The 2025-26 UEFA Conference League Schedule

Here is the UEFA Conference League schedule for 2025-26 — as well as how to watch the  Conference League on TV in the US, and how to buy Conference League tickets from Groundhopper Soccer Guides.

Note: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning if you make a purchase after clicking them, Groundhopper Guides will receive a commission.

First, a very quick introduction to the UEFA Conference League, which is no longer called the Europa Conference League.

Red Bull Arena in Leipzig, Germany, will host the 2026 Conference League Final. (Photo by Berlinschneid, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

What is the UEFA Conference League?

The Conference League was started for the 2021-22 season. It’s the No. 3 club competition in Europe, behind the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League. In England, for example, the teams that qualify for the competition (“get into Europe“) is the team that wins the League (or Carabao) Cup — unless that team also qualifies for the Champions or Europa League, in which case the next highest-ranked team qualifies.

All these European competitions, aside from their Finals, take place during the same weeks of the schedule, with Champions League games on Tuesday and Wednesday nights and Europa and Conference League games on Thursday nights. In fact, other than the Final, the dates for the Conference League are the same as the dates for the 2025-26 Europa League.

Here is more on the UEFA Conference League.

Conference League Dates for 2025-26

Starting with the 2024-25 season, the format of the Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League changed significantly. Check out this blog post to see those changes.

Preliminary and Qualifying Rounds

The 2025-26 UEFA Conference League will begin in July 2025 with three qualifying rounds, each consisting of two legs:

• July 10 and 17
• July 24 and July 30
• August 7 and 14

Qualifying round playoffs will be on August 21 and 28.

These rounds don’t include any teams from the top European leagues. Those clubs join for the League Phase.

2025-26 Conference League Group Stage Dates

The draw for the 2025-26 Conference League Group Stage will take place on August 29, 2025. The 36 teams will be organized across four groups of nine and every club will face two teams from each of the other pots. After 8 games, the top 8 will move on to the round of 16 and teams ninth to 24th will go into a play-off round which sees each tie play out over two legs. The play-off winners also make it to the round of 16.

The 2025-26 Group Stages dates — all Wednesday or Thursday evenings — are:

• October 2
• October 23
• November 6
• November 27
• December 11
• December 18

2025-26 Conference League Knockout round play-offs

The Conference League Knockout Stage begins with the Knockout round play-offs on February 19, 2026. Play-off games — one at each club’s stadium — will be played on the following Thursday nights:

• February 19, 2026
• February 26, 2026

2025-26 Conference League Round of 16

Round of 16 games — one at each club’s stadium — will be played on the following Thursday nights:

• March 12, 2026
• March 19, 2026

2025-26 Conference League Quarterfinals

The two-legged quarterfinal ties will be played:

• April 9, 2026
• April 16, 2026

2025-26 Conference League Semifinals

The two-legged semifinal ties will be played:

• April 30, 2026
• May 7, 2026

2025-26 Conference League Final

The 2025-26 Conference League Final will be played May 27, 2026, at Red Bull Arena in Leipzig, Germany.

Watch the 2025-26 Conference League

In the United States, you can watch the Champions League, Europa League and some of the Conference League in English on Paramount+ by CBS Sports. The Spanish-language rights are held by TUDN, which is part of the Fubo TV service.

Watch soccer, including the Conference League, on Paramount+

Buy Conference League Tickets

Groundhopper Guides is a registered agent for Conference League tickets, assuming that one of our partner clubs are in it and playing at home. Here is more on Conference League tickets.

Click to find out more about our Conference League tickets, and fill out this form to find out more about buying Conference League tickets: