The knockout phase is set to begin as teams find out their fate
The draw for the first knockout round in the 2025/26 Europa League is set to be made after a frantic league phase finale sealed the fates of British sides.
Nottingham Forest find themselves in the pot with a 4-0 victory over Robbie Keane’s Ferencvaros not enough to force themselves into the top eight, while Aston Villa bypass the play-offs after finishing second in the table.
Sean Dyche’s side will, however, be joined by Celtic after Martin O’Neill’s side avoided elimination on the last matchday, staving off a comeback from Utrecht to beat to Dutch side 4-2 at Parkhead.
The likes of Lille, Bologna and Fenerbahce are also among the top-24 contingent required to go through the play-offs to keep their Europa League ambitions alive.
Here’s everything you need to know.
When is the Europa League knockout phase play-off draw?
The 2025/26 Europa League knockout phase play-off draw starts at 12pm GMT on Friday 30 January, in Nyon, Switzerland.
The draw includes teams that finished ninth to 24th place in the league phase, with the top eight sides in the league phase qualifying automatically for the last 16.
How can I watch the Europa League draw?
The draw will be streamed live on Uefa’s website and the Europa League app, while Independent Sport will have a live blog with all the results from the draw and the latest reaction.
Which teams are in the Europa League knockout phase play-off draw?
There are 16 teams in the Europa League knockout phase play-off draw, including two-thirds of the remaining British contingent.
With the number representing their finish in the league phase, the following teams are seeded:
9. Genk (Belgium)
10. Bologna (Italy)
11. Stuttgart (Germany)
12. Ferencvaros (Hungary)
13. Nottingham Forest (England)
14. Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic)
15. Red Star Belgrade (Serbia)
16. Celta Vigo (Spain)
The remaining teams are unseeded:
17. PAOK (Greece)
18. Lille (France)
19. Fenerbahce (Turkey)
20. Panathinaikos (Greece)
21. Celtic (Scotland)
22. Ludogorets Razgrad (Bulgaria)
23. Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
24. Brann (Norway)
How will the Europa League knockout phase play-off draw work?
The clubs are paired together in relation to their league phase positions, forming four seeded pairs: positions 9 and 10, 11 and 12, 13 and 14, and 15 and 16. There will be four unseeded pairs: positions 17 and 18, 19 and 20, 21 and 22, and 23 and 24).
Clubs in each seeded pair will draw a tie against an unseeded pair: clubs 9 or 10 against clubs 23 or 24, clubs 11 or 12 against clubs 21 or 22, clubs 13 or 14 against clubs 19 or 20, and clubs 15 or 16 against clubs 17 or 18.
Teams from the same national association, or teams that have already met in the league phase, can all play against each other in the knockout phase play-offs.
When will the knockout phase play-off ties take place?
Matches will take place over two legs, with the seeded team set to play the return leg at home.
First legs will be played on 19 February and second legs are slated to take place on 26 February.
When is the round of 16 draw?
The eight teams that advance from the knockout phase play-offs will be in the draw for the round of 16, along with those who directly qualified. That draw will take place on Friday 27 February.
Category: General Sports
