Hapoel Be'er Sheva Awaits Opponents in New UEFA Europa League Format Draw

The group stage draw for the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League will take place on Friday, August 28, at 12:00 BST in Monaco. A total of 36 teams will compete in the tournament, the second most prestigious club competition in Europe. Of these, 24 teams have already qualified, while 12 more will join after the final qualifying round. Israeli club Hapoel Be'er Sheva is set to participate and will discover its eight group stage opponents in this new format.

Under UEFA's revamped system, each team will face eight different opponents, playing four home and four away matches. The teams are divided into four seeded pots based on their club coefficients over the past five years. Each club will be drawn against two teams from each pot, with the restriction that no team can face another from the same country in this stage. Hapoel Be'er Sheva is expected to be placed in the third or fourth pot, alongside clubs like Hoffenheim from Germany and NEC Nijmegen from the Netherlands.

The first pot includes top-tier clubs such as Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus, AC Milan, Lyon, AZ Alkmaar, Olympiacos, Real Sociedad, and Marseille. Benfica will secure the last spot in this pot if they defeat AGF Aarhus in their qualifier. The second pot features teams like Dinamo Zagreb, Celtic, Sparta Prague, and Rennes. English representatives Crystal Palace, Bournemouth, and Sunderland will likely be placed in the second or third pots, with the third pot being more probable.

After the eight rounds of group matches, the top eight teams will advance directly to the round of 16. Teams finishing 9th to 24th will enter a knockout playoff for a chance to join the last 16, while the bottom 12 will be eliminated from the competition. The final lineup of teams will be confirmed following the last qualifying matches, such as the clash between Trabzonspor and Ferencváros, ahead of the Monaco draw.