Widely tipped to go straight back down after their 2024/25 promotion, Sunderland proved all the doubters wrong in the 2025/26 Premier League season.
After a decade of turmoil and heartache, last season could hardly have gone any better for Sunderland fans, who not only stayed up, but recorded a double over arch-rivals Newcastle and even qualified for the Europa League via a seventh-place finish.
Sunderland's most recent European endeavours have been limited to the Anglo-Italian Cup in 1992/93 and 1993/94, with their last major European outing coming at the 1973/74 Cup Winners' Cup, where after a 3-0 aggregate win in the first round over Hungarian outfit Vasas, the Black Cats were knocked out by Sporting CP.
Regis Le Bris' men are guaranteed a longer European run this time, with four home games and four away games in the league phase alone. A finish between ninth and 24th will see Sunderland face a play-off tie to reach the knockout rounds, while a top eight finish secures their passage to the last 16.
The dates of the fixtures are still to be confirmed, but Sunderland fans know they have a mouth-watering trip to the San Siro to take on Milan and to Belgium to take on Anderlecht.
Sunderland's Europa League opponents
- AZ Alkmaar (H)
- Milan (A)
- GNK Dinamo (H)
- Anderlecht (A)
- Jagiellonia (H)
- Lech Poznan (A)
- Levski Sofia (H)
- Torreense (A)
