Live Updates
  • Everton draw Croatian side Hajduk Split.
  • Toffees reach play-off round after beating Ruzomberok 2-0 on aggregate.
  • Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored the only goal in second leg win in Slovakia.
  • Ties to be played on 17 and 24 August.
Ronald Koeman
Koeman's side will be hoping for a short trip in the opening month of the campaign. Getty Images

So that brings an end to our live coverage of this Europa League draw, more confusing that the Da Vinci Code that one. Get your passports out Everton fans, you're off to sun yourselves in Croatia where it is currently a very cool 36 degrees. Enjoy.

Until next time, goodbye.

Ronald Koeman's side are at home for the first leg on 17 August, face Manchester City on Monday 21 August before three days later they travel to Croatia for the return leg on 24 August. Not an ideal schedule so early in the season. Champions Chelsea follow in a game which will now be moved to Sunday [probably].

Right, not a bloody clue what was going on there. Why can't Uefa operate a proper draw?

Well after all that Everton are off to Croatia to face Hajduk Split, who overcame Brondby to reach this stage. You may remember Márkó Futács, the former Leicester and Blackpool forward, who current applies his trade at the Stadion Poljud.

Ludogorets vs Suduva

PAOK vs Ostersund

Dinamo Zagreb vs Skenderbeu

Plzen vs Larnaca

BATE vs Olexandriya

Legia Warsaw vs Sheriff

Altach vs Maccabi Tel-Aviv

Utrecht vs Zenit

Ajax vs Rosenborg

Partizan vs Videoton

Vardar vs Fenerbahce

Domzale vs Marseille

Martimo vs Dynamo Kiev

Viitorul vs Salzburg

Club Brugge vs AEK

Everton vs Hajduk Split

Crvena zvzda vs Krasnodar

FH vs Braga

Osijek vs Austria Vienna

Apollon vs Midtjylland

Shkendija vs Milan

Panathanikos vs Athletic Bilbao

We're underway in Nyon. Hold tight Everton fans.

Uefa's delegates are on stage and we're almost ready to begin. And when I say begin, I mean procrastinate until the tears are flowing. Hang in there.

So how will the draw work this afternoon? Uefa have very kindly changed around the pots at the 11th hour so here is a slightly tinkered explainer on the format.

The 44 sides have been divided in four groups, two of 10 and two of 14.

Those sides have then been split into seeded and unseeded pots, based on their Uefa coefficient. The teams can only be drawn against sides in the opposite pot but only from the same group.

Understand? Me neither.

Everton will be hoping for not too taxing a trip for this play-off, with the start of their Premier League campaign coming at the same time. A trip to Manchester City is sandwiched in between the two games, while champions Chelsea are the opposition after the second leg. Koeman will hope to avoid a trip to Israel one of the distant corners of the continent.

The balls are being prepared in Nyon.

You would forgiven for having more or less ignored the preliminary stages of the Europa League this summer - in fact many would overlook complete ignorance of the competition as a whole [but that is for another day] - so let me bring you up to speed.

Last night saw the conclusion of the third qualifying round, leaving up with 44 sides which must be cut in half before we reach the group stage. The teams remaining have since been divided into four groups, with the five or six highest ranked sides in Uefa's coefficient standings kept apart.

Everton are in group three and can therefore be drawn the following: Vitorul, FH Hafnarfjördur, Hajduk Split, Apollon Limassol, Panathinaikos.

I hope Toffees fans like the sun.

The eagle-eyed among you will have noticed that the Champions League draw concluded a short time ago, with Liverpool being handed a trip to Germany. The full draw is below.

Qarabag vs Kobenhavn
Apoel Nicosia vs Slavia Praha
Olympiakos vs FJK Riejka
Celtic vs Astana
Hapoel Beer Sheva vs Maribor
Istanbul Basaksehir vs Sevilla
BSC Young Boys vs CSKA Moscow
Napoli vs Nice
Hoffenheim vs Liverpool
Sporting Lisbon vs Steaua Bucharest

Ronaldo Koeman's Everton may have been forced to cut-short their holidays and start their European campaign when many of their rivals are still deep in pre-season, but the light at the end of the tunnel is finally approaching.

After negotiating a tricky tie in Slovakia, the Toffees are just two games away from the Europa League group stage and the salvation which comes with it. Seventeen sides await in in the play-off round, which are staged in the opening two weeks of the Premier League season.

Alongside the Merseysiders there are a host of big-name sides from the continent, including bid-spending AC Milan, last season's runners-up Ajax and Zenit, hoping to do Russia proud before they host the World Cup next summer.

The draw is scheduled to take place just after Midday, so stay with us for the build-up to discover who Everton must hurdle to being their campaign in Europe in earnest.

Everton FC