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The 2025–26 UEFA Conference League knockout phase will begin on 19 February with the knockout phase play-offs and ended on 27 May 2026 with the final at the Red Bull Arena, Leipzig, Germany, to decide the champions of the 2025–26 UEFA Conference League. A total of 24 teams will compete in the knockout phase, with 16 entering in the play-offs and 8 receiving a bye to the round of 16.
Times are CET/CEST, as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).
The knockout phase will involve the top 24 teams that qualified from the league phase. The top 8 teams will receive a bye to the round of 16, while teams finishing in positions 9 to 24 will enter the knockout phase play-offs.
Each tie in the knockout phase, apart from the final, is played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scores more goals on aggregate over the two legs advances to the next round. If the aggregate score is level, then 30 minutes of extra time is played (the away goals rule is not applied). If the score is still level at the end of extra time, the winners are decided by a penalty shoot-out. In the final, which is played as a single match, if the score is level at the end of normal time, extra time is played, followed by a penalty shoot-out if the score is still level.
Draw procedure[]
In the knockout phase, there is no country protection, with teams from the same association able to face each other in any round. Teams can also face opponents they played during the league phase.
The mechanism of the draws for each round was as follows:
In the draw for the knockout phase play-offs, the eight teams finishing the league phase in positions 9–16 were seeded, and the eight teams finishing the league phase in positions 17–24 were unseeded. The draw was split into four sections based on the predetermined bracket, with the seeded teams in each section drawn against one of their two possible unseeded opponents. The seeded teams hosted the second leg.
In the draw for the round of 16, the eight teams finishing the league phase in positions 1–8 were seeded, and the eight winners of the knockout phase play-offs were unseeded. Again, the draw was split into four sections based on the predetermined bracket, with the seeded teams in each section drawn against one of their two possible unseeded opponents. The seeded teams hosted the second leg.
Teams finishing first to fourth at the end of the league phase will play the second leg of the quarter-final stages at home. Furthermore, for the semi-final, teams ranked one and two will also play the second leg at home if they progress to that stage. If a seeded team is beaten in either round, the team that eliminates them steals their seeding position.
Schedule[]
The schedule of the competition is as follows. Matches are scheduled for Thursdays, apart from the final, which takes place on a Wednesday, though exceptionally can take place on Tuesdays or Wednesdays due to scheduling conflicts.
The draw for the knockout phase play-offs was held on 16 January 2026, 13:00 CET.
Seeding[]
The draw was split into four seeded and four unseeded pots, based on the predetermined pairings for the knockout phase. Teams were allocated based on their final position in the league phase. Teams in positions 9 to 16 were seeded (playing the second legs at home), while teams in positions 17 to 24 were unseeded. The draw began with the unseeded teams, allocating them all to a tie. Once completed, all the seeded teams were drawn into a tie as their opponents.
The draw for the round of 16 will be held on 27 February 2026, 14:00 CET.
Seeding[]
As the bracket was fixed, the draw will contain only four seeded pots, based on the predetermined pairings for the knockout phase, with the top eight teams allocated based on their final position in the league phase. Teams in positions 1 to 8 will be seeded (playing the second legs at home), while the bracket positions of the winners of the knockout phase play-offs (unseeded) will be predetermined. The top eight teams will be drawn into the bracket against one of their two possible opponents.
The final will be played on 27 May 2026 at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig. The winner of semi-final 1 will be designated as the "home" team for administrative purposes.
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Strasbourg
Raków Częstochowa
AEK Athens
Sparta Prague
Rayo Vallecano
Shakhtar Donetsk
Mainz 05
AEK Larnaca
Lausanne-Sport
Crystal Palace
Samsunspor
Celje
AZ
Fiorentina
Rijeka
Noah
Drita
KuPS
Shkëndija
Zrinjski Mostar
Winner PO1