The long road to the UEFA Europa League and Europa Conference League finals will begin for many clubs when the competitions' group-stage draws take place on Friday.
The drawing of the 12 groups marks the start of the competitions proper and will involve a number of high-profile clubs starting their campaigns.
Places in next season's Champions League and Europa League are the prizes for the winner, following in the footsteps of Sevilla and West Ham United in 2022/23.
We already know that clubs of the calibre of Liverpool, Marseille, Real Betis, Bayer Leverkusen and Roma will be in the draw for the Europa League, and the likes of Ajax could join them should they come through their playoff tie. Meanwhile, Aston Villa, Fenerbahce, Fiorentina, and Eintracht Frankfurt are all gunning for a place in the Europa Conference League proper.
The Sporting News has all the information you need to know about the Europa League and Europa Conference League group-stage draws.
MORE: Sevilla's amazing record in UEFA tournaments
When is the Europa League group stage draw?
The draw ceremony will start at 1 p.m. local time (CET) on September 1 2023. Here's how that looks in territories around the world:
| Start time | |
| USA | 7 a.m. ET |
| Canada | 7 a.m. ET |
| UK | 12 p.m. BST |
| Australia | 9 p.m. AEST |
| India | 4.30 p.m. IST |
| Hong Kong | 7 p.m. HKT |
| Malaysia | 7 p.m. MYT |
| Singapore | 7 p.m. SGT |
| New Zealand | 11 p.m. NZDT |
Build-up, live updates and full details of the procedure and teams are available on UEFA.com.
When is the Europa Conference League draw?
The Europa Conference League draw ceremony takes place on the same day at approximately 2.30 p.m. CET, which means it starts around 90 minutes later than the Europa League draw wherever you are.
More details, including seedings and the procedure, will be available through UEFA.com's live updates from 9 a.m. CET on the day of the draw.
| Start time | |
| USA | 8.30 a.m. ET |
| Canada | 8.30 a.m. ET |
| UK | 1.30 p.m. BST |
| Australia | 10.30 p.m. AEST |
| India | 6 p.m. IST |
| Hong Kong | 8.30 p.m. HKT |
| Malaysia | 8.30 p.m. MYT |
| Singapore | 8.30 p.m. SGT |
| New Zealand | 12.30 a.m. NZDT (Sept 2) |
MORE: How European places for Premier League teams are decided
Which teams are in the Europa League draw?
The draw comprises 32 teams, with 12 as automatic qualifiers, 10 as Europa League playoff winners and 10 from the UEFA Champions League playoffs or third qualifying round League path.
These teams are divided into four pots of eight teams, with the eight groups taking one team from each pot. Teams from the same association, such as Liverpool and West Ham, can't be drawn in the same group.
The exact lineup in each pot will be decided on the basis of UEFA's coefficient rankings following the conclusion of the final playoff matches on August 31.
Here are the confirmed teams following matches on August 29.
| Club | Country |
| Sturm Graz | Austria |
| Brighton & Hove Albion, Liverpool, West Ham | England |
| Real Betis, Villarreal | Spain |
| Marseille, Rennes, Toulouse | France |
| Atalanta, Roma | Italy |
| Freiburg, Leverkusen | Germany |
| Panathinaikos | Greece |
| Maccabi Haifa | Israel |
| Molde | Norway |
| Sporting CP | Portugal |
| TSC | Serbia |
| Servette | Switzerland |
⚽️⚽️ Darwin 😘#UEL pic.twitter.com/5J8lsuF9JW
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) August 28, 2023
Which teams are in the Europa Conference League draw?
The Europa Conference League will also feature 32 teams, 22 of whom will be Europa Conference League playoff winners, with 10 parachuting from the UEFA Europa League qualifying playoffs.
The same rules and pot splits as the Europa League draw apply.
When does the Europa League group stage start?
The Europa League and Europa Conference League group stages both start on September 21 and end on December 14.
Here are the group-stage dates for both competitions.
- Matchday 1: 21 September
- Matchday 2: 5 October
- Matchday 3: 26 October
- Matchday 4: 9 November
- Matchday 5: 30 November
- Matchday 6: 14 December
How to watch the Europa League group stage draw
The draws will be streamed live on UEFA.com. In the UK, they will also be shown on TV on TNT Sports 1 and via stream on the Discovery+ app.
