So, 91 days after playing our sixth and final Group H tie, West Ham United's UEFA Europa League challenge resumes with the round of 16...
That's right! West Ham United topped Group H with a game to spare after winning four of our opening five ties, defeating Rapid Vienna of Austria home and away and both Dinamo Zagreb of Croatia and RKC Genk at London Stadium, while also drawing 2-2 away to the Belgian Cup winners.
That came off the back of West Ham’s second top-six Premier League finish in the Club’s first 25 years in the competition – and sixth top-six finish in 102 years since joining the Football League – last season.
Having topped our group, David Moyes' side was spared the need to contest the knockout play-off round, which saw the eight teams which finished second in their Europa League groups paired with the eight who finished third in their UEFA Champions League groups, and went straight into the round of 16.
The second legs of those knockout play-off round ties were completed on Thursday evening, with the eight victors to be paired with the eight Europa League group winners in Friday's round of 16 draw.
So, just to clarify, the Europa League is a different competition this season?
Yes, it is. The re-introduction of a third European competition, the UEFA Conference League, means the 2021/22 UEFA Europa League is a streamlined competition compared to recent seasons.
The Europa League group stage was contested by just 32 teams, rather than the 48 who were involved last season, with eight more dropping in from the UEFA Champions League in the knockout play-off round that follows.
As we've explained, the eight group-stage runners-up contested a knockout play-off round against the eight clubs who finished third in their UEFA Champions League groups for the right to join them.
The 16 remaining teams will now be whittled down to two, who will contest the final at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán in Seville, Spain, on 18 May 2022.
When will the round of 16 draw take place?
The draw for the UEFA Europa League round of 16 will take place at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland, on Friday 25 February 2022.
The draw is scheduled to start at 11am UK time.
How can I follow the draw?
We'll be streaming and blogging the draw on whufc.com and also providing live updates on our social media channels.
We'll then be providing exclusive reaction across our channels too, including live coverage of David Moyes' press conference on whufc.com from 1.30pm.
Also, don't miss our Instagram Live reaction show from around 1pm!
How will the draw work?
West Ham United and the seven other UEFA Europa League group winners are seeded and will be drawn against the winners of the knockout round play-offs.
The Hammers and our fellow Europa League group winners play the second leg at home, meaning we will be play away from home on Thursday 10 March, before hosting the second leg at London Stadium on Thursday 17 March.
Clubs from the same association cannot be drawn against each other, but that is not relevant to us as we're the only English club still standing in the Europa League.
So, who could we play against?
West Ham United are seeded, as we've just established, so we can only be drawn against one of the eight unseeded teams.
However, the unseeded teams include five who have dropped into the UEFA Europa League and triumphed in the knockout play-off round after finishing third in their UEFA Champions League group.
When it comes to UEFA coefficients, the highest-ranked team left in the competition is Spanish side Barcelona (122.000), followed by holders Sevilla (98.000), who will also host the final in their own stadium on Wednesday 18 May.
Only two clubs have lower coefficients than West Ham's 20.113 - Russians Spartak Moscow (18.500) and Turkish club Galatasaray (17.000) - but we cannot face either in the round of 16.
Anyway, here are the 16 teams who will be in the hat on Friday:
| Seeded Teams | Unseeded Teams |
| Red Star Belgrade (SRB) | Atalanta (ITA) |
| Eintracht Frankfurt (GER) | Barcelona (ESP) |
| Galatasaray (TUR) | Braga (POR) |
| Leverkusen (GER) | Leipzig (GER) |
| Lyon (FRA) | Porto (POR) |
| Monaco (FRA) | Rangers (SCO) |
| Spartak Moscow (RUS) | Real Betis (ESP) |
| West Ham United (ENG) | Sevilla (ESP) |
When will our round of 16 ties take place?
We'll travel to the first leg on Thursday 10 March and welcome our opponents to London Stadium a week later on Thursday 17 March.
Tickets for the home leg are on General Sale now and can be bought by clicking here or on the graphic below!
Kick-off times for both ties will be confirmed following the draw.
Without getting ahead of ourselves, when will the later rounds be played?
7 & 14 April 2022: Quarter-finals
28 April & 5 May 2022: Semi-finals
18 May 2022: Final (Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium, Seville, Spain)