Conference League draw: Trabzonspor and three Egyptian players among 36 teams

The UEFA Conference League preliminary-round matches for the 2026-27 season have concluded, with 36 clubs now confirmed for the league phase, including Trabzonspor and Lincoln Red Imps, who feature three Egyptian players between them.

Trabzonspor have moved into the Conference League after suffering a heavy 5-0 aggregate defeat by Hungarian side Ferencvarosi in the Europa League qualifying round. The Turkish club, who have Mohamed Salah in their squad, will now compete in UEFA’s third-tier competition.

Danish club Nordsjaelland also secured their place in the league phase after eliminating Swiss side St. Gallen 4-2 on aggregate.

A third Egyptian player will be involved in the competition with Gibraltar’s Lincoln Red Imps. The club’s squad includes Ayman El-Ghabashy.

The 36 teams will be split into six seeding pots, with six clubs in each pot. Every team will play six league-phase matches, facing one opponent from each pot. Each club will have three home games and three away fixtures.

The eight highest-ranked teams in the final league-phase table will qualify directly for the last 16. Teams finishing ninth to 16th will enter play-offs against clubs placed 17th to 24th, with the winners taking the remaining eight places in the round of 16.

Conference League league-phase teams

Pot one

Atalanta (Italy), Braga (Portugal), Ajax (Netherlands), Freiburg (Germany), Monaco (France) and Copenhagen (Denmark).

Pot two

Midtjylland (Denmark), Red Star Belgrade (Serbia), Gent (Belgium), Panathinaikos (Greece), Pafos (Cyprus) and Brighton (England).

Pot three

Lugano (Switzerland), Getafe (Spain), KuPS (Finland), Twente (Netherlands), Lincoln Red Imps (Gibraltar) and Borac Banja Luka (Bosnia and Herzegovina).

Pot four

Sint-Truiden (Belgium), Brann (Norway), Hearts (Scotland), Kairat Almaty (Kazakhstan), Trabzonspor (Turkey) and Universitatea Craiova (Romania).

Pot five

Riga (Latvia), Hajduk Split (Croatia), Jablonec (Czech Republic), Nordsjaelland (Denmark), Aarhus (Denmark) and Club d’Escaldes (Andorra).

Pot six

Thun (Switzerland), CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria), Kauno Zalgiris (Lithuania), Mjallby (Sweden), FC Iberia 1999 (Georgia) and Egnatia (Albania).

The draw for the Conference League league phase will take place at 14:00 local time on Friday, 28 August. It will be broadcast on beIN Sports News.

The league-phase fixtures are scheduled to begin in October, with the opening round taking place on 15 October 2026. The second round will follow on 22 October, before the third round on 5 November.

The fourth round is scheduled for 26 November, while the fifth round will be played on 10 December. The league phase will conclude with the sixth round on 17 December 2026.