Champions League 2026-27 draw: TV channel, date and time

The 36 clubs qualified for the 2026-27 Champions League league phase are now known. The final place was secured by Fenerbahçe, who beat Lyon 2-1 in the second leg of their play-off. Attention now turns to the draw, which will decide the first opponents of the new European campaign.

The draw will take place in Monaco on Thursday 27 August. The ceremony itself is scheduled to begin at 18:00, while Canal+ will start its television coverage at 17:45 with a special programme dedicated to the event. In France, the draw will be available on Canal+, the broadcaster holding the domestic rights to European club competitions.

The event will also be available through the MyCanal streaming platform. A live written commentary will run on the RMC Sport website and application, giving supporters another way to follow the allocation of fixtures as it happens. The Europa League and Conference League draws are scheduled for later on Friday.

The Champions League no longer uses the traditional group format. As in the previous two seasons, all 36 clubs will be placed in one single league table. Each team will receive eight opponents during the league phase, creating a broader fixture list than the former group-stage system.

The 36 participants are divided into four pots of nine teams. The pots are determined by each club’s UEFA coefficient, with Paris Saint-Germain included in Pot 1. The French side enters the competition as the reigning champion after winning the title for the second consecutive season.

The draw will again be carried out entirely by computer software. Its task is to assign eight opponents to every club while applying the competition’s draw structure. The system replaces the fully manual process used in the former group format and has been in place for the league phase during the last two editions.

For Paris Saint-Germain, the ceremony will reveal the route towards an unprecedented third straight Champions League title. The club’s two most recent league-phase campaigns produced demanding schedules, and the draw will establish whether the next campaign follows the same pattern. The outcome will also define the opening European calendar for the other qualified Ligue 1 representatives.

The draw is therefore the first major competitive marker of the new season for the 36 clubs. It will identify eight league-phase opponents for each team and set the framework for the campaign ahead. Supporters can follow the ceremony from 17:45 on Canal+ and MyCanal, with the official draw beginning at 18:00 in Monaco.