When is the Conference League play-off draw? Date, time and how to watch as Crystal Palace learn opponents | OneFootball

The draw for the play-off round of the Uefa Conference League takes place on Friday, with clubs including Crystal Palace and Fiorentina learning their routes to the last 16 this afternoon.

The ceremony sees the teams who finished between 9th and 24th in the league phase drawn out to face each other over two legs in a bid to reach the knockout phases proper.

Several sides who are among the favourites for the competition – including Palace – are in the draw alongside a range of European clubs, from minnows KuPS and Zrinjski Mostar to Italian giants and two-time runners-up Fiorentina.

Ties will be played on 19 and 26 February, with those sides who finished between 9th and 16th playing the second legs at home in principle.

When is the Conference League play-off draw?

The draw for the play-offs will take place on Friday, 16 January at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland. The draw is scheduled to begin at 12pm GMT (1pm CET).

How can I watch it?

The draw will be streamed live on Uefa.com and the official Uefa Conference League app.

How does the draw work?

According to Uefa, “clubs are paired based on their positions at the end of the league phase, and they form four seeded pairs (clubs in positions 9 and 10, 11 and 12, 13 and 14, and 15 and 16) and four unseeded pairs (positions 17 and 18, 19 and 20, 21 and 22, and 23 and 24).”

Then, the clubs in each seeded pair are drawn into the knockout phase bracket, against the clubs in each unseeded pair: clubs 9 or 10 against clubs 23 or 24, clubs 11 or 12 against clubs 21 or 22, clubs 13 or 14 against clubs 19 or 20, and clubs 15 or 16 against clubs 17 or 18.

This means that clubs already know that they will face one of two teams. In the case of Palace, the Eagles will be drawn against one of the sides who finished 23rd or 24th, so either HŠK Zrinjski Mostar of Bosnia or SK Sigma Olomouc of Czechia.

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The draw bracket for the Conference League play-offs (Uefa)

There are 16 teams in the draw in total, with eight seeded clubs and another eight unseeded clubs. The teams who finished between 9th and 16th in the league phase are seeded, with those finishing between 17th and 24th unseeded.

Unseeded teams

Conference League key dates

The knockout round play-offs will take place on 19 & 26 February 2026 respectively, with the seeded teams playing the second legs at home.