EuroMillions: What Time Can You Play?

EuroMillions draws take place every Tuesday and Friday evening at around 20:00 GMT (21:00 CET), according to official lottery sources. The draw happens in Paris at the offices of French National Lottery operator Française des Jeux, where winning numbers are selected using two separate ball machines—one for the main numbers and one for the Lucky Stars—under strict security procedures to ensure randomness and integrity.

The deadline for purchasing EuroMillions tickets is 7:30pm GMT in the UK, meaning players can buy entries up until approximately half an hour before the draw takes place. This cutoff time is consistent across all official channels, including online platforms and authorised retailers, with no flexibility permitted even if a ticket is purchased a few seconds after the deadline.

Ticket sales close times vary across participating countries, ranging from 6:30pm CET in Austria to 8:30pm CET in Spain. Players are advised to check the specific cutoff time for their country through the official EuroMillions rules page to ensure their entry is valid for the upcoming draw.

To play EuroMillions, participants must select five main numbers from 1 to 50 and two Lucky Stars from 1 to 12. Entries can be purchased online or in-store via authorised retailers in any of the nine participating countries. However, prizes must be claimed in the same nation where the ticket was purchased; for example, a ticket bought in France cannot be used to claim a prize in the UK.

Playing online offers several advantages over paper tickets, including secure storage in a player’s account, protection against loss, theft, or damage and automatic win notifications. Players who purchase entries online do not need to manually check results, as they are alerted directly if they win.

Players can choose to enter either the Tuesday draw, the Friday draw, or both, and may purchase tickets for up to four weeks in advance at UK retailers. Each play slip allows up to seven lines of numbers to be entered per transaction.

The EuroMillions draw follows a fixed calendar, occurring every Tuesday and Friday regardless of public holidays or special occasions such as Christmas. While the core sequence of events remains consistent each draw night, processing times may occasionally vary due to high ticket sales or a large number of winners, which can extend the time required to finalise and announce results.