Who is in the Conference League draw and who is in each pot?

The Conference League trophyImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Three of the last four Conference League trophies have been won by Premier League clubs, with Crystal Palace, Chelsea and West Ham United among its previous winners

ByJonty Colman
BBC Sport journalist
  • Published

The league phase draw for the 2026-27 Conference League takes place on Friday, 28 August at 12:00 BST in Monaco.

The draw will take place in a joint event alongside the Europa League, with the Conference League expected to take place as the second of the two draws.

As with both the Champions League and Europa League, the Conference League will consist of 36 clubs. A total of 35 places of the 36 will be decided on Thursday, with Heart of Midlothian qualifying on Wednesday.

Unlike the other two competitions, each team will play six league phase matches instead of eight.

For the draw, the 36 teams will be placed into six pots, with pot one being the highest-ranked and six being the lowest. The pot placements are based on the club's Uefa club coefficient ranking from the five-season period ending at the conclusion of the 2025-26 season.

Each team will face one team from each of the six pots and cannot face a team from the same country as themselves.

The teams who finish in the top eight places will qualify for the Conference League's last 16. Those between ninth and 24th place will enter the play-off knockout round. The 12 teams ranked between 25th and 36th place will exit the competition when the league phase is concluded.

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Who is in each pot?

Hearts were the first club to qualify for the Conference League's league phase, with their qualifying round match taking place a day earlier than the rest of the fixtures.

The highest pot they can qualify for is pot two, although it is more likely that the Jam Tarts will drop down to a lower pot.

Freiburg and Monaco are confirmed to feature in pot one after winning their final qualifying matches.

Benfica, Atalanta and Braga would also enter pot one, should they qualify for the competition.

It is mathematically possible for Brighton and Hove Albion to enter the top pot. However, they would need at least five of the 21 teams who could qualify that have a higher club rating to not reach the league phase.

Due to their club coefficient ratings, Motherwell and Hibernian would enter one of the lower pots if they qualify.

Larne, of Northern Ireland, are also a higher-ranked team than Motherwell and Hibernian.

Which teams are in this season's Conference League?

Pot one

  • Freiburg

  • Monaco

Pot two, three, four, five or six

  • Lugano

  • KuPS

  • FC Twente

  • Heart of Midlothian

  • Universitatea Craiova

  • Jablonec

Pot six

  • Iberia 1999

Teams to be decided

  • Loser of Trabzonspor vs Ferencvaros

  • Loser of Sint-Truiden vs Omonia

  • Loser of Red Star Belgrade vs Viktoria Plzen

  • Loser of Egnatia vs Lillestrom

  • Loser of Mjallby AFG vs Red Bull Salzburg

  • Loser of Kairat vs Anderlecht

  • Loser of Lech Poznan vs Thun

  • Loser of Besiktas vs Kauno Zalgiris

  • Loser of Benfica vs AGF

  • Loser of OFI vs CSKA Sofia

  • Winner of Vikingur Reykjavik vs Borac Banja Luka

  • Winner of Drita vs Inter Club d'Escaldes

  • Winner of KI vs Riga

  • Winner of Lincoln Red Imps vs Larne

  • Winner of Inter Turku vs Copenhagen

  • Winner of Tromso vs Brighton and Hove Albion

  • Winner of Hadjuk Split vs Rakow Czestochowa

  • Winner of Panathinaikos s vs Hradec Kralove

  • Winner of Gent vs Hibernian

  • Winner of PAOK vs Brann

  • Winner of Atalanta vs Hapoel Tel Aviv

  • Winner of Midtjylland vs Rijeka

  • Winner of Nordsjaelland vs St. Gallen

  • Winner of Dinamo City vs Pafos

  • Winner of Sion vs Ajax

  • Winner of Braga vs Austria Wien

  • Winner of FC Twente vs Qarabag

This article is the latest from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team.

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