Europa League Tickets

What the 2026/27 Europa League involves

The Europa League is UEFA's second-tier continental club competition, and the 2026/27 edition brings together 36 teams from across Europe in a league phase before the field narrows through knockout play-offs to a single final. English clubs AFC Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Sunderland join European heavyweights such as AC Milan, Juventus, Benfica, Celtic and Bayer Leverkusen in the group of 36.

The format means every club plays a set of league-phase fixtures against different opponents, with the top sides progressing directly and others routed through a knockout play-off round on the way to the round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final.

League phase fixtures to look out for

The league phase opens with matches such as AZ Alkmaar hosting Hapoel Be'er, Bayer Leverkusen travelling to Lech Poznań, and Crystal Palace facing Lyon at the Groupama Stadium, all kicking off in mid-October 2026.

On the same matchday, AC Milan visit RB Salzburg's Red Bull Arena, Sunderland play away at Torreense, and AFC Bournemouth host SK Sturm Graz at Vitality Stadium. Benfica welcome Celtic to the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon on the same evening, one of the higher-profile ties of the opening round.

Other clubs in the competition worth tracking include Real Sociedad, Juventus, Celta Vigo and TSG Hoffenheim, each with their own run of league-phase matches through the autumn and winter.

Venues hosting Europa League football

Matches are spread across some of the continent's most recognisable grounds. San Siro in Milan, with a capacity of 75,817, is among the largest venues in the competition, while Bayer Leverkusen's BayArena holds 30,210. Sunderland's own Stadium of Light joins the group of English venues, and Vodafone Park in Istanbul, capacity 42,590, is set to host Besiktas matches.

Smaller but no less passionate venues feature too, including Lotto Park in Brussels, the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus, and the Merkur Arena in Graz, giving the league phase a genuinely pan-European spread of atmospheres and settings.

Following the competition through to the final

After the league phase, the bottom-placed sides from the initial standings drop out and the rest progress through a knockout play-off round before the round of 16 begins. Fans who want to follow a specific stage rather than an individual club can track progress through the league phase, the knockout play-offs and on to the round of 16 and quarter-finals as the draw unfolds.

With 36 clubs from a wide range of leagues involved, ties can range from historic European nights against the likes of AC Milan or Benfica to first-time meetings between clubs who have never played each other before.

Choosing seats for Europa League matches

When picking Europa League tickets, it is worth deciding early whether atmosphere or comfort matters more. Home ends and lower-tier seats close to the pitch tend to be livelier, while upper-tier seating generally offers a fuller view of the game and can suit fans travelling with family.

This page compares Europa League ticket prices from StubHub, Viagogo, Hellotickets, Football Ticket Net, Gigsberg and SportsEvents365, making it easier to see how prices differ for the same fixture before deciding where to buy.

• Check the kick-off time and time zone for away fixtures before travelling
• Compare block and row details across partners, not just headline price
• Look at stadium capacity to gauge how big an occasion a fixture is likely to be