Haitham Hassan among 36 teams set for Europa League draw

The 36-team line-up for the 2026-27 Europa League league phase has been confirmed, with Haitham Hassan among the players involved, and the draw scheduled for 13:00 BST on Friday, 28 August.

Celtic will take part in the competition after dropping into the Europa League following their defeat by Austrian side LASK in the Champions League qualifying round.

The league phase will feature 36 clubs, divided into four seeding pots of nine teams. Each side will play eight matches, facing two opponents from each pot. Four of those games will be at home and four away.

The top eight teams in the final standings will qualify automatically for the last 16. Clubs finishing between ninth and 16th will enter play-offs against teams placed from 17th to 24th, with the winners claiming the remaining eight places in the round of 16.

The confirmed teams have been allocated to the following pots:

Pot one

Bayer Leverkusen (Germany), Benfica (Portugal), Juventus (Italy), AC Milan (Italy), Lyon (France), AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands), Olympiacos (Greece), Real Sociedad (Spain) and Marseille (France).

Pot two

Ferencvaros (Hungary), Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic), Union Saint-Gilloise (Belgium), Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia), Salzburg (Austria), Celtic (Scotland), Sparta Prague (Czech Republic), Rennes (France) and Anderlecht (Belgium).

Pot three

Sturm Graz (Austria), Lech Poznan (Poland), Crystal Palace (England), Bournemouth (England), Sunderland (England), Celje (Slovenia), Jagiellonia Białystok (Poland), Omonia Nicosia (Cyprus) and Celta Vigo (Spain).

Pot four

Hoffenheim (Germany), Besiktas (Turkey), Tondela (Portugal), Hapoel Be’er Sheva, NEC Nijmegen (Netherlands), OFI Crete (Greece), Lillestrøm (Norway), Levski Sofia (Bulgaria) and Ararat (Armenia).

The draw will be broadcast on beIN Sports News. It will determine the fixture schedule for the league phase, which has been given the following provisional dates by UEFA.

The opening round is scheduled for 16-17 September 2026, followed by the second round on 15 October. The third round will take place on 22 October, with the fourth round set for 5 November.

The fifth round is due to be played on 26 November, while the sixth round is scheduled for 10 December. The final two rounds of the league phase will take place on 21 January 2027 and 28 January 2027 respectively.

An asterisk was included in the provisional schedule for the second round.