Europa League fixtures 2026-27

Europa League games bring European clubs and their African internationals together in UEFA's club competition, with matches played mostly on Thursday nights from September to May. For football fans in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda, and soccer fans in South Africa, a 21:00 Central European kick-off in winter means 20:00 GMT, 21:00 WAT, 23:00 EAT and 22:00 SAST respectively. Every fixture in the module above shows its kick-off in WAT, EAT, SAST and GMT together, so a fan in Lagos, Accra, Nairobi, Kampala or Johannesburg reads the local time without doing the sum.

The competition began as the UEFA Cup in 1971-72, when Tottenham Hotspur won the first edition, and it has carried the Europa League name since 2009-10. The 2025-26 final was played in Istanbul, where Aston Villa beat SC Freiburg 3-0. The Europa League hub holds the wider story, and the sections below cover the fixtures, the format, where to watch and the African players to follow.

How Do You Find Europa League Games Today and on Thursday Night?

The fixtures module opens on today's Europa League games, then rolls through the week, and you can filter it by team or by matchday. A 21:00 Central European kick-off in winter is 20:00 GMT in Accra, 21:00 WAT in Lagos, 22:00 SAST in Johannesburg and 23:00 EAT in Nairobi and Kampala, while the earlier 18:45 slot lands at 17:45, 18:45, 19:45 and 20:45. But, before Europe puts its clocks back in late October, and again from late March, each of those local times is an hour earlier. Once a match ends, it leaves the fixtures list and its score moves to the results module.

How Do Europa League Fixtures Work, and Why Do Dates Change?

Europa League fixtures follow a calendar UEFA sets before the season starts: eight league phase matchdays from September to January, then knockout rounds played over two legs from February, and a single match final in late May. For 2026-27 the play-offs fall on 18 and 25 February and the semi-finals on 29 April and 6 May, with every date in the table below. Dates can still move, because UEFA lists its calendar as subject to change, and the exact kick-off for each tie is confirmed after the draw. So, treat the matchday dates the way you treat a wedding invitation in Lagos: the day is real, but confirm the time on the morning.

Where Can You Watch Europa League Matches Live in Your Country?

The broadcaster for each country sits beside every fixture as data, because the rights differ across Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda and can change between seasons. Viewing splits between pay television, streaming and public viewing, and in Lagos, Accra, Nairobi, Johannesburg and Kampala a Thursday night in a viewing centre or a bar is part of the match itself. In South Africa, the 22:00 SAST winter kick-off suits an evening at home in front of the screen.

For Kenya and Uganda, the late slot asks more of you. A 21:00 Central European kick-off starts at 23:00 EAT in the winter months, so it could be argued that the 18:45 slot, at 20:45 EAT, is the real Thursday night football for Nairobi and Kampala, with the later games caught on highlights the next morning. West Africa has the easiest hours of the five, with the late games at 20:00 in Accra and 21:00 in Lagos, just after dinner.

What Do the League Phase Table, the Top Eight and the Play-Offs Mean?

The league phase puts all 36 teams in one table, and each plays eight matches before the knockouts begin. That single table replaced the old group stage from 2024-25, and the Europa League table shows it live (the log, as plenty of Nigerian readers still call it). The top eight go straight to the round of 16, the teams ranked 9th to 24th meet in the knockout play-offs for the remaining places, and from there each round is two legs until the one match final. The prize explains the effort, because the winner earns a place in the next season's Champions League league phase and in the UEFA Super Cup.

How Do You Add the Fixtures to Your Phone Calendar and Find Postponed Games?

Save the matchday dates from the table above into your phone calendar, and add both legs of each knockout round, since a tie is decided across the two games. Then, on the day, check the fixtures module for the confirmed kick-off in your own time zone. If a game is postponed or moved, the module shows the new date as soon as it is confirmed, and every finished game, rearranged or not, appears in Europa League results with its full time score.

Which African Players Should You Watch in Each Game?

The African players to watch change with every transfer window, so the squad data on each fixture names them rather than a list written in advance, and the Europa League stats page shows who is scoring and creating. For a Super Eagles player, a long Europa League run matters, because Thursday nights bring regular minutes against new opposition between international windows. The African link goes back a long way: Frédéric Kanouté of Mali was part of the Sevilla side that won the UEFA Cup in 2005-06 and again in 2006-07. The history suits the La Liga following from Lagos to Nairobi too, since clubs from Spain had won the competition 14 times by the end of 2025-26, with Sevilla holding the record of seven. Atalanta (2023-24) and Tottenham Hotspur (2024-25) were the winners before Villa.