The league phase draw for the 2026-27 Conference League takes place on Friday, 28 August at 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.
Scottish side Hearts are the only team confirmed so far, with the other 35 to be confirmed on Thursday. 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 round of 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. Hearts are the only club to have so far qualified 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. As one of the highest-ranked clubs that could enter the league phase of the Conference League, Rangers are guaranteed to enter pot one if they qualify. Benfica, Atalanta and Braga would also be among the clubs to also enter pot one, should they qualify.
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.
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