THE 2025/26 UEFA Conference League is in full swing, and the league phase has already finished. Here is everything you need to know about which teams are still in the competition, when the next draw is happening, and all the important dates for the season.
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The Conference League draws and where to watch them
The league phase draw happened on August 29th in Monaco, right after the Europa League draw.
There are 36 teams in the draw, divided into six groups of six teams. Teams are placed based on their UEFA club ranking points.
This season, the draw is different from last year.
Instead of drawing teams one by one, all 36 teams were picked by a computer at the same time, including their opponents and home and away matches. The results were shown group by group.
Each team will play against one team from each of the six groups.
For each pair of groups (Groups 1 and 2, Groups 3 and 4, Groups 5 and 6), there is one home and one away match. Teams can't play against teams from their own country, and they can only face up to two teams from the same country.
The next draw for the Conference League will be on January 16th.
This is for the knockout playoffs, which involve teams that finished from 9th to 24th in the league phase.
The draws for the round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and the final will take place on February 27th.
The following 24 teams are still competing in the 25/26 Conference League (in alphabetical order):
Aberdeen (Scotland), AEK Athens (Greece), AEK Larnaca (Cyprus), AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands), Celje (Slovenia), Crystal Palace (England), Drita (Kosovo), Fiorentina (Italy), Jagiellonia (Poland), KuPS (Finland), Lausanne (Switzerland), Mainz (Germany), Noah (Armenia), Omonia (Cyprus), Rakow (Poland), Rayo Vallecano (Spain), Rijeka (Croatia), Samsunspor (Turkey), Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine), Shkendija (North Macedonia), Sigma Olomouc (Czech Republic), Sparta Prague (Czech Republic), Strasbourg (France), Zrinjski (Bosnia and Herzegovina).
You can check the final standings after the league phase here.
Key dates for the 25/26 UEFA Conference League
First matchday of the league phase: October 2nd
Last matchday of the league phase: December 18th
Knockout playoffs draw: January 16th, 2026
Knockout playoffs: February 19th (first legs), February 26th (second legs)
Final draw (for Round of 16 and beyond): February 27th, 2026
Round 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 27th
When and where is the 25/26 Conference League final
The final of the Conference League will take place at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig, Germany, on Wednesday, May 27th, 2026.
The stadium has a capacity of 47,800, making it the largest in Eastern Germany. Due to UEFA sponsorship rules, it is called the 'RB Arena' for European matches.
The winner of the final will enter the League Phase of the 2026/27 Europa League, unless they already qualified for the Champions League.
UEFA Conference League format explained
Before last season, UEFA made major changes to its cup competitions.
The old group phase with pools is gone, replaced by a 36-team 'League Phase' in all competitions.
This season in the Conference League, like last year, each team plays six matches during the league phase (unlike the Champions League and Europa League, where teams play eight matches).
The top eight teams at the end of the league phase automatically go to the round of 16, while the bottom eight are out.
The teams that finished from 9th to 24th enter the knockout playoffs to determine which eight will join the top eight in the round of 16.
The final draw for the knockout phases happens after the knockout playoffs.
In the round of 16, the top eight teams (seeded) are drawn against the other eight teams (unseeded).
The quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final follow in the usual cup format.