Europa League play-off round guide

Wolves will find out who they could possibly be facing in the Europa League play-off round this afternoon as long as they make is through their upcoming third qualifying round tie.

The draw for the final stage of qualifying takes place at 12.30pm this afternoon in Nyon, Switzerland, but how will it work?

The winner of the upcoming tie between Wolves and Armenian side FC Pyunik will be one of the 26 entrants into the play-off round ‘Main Path’ stage. All 26 teams have been divided into two groups of eight teams and one group of ten teams.

Within the three groups, the 26 teams are split equally as 13 seeded teams (including Wolves and Pyunik) and 13 unseeded teams.

This weekend, Nuno Espirito Santo’s side were assigned a place in group one – one of the groups of eight teams.

Draw procedure

All the clubs in group one have been ordered randomly and identified by a number – 1 to 4 for the seeded teams and 5 to 8 for the unseeded, with Wolves and Pyunik assigned number 1.

The numbers for group one are as follows:


  1. Pyunik / Wolves
  2. Legia Warszawa (POL) / Atromitos (GRE)
  3. FCSB (ROU) / Mlada Boleslav (CZE)
  4. Haugesund (NOR) / PSV Eindhoven (NED)


  1. Torino (ITA) / Shakhtyor Soligorsk (BLR)
  2. Ventspils (LVA) / Vitoria SC (POR)
  3. Austria Wien (AUT) / Apollon Limassol (CYP) 
  4. Midtjylland (DEN) / Rangers (SCO)

During the draw, two bowls will be prepared, one containing balls with slips of paper numbered 1–4 for the seeded teams and the other containing balls with slips of paper numbered 5–8 for the unseeded.

A ball will be taken from each bowl and placed in an empty bowl in the middle, where they will be shuffled. One of the two balls is drawn at random, then opened to display the number it contains. The second ball is drawn to complete the pairing.

For example, if the first ball drawn contains the number 2 and the second the number 8, the winner of the third qualifying round match between Legia Warsaw and Atromitos will play the winner of the tie between Midtjylland and Rangers.

In addition, the first ball drawn, here containing the number 2, designates the home team for the first leg on Thursday 22nd August, while the second ball drawn will be the home team for the second leg on Thursday 29th August.

Please remember, the dates of the fixtures, as well as possible fixture reversals regarding home and away teams for each leg, are still subject to change.

Any fixture changes will be announced on and across the club’s social media channels as soon as they are confirmed. With this in mind, supporters are urged to avoid making any travel or accommodation arrangements until that time.