A record nine Premier League teams qualified for European football this season. And while four teams are licking their wounds following recent exits, that number could increase to 11 for 2026-27.
Chelsea, Manchester City, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur were all eliminated from the Champions League last week after round-of-16 defeats of varying severity. But Liverpool and Arsenal convincingly progressed.
In the Europa League, Aston Villa and relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest sealed their places in the quarter-finals, while in the Conference League, Crystal Palace are also into the last eight.
As the domestic season gears up for its finale after the international break, the allure of a European sojourn will not be lost on top-flight clubs, particularly for teams outside the traditional ‘Big Six’. Excitingly for those fans, there is a scenario where 11 teams could be playing across the three continental competitions in 2026-27.
The Athletic explains how the permutations could play out.
Premier League clubs have won the Conference League in two of the last three seasons (Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
As has been the case since 2002, finishing in the Premier League’s top four guarantees a Champions League spot.
A fifth spot has opened since Europe’s premier competition expanded its field from 32 to 36 teams in 2024-25. UEFA awards two European Performance Spots (EPS) to the domestic leagues that enjoy success across the three European competitions. The Premier League won one of those in 2024-25 and, as The Athletic explained last week, are on track to win one more in 2025-26.
That would mean the top five — currently Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Villa and Liverpool — would all qualify for next season’s Champions League.
The Premier League also gets two Europa League spots: awarded to the team finishing in the highest non-Champions League spot (so sixth this season), and the FA Cup winners.
As things stand, sixth-placed Chelsea would get that Europa League spot. The Carabao Cup winners, meanwhile, get a place in the Conference League, though qualifying for one of UEFA’s more senior competitions means that club would enter one of those instead.
But this is where it starts to get (even more) complicated.
Six of the eight FA Cup quarter-finalists are Premier League teams. Four of those — Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool (who play each other) — are in the top six.
If any of those teams win the FA Cup while maintaining their current league position, the Premier League’s second Europa League spot would go to the team in seventh place (currently Brentford). If one of the other four — West Ham United, Leeds United, Southampton (from the Championship), and Port Vale (League One) — win the competition, they will directly earn that second spot.
That brings us up to seven teams in Europe already, with an eighth spot up for grabs.
Manchester City’s Carabao Cup win on Sunday means they have qualified for the Conference League qualifiers. But assuming City finish in the top five, which looks extremely likely, that spot gets transferred to the next team in the table without European qualification. At present, that would go to Everton in eighth place.
Could Everton and/or Brentford be in the Champions League next season? (Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
There is more to come, though.
Forest have a chance of replicating Tottenham Hotspur’s exploits from last season by finishing just above the relegation zone and winning the Europa League. That would make them the sixth team to qualify for the Champions League — and the ninth English team in European competition in 2026-27.
Oliver Glasner’s time in charge of Palace ending in Conference League glory would confirm their qualification into the Europa League, making them the third English team in that competition and the 10th overall in Europe.
But an 11th team making it into Europe hinges on Liverpool and Villa.
Currently Villa are fourth with 54 points but have won just once in the league since February 11. They have the fifth-easiest run-in on paper, but that includes potentially tricky matches against relegation-threatened Forest and Spurs, as well as match-ups with Liverpool and Manchester City to end the season.
Arne Slot’s side are currently fifth with 49 points. But Chelsea are just one behind, with Brentford and Everton a further two in arrears, while Fulham (44 points), Brighton & Hove Albion, Sunderland (both 43), Newcastle and Bournemouth (both 42) are in hot pursuit.
As the table below shows, their remaining fixtures are of average difficulty. But they include difficult visits to Old Trafford and Villa Park, along with a home game against Chelsea.
Crucially, if Liverpool and Villa stay in the top five and win the Champions League and/or Europa League respectively, the additional Champions League spots available for winning those competitions would not be transferred to another team. Last season, Chelsea’s Conference League win won them a Europa League spot — but that was superseded by them finishing in the top five and securing a place in the Champions League.
That will not be a concern this season, with Palace, the league’s sole representative in the Conference League, unlikely to finish in the automatic European qualification spots.
Consider a hypothetical scenario where Liverpool and Villa both drop off in the final seven games to finish outside the top five but taste European glory nonetheless.
They would then join the top five to become England’s sixth and seventh participants in the competition. The eighth-placed team, along with Palace (as Conference League winners) and the FA Cup winner or ninth-placed team, would become their three Europa League participants, bringing the number to 10.
The team in 10th would get the Conference League spot, resulting in 55 per cent of the Premier League enjoying European nights in 2026-27.
It’s an unlikely outcome, but it’s something to bear in mind over the final few weeks of the season.