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UEFA Confirms 2026–27 Champions League Draw Date as 30 Teams Seal Qualification
Thirty clubs have secured qualification for the 2026–27 UEFA Champions League league phase. Find out the draw date, venue, participating teams and when the competition begins.
UEFA has announced that the draw for the 2026–27 UEFA Champions League league phase will take place on Thursday, August 27, at its headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.
The ceremony is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. BST (12 p.m. ET) and will be broadcast live on UEFA’s official website and YouTube channel.
Thirty clubs have already qualified for the competition through their domestic league campaigns, with the final six league-phase places to be determined via the qualifying play-offs later in August.
The Premier League will once again provide the highest number of participants, with six English clubs qualifying directly. Spain has five representatives, while Germany, Italy and France each have four clubs in the competition.
Manchester United, Aston Villa, Roma, Real Betis, Lille and Shakhtar Donetsk are among the clubs returning to the Champions League after missing recent editions, while Italian side Como will feature in the tournament for the first time.
The clubs confirmed so far are Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United, Aston Villa, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, Real Betis, Villarreal, Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig, Stuttgart, Borussia Dortmund, Napoli, Inter Milan, Roma, Como, Paris Saint-Germain, Lens, Lille, PSV Eindhoven, Feyenoord, Sporting CP, Galatasaray, Slavia Prague, Porto, Club Brugge and Shakhtar Donetsk.
UEFA will continue using the expanded league-phase format introduced last season, with all 36 clubs playing eight matches against eight different opponents, split evenly between home and away fixtures.
The eight highest-ranked teams will advance directly to the Round of 16, while teams placed ninth to 24th will contest knockout play-offs to determine the remaining qualifiers. Clubs finishing below 24th place will exit the competition.
Matchday One of the league phase is scheduled for September 8–10, 2026, with the phase ending on January 27, 2027.
The final of the 2026–27 UEFA Champions League will be played on June 5, 2027, at the Estadio Metropolitano in Madrid, marking the second time the stadium will host Europe’s biggest club football match after the 2019 final.
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