36 teams from across the continent will learn their fate on Friday afternoon, as the draw is made for the 2025/26 Europa League.
This is the second year of the revamped tournament, which saw a brand-new league phase. ECA played a crucial role in the development of the tournament, ensuring our Member Clubs were central in the decision-making process of the new format.
This season, 100% of clubs participating in the Europa League are ECA Members.
Which Teams Qualified for the 2025/26 UEFA Europa League?
11 sides booked their place after dropping out of Champions League, 13 teams earned direct entry and 12 more progressed through qualifiers. Let’s take a closer look at some of the teams who make up the 36 participants:
After shock exits from the Champions League play-offs, Scottish sides Celtic and Rangers will aim to bounce back in the Europa League. Both know the competition well but carry painful memories from Seville — Celtic lost the 02/03 final to Porto, whilst Rangers narrowly lost on penalties to Eintracht Frankfurt in 21/22 edition of the Europa League final.
SK Brann sealed their progression to the Europa League with an emphatic 6-1 aggregate win over AEK Larnaca. After just missing out on a place in the UEFA Conference League last season, the Norwegians will be hit the heights in European Competition again looking to match their achievements of a memorable 2007/08 campaign in which they reached the knockout phase of the UEFA Cup.
Young Boys, did enough against ŠK Slovan Bratislava to reach the league phase, running out 4-2 aggregate winners over the Slovakian champions. After a disappointing 36th placed finish in the first edition of the revamped Champions League last season, the side from Bern will be looking to leave their mark on the Europa League.
French side Lyon, dramatically booked their spot in the competition, thanks in part to a last-gasp winner from Le Havre striker Abdoulaye Touré against Strasbourg. That result meant that Lyon secured a sixth-place league finish at the expense of Strasbourg on goal difference. With experienced coach Paulo Fonseca in charge, Lyon will be hoping to go all the way to the final in Istanbul.
2025/26 UEFA Europa League – How Did Qualification go?
13 clubs earned direct entry to the Europa League phase, while another 12 booked their spots through the qualifying rounds, finishing with the play-offs in August. The final 11 places went to teams that dropped out of the Champions League third qualifying round and play-offs, completing the 36-club line-up.
The full list is below.
Austria: Salzburg*, Sturm Graz*
Belgium: Genk
Bulgaria: Ludogorets
Croatia: GNK Dinamo
Czechia: Viktoria Plzeň*
Denmark: Midtjylland
England: Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest
France: Lille, Lyon, Nice*
Germany: Freiburg, Stuttgart
Greece: Panathinaikos, PAOK
Hungary: Ferencváros*
Israel: Maccabi Tel-Aviv
Italy: Bologna, Roma
Netherlands: Feyenoord*, Go Ahead Eagles, Utrecht
Norway: Brann
Portugal: Braga, Porto
Romania: FCSB
Scotland: Celtic*, Rangers*
Serbia: Crvena Zvezda*
Spain: Celta, Real Betis
Sweden: Malmö
Switzerland: Basel*, Young Boys
Türkiye: Fenerbahçe*
When Is the Draw?
The draw for will take place on Friday 29 August2025. It will take place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco and will be streamed live on UEFA's website at 13:00 CET.
Where is the Final?
The final will be hosted at the Beşiktaş Stadium in Istanbul on 20 May 2026.