 | Sturm Graz | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 11 | −6 | 7 | |
| 27 | FCSB | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 16 | −7 | 7 | |
| 28 | Go Ahead Eagles | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 14 | −8 | 7 | |
| 29 | Feyenoord | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 15 | −4 | 6 | |
| 30 | Basel | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 13 | −4 | 6 | |
| 31 | Red Bull Salzburg | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 15 | −5 | 6 | |
| 32 | Rangers | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 14 | −9 | 4 | |
| 33 | Nice | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 15 | −8 | 3 | |
| 34 | Utrecht | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 15 | −10 | 1 | |
| 35 | Malmö FF | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 15 | −11 | 1 | |
| 36 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 22 | −20 | 1 |
In theknockout phase, teams will play against each other overtwo 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 usingseeding, 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:[2]
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).
| Knockout phase play-offs | Round of 16 | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 22 | Ludogorets Razgrad | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12 | Ferencváros |  Winner PO1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5/6 | Porto orBraga | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winner R16–1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 20 | Panathinaikos | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winner R16–2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 14 | Viktoria Plzeň | Winner PO2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3/4 | Midtjylland orReal Betis | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winner QF1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 23 | Dinamo Zagreb | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winner QF2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Genk | Winner PO3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7/8 | SC Freiburg orRoma | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winner R16–3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 17 | PAOK | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winner R16–4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 16 | Celta Vigo | Winner PO4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 20 May –Istanbul | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1/2 | Lyon orAston Villa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winner SF1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 21 | Celtic | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winner SF2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 11 | VfB Stuttgart | Winner PO5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6/5 | Braga orPorto | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winner R16–5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 19 | Fenerbahçe | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winner R16–6 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 13 | Nottingham Forest | Winner PO6 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4/3 | Real Betis orMidtjylland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winner QF3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 24 | Brann | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winner QF4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10 | Bologna | Winner PO7 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8/7 | Roma orSC Freiburg | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winner R16–7 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 18 | Lille | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winner R16–8 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 15 | Red Star Belgrade | Winner PO8 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2/1 | Aston Villa orLyon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The draw for the knockout phase play-offs was held on 30 January 2026, 13:00CET.[15]The first legs will be played on 19 February, and the second legs will be played on 26 February 2026.[16]
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ludogorets Razgrad | 1 | Ferencváros | 19 Feb | 26 Feb |
| Panathinaikos | 2 | Viktoria Plzeň | 19 Feb | 26 Feb |
| Dinamo Zagreb | 3 | Genk | 19 Feb | 26 Feb |
| PAOK | 4 | Celta Vigo | 19 Feb | 26 Feb |
| Celtic | 5 | VfB Stuttgart | 19 Feb | 26 Feb |
| Fenerbahçe | 6 | Nottingham Forest | 19 Feb | 26 Feb |
| Brann | 7 | Bologna | 19 Feb | 26 Feb |
| Lille | 8 | Red Star Belgrade | 19 Feb | 26 Feb |
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.
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner PO1 | 1 | Porto orBraga | 12 Mar | 19 Mar |
| Winner PO2 | 2 | Midtjylland orReal Betis | 12 Mar | 19 Mar |
| Winner PO3 | 3 | SC Freiburg orRoma | 12 Mar | 19 Mar |
| Winner PO4 | 4 | Lyon orAston Villa | 12 Mar | 19 Mar |
| Winner PO5 | 5 | Braga orPorto | 12 Mar | 19 Mar |
| Winner PO6 | 6 | Real Betis orMidtjylland | 12 Mar | 19 Mar |
| Winner PO7 | 7 | Roma orSC Freiburg | 12 Mar | 19 Mar |
| Winner PO8 | 8 | Aston Villa orLyon | 12 Mar | 19 Mar |
The first legs will be played on 9 April, and the second legs will be played on 16 April 2026.
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner R16–1 | 1 | Winner R16–2 | 9 Apr | 16 Apr |
| Winner R16–3 | 2 | Winner R16–4 | 9 Apr | 16 Apr |
| Winner R16–5 | 3 | Winner R16–6 | 9 Apr | 16 Apr |
| Winner R16–7 | 4 | Winner R16–8 | 9 Apr | 16 Apr |
The first legs will be played on 30 April, and the second legs will be played on 7 May 2026.
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner QF1 | 1 | Winner QF2 | 30 Apr | 7 May |
| Winner QF3 | 2 | Winner QF4 | 30 Apr | 7 May |
The final will be played on 20 May 2026 at theBeşiktaş Stadium inIstanbul. The winner of semi-final 1 was designated as the "home" team for administrative purposes.
| Winner SF1 | v | Winner SF2 |
|---|---|---|
Statistics exclude qualifying rounds and play-off round.
Table correct as of 29 January 2026.
| Rank[17] | Player | Team | Goals | Minutes played |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Petar Stanić | Ludogorets Razgrad | 7 | 692 |
| 2 |  Igor Jesus | Nottingham Forest | 6 | 324 |
| 3 |  Hamza Igamane | Lille | 4 | 322 |
| Corentin Tolisso | Lyon | 327 | ||
| Dion Drena Beljo | Dinamo Zagreb | 412 | ||
| Talisca | Fenerbahçe | 427 | ||
| Karol Świderski | Panathinaikos | 443 | ||
| Barnabás Varga | Ferencváros | 448 | ||
| Antony | Real Betis | 480 | ||
| Giorgos Giakoumakis | PAOK | 496 | ||
| Anass Zaroury | Panathinaikos | 557 | ||
| Kerem Aktürkoğlu | Fenerbahçe | 564 |
