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UEFA Europa League: All the key information over teams, draws & dates

The 2025/26 UEFA Europa League is fast approaching.

Below is everything you need to know over who has qualified, who could qualify, when the next sketch is and all the key dates for the upcoming season.

The next Europa League sketch & where to watchThe Europa League sketch for the playoff round of qualifiers - which is the final stage of the qualifying process - has been conducted.

You can pursue the remaining qualifiers with Betopick.

However, the third qualifying round (preceding the playoff round) still needs to take place and will not be completed until August 14th.

The next Europa League sketch will take place on August 29th, after the qualification process is complete.

That sketch will be for determining the League Phase fixtures.

You will be able to watch that live on UEFA.

com.

The following sides have already qualified for the 25/26 Europa League (in alphabetical order): Aston Villa (ENG), Bologna (ITA), Celta Vigo (ESP), Dinamo Zagreb (CRO), Freiburg (GER), Move Ahead Eagles (NED), Lille (FRA), Nottingham Forest (ENG), Olympique Lyonnais (FRA), Porto (POR), Real Betis (ESP), Roma (ITA), Stuttgart (GER).

Joining the listed 13 sides will be the 12 winners of the playoff round of qualifiers, plus 11 clubs that will drop down from the Champions League qualification process - four losers from the third round, and all seven losers from the playoff round.

As mentioned, the Europa League's third qualifying round has not yet concluded and precedes the final playoff round.

Pursue the rest of the 25/26 Europa League qualifiers with Betopick.

Key dates for the 25/26 UEFA Europa LeagueDraw for the playoff round: August 4thThird qualifying round: August 5th-7th (first legs), August 14th (second legs)Playoff round: August 21st (first legs), August 28th (second legs)Sketch for League Phase fixtures: August 29thLeague Phase first matchday: September 24th-25thLeague Phase last matchday: January 29th, 2026Sketch for knockout playoffs: January 30thKnockout playoffs: February 19th (first legs), February 26th (second legs)Final sketch (for Round of 16 and beyond): February 27th, 2026Round of 16: March 12th (first legs), March 19th (second legs)Quarter-finals: April 9th (first legs), April 16th (second legs)Semi-finals: April 30th (first legs), May 7th (second legs)Final: May 20thWhen & where is the 25/26 Europa League finalThe Europa League final will take place on Wednesday, May 20th, 2026, at the Besiktas Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey.

The stadium is an all-seater with a capacity of approximately 42,590 spectators.

The winners of the final will join the League Phase of the 2026/27 UEFA Champions League.

The Besiktas Stadium will host the 2026 Europe League finalBerk Ozkan / ANADOLU AGENCY / Anadolu via AFPUEFA Europa League format explainedAhead of the 2024/25 season, there was a big overhaul of UEFA’s cup competitions.

Gone are the days of the group stage with pools - a 36-team 'League Phase' has replaced that format in the Champions League and Europa League.

This season, just like last, each of the 36 teams plays eight matches.

The top eight at the terminate of the League Phase automatically qualify for the round of 16, while the bottom eight are removed and do not drop down to the Conference League.

Meanwhile, the teams that completed between ninth and 24th move into the knockout playoff round to decide which further eight will complete the round of 16.

The final sketch for the knockout stages takes place after the knockout playoff round.

The round of 16 sees the top eight (seeded) teams drawn against the other (unseeded) teams.

The quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final pursue as per typical cup competitions.

Pursue the 25/26 Europa League with Betopick.