The 2026/27 Champions League draw takes place on Thursday, August 27, with all 36 clubs now confirmed for the league phase. The draw starts at 18:00 CET at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, and fans can watch the ceremony on UEFA.com, UEFA.tv, and the official Champions League app.
The Champions League draw comes after the final play-off ties were completed on Wednesday, with Fenerbahçe, Viking, AEK Athens and Slovan Bratislava securing the last places. The other three play-off winners, Sabah, Bodø/Glimt and LASK, had already qualified on Tuesday. The confirmed Champions League pots now show where Europe’s biggest clubs will begin the draw.
Champions League Draw: Start Time, Date and How to Watch
The Champions League draw starts at 18:00 CET on Thursday, August 27. That is 17:00 BST in the UK and 12:00 ET in the United States.
The draw will be streamed live on UEFA.com, UEFA.tv and the Champions League app. The draw will determine each club’s eight league-phase opponents.
The Champions League phase starts from September 8, with Matchday 1 running from September 8 to 10. UEFA will publish the full fixture list, including dates and kick-off times, no later than August 29.
Champions League Pots Confirmed
The Champions League draw has four pots, each containing nine clubs.
Pot 1 includes Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Inter, Manchester City, Arsenal, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid.
Pot 2 features a strong mix of European sides, with Manchester United, Aston Villa, Borussia Dortmund, Roma, Sporting CP, Porto, Club Brugge, Real Betis and PSV Eindhoven all set to discover their league-phase opponents.
Pot 3 features Feyenoord, Lille, Bodø/Glimt, Napoli, RB Leipzig, Villarreal, Fenerbahçe, Shakhtar Donetsk and Galatasaray.
Pot 4 includes Slavia Prague, Slovan Bratislava, Stuttgart, AEK Athens, LASK, Como, Lens, Viking and Sabah.
Champions League Draw Format and What Happens Next
The Champions League draw uses the league-phase format rather than traditional groups. Each club will face two teams from every pot, giving every side eight matches. Every club will host four of its eight matches and play the other four on the road.
Teams from the same country cannot meet in the league phase. A club also cannot face more than two teams from another association. The top eight teams after eight matches advance directly to the round of 16, while clubs finishing ninth to 24th enter the knockout play-offs. The bottom 12 are eliminated.
The Champions League league phase ends on January 27, 2027. The knockout play-offs follow in February, the round of 16 takes place in March, and the final will be played at Madrid’s Estadio Metropolitano on June 5, 2027.
When Is the Champions League Draw? Start Time and Confirmed Pots Revealed After Tense Qualifying