Conference League UEFA

2021-02-17 20:15:06 ​​Moving Football Eastward


It’s fair to say that football, particularly in the post-Cold War period, has been dominated by teams from Western Europe.
The fall of the Eastern Bloc has affected football, which was not a source of profit in the same way it was in the West. Whilst continuous political change has happened across Eastern Europe in modern history, the West has been able to bask in the few benefits capitalism has. These benefits include socio-economic development for football due to its ever-growing interest in the sport.

Continental football must develop the sport across the whole continent, not just one side of it. Although this issue is deep-rooted, a simple solution is running a third European tournament. Bigger leagues, such as the Premier League and La Liga, will be given less representation in qualifying for the tournament.

A litmus test for this is this year’s Europa League group stage. Seven out of the 12 third-placed teams were east of Berlin. As smaller less prestigious nations across Europe, particularly in the east, will be offered chances to qualify, it’s likely we will see a non-Western club lift a continental trophy for the first time in a long time. Open / Comment

2021-02-14 00:59:00 ​​What Is the Format?

The 32 teams that qualify for the group stage will be split into eight groups of four. Each club will play twice each against the others in its group and the eight group winners will automatically advance to the last 16.

The eight group runners-up will go into a knockout playoff round against third-ranked teams from the Europa League. It gives teams in the secondary competition more to play for if they cannot progress, knowing they can still keep their European season alive as long as they don’t finish last.
From there, it is a typical two-legged knockout competition, mimicking the usual format through last 16, quarter-final and semi-final stages, until the one-off final at a neutral venue. Open / Comment

2021-02-11 13:24:58 ​​Albanian capital Tirana will be the host for the first final of the new third-tier UEFA Conference League in 2022, European football's governing body announced on Thursday.

The final will be played at the brand-new 21,690-capacity National Arena on May 25, 2022.

The Conference League is being introduced as a new tournament from the 2021/22 season as part of a restructuring of Europe's club competitions. UEFA confirmed it would run until at least 2024.

It will feature three qualifying rounds and a play-off round before a 32-team group stage like the current format for the Champions League, with the Europa League group stage being reduced from 48 to 32 teams.
Like the Europa League, matches will be played on Thursdays, although the final will be on a Wednesday.
The UEFA Conference League will largely be seen as an opportunity for teams from outwith Europe's biggest leagues to win a continental trophy, but clubs from the biggest leagues will still take part.

The team finishing sixth in the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga and Serie A will enter the Conference League at the play-off stage, as well as the side that comes fifth in France's Ligue 1. Open / Comment

2021-02-08 13:04:34 The 2021/2022 UEFA Europa Conference League

The 2021/22 season — which will be the maiden edition of the competition — will have its qualifiers played between the 8th of July 2021 to the 26th of August, while the competition proper will be from the 16th of September 2021 to the 25th of May 2022.

The final of the 2021/22 season of the UEFA Conference League will be played at the Arena Kombetare in Tirana, Albania on the 25th of May 2022.
The prize money of the UEFA Europa Conference League has not been announced. However, the prize money of the 2019/20 Europa League was €8,500,000, so we expect it to be around that range. Open / Comment

2021-02-02 16:06:06 What do the winners get?

The winner will gain a place in the following season's UEFA Europa League group stage if they have not qualified for the UEFA Champions League via their domestic competition.

Why is it being introduced?

The new structure for UEFA club competitions will ensure that at least 34 UEFA national associations are represented in the group stage of one or more competitions.

There will be a minimum of 14 domestic champions in the UEFA Champions League group stage, between eight and 11 domestic champions in the UEFA Europa League group stage, and between nine and 12 domestic champions in the UEFA Europa Conference League group stage. All member associations will have access to all three club competitions, and all associations' quotas will remain unchanged.
UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin said: "The new UEFA club competition makes UEFA's club competitions more inclusive than ever before. There will be more matches for more clubs, with more associations represented in the group stages."

Will it impact the other competitions?

The introduction of the UEFA Europa Conference League will have no impact on the UEFA Champions League. However, the UEFA Europa League group stage will be reduced from 48 to 32 teams – eight groups of four.
The eight UEFA Europa League group winners progress automatically to the round of 16. There will also be additional knockout round play-offs prior to the UEFA Europa League round of 16; these will be between the eight UEFA Europa League group runners-up and the eight third-ranked teams of the UEFA Champions League groups.

The UEFA Europa League access list will also change accordingly, with the previous season's UEFA Europa Conference League winners joined in the group stage by 11 teams who qualify directly via their domestic associations. Additionally, ten teams will come through UEFA Europa League qualifying and a further ten from UEFA Champions League qualifying. Open / Comment

2021-02-02 16:05:18 How will it work?

There will be eight groups of four teams, followed by knockout round play-offs, the round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final.
The eight group winners automatically go through to the last 16. Additional knockout round play-offs will then be played before the round of 16 between the eight group runners-up and the third-ranked teams of the UEFA Europa League groups.
First final: Tirana
The 21,690-capacity National Arena (Arena Kombëtare) will stage the first final on 25 May 2022, as announced by the UEFA Executive Committee on 3 December 2020. The stadium opened in November 2019 with a European Qualifier between Albania and France. It was built, with the help of UEFA’s HatTrick assistance programme, on the site of the former Qemal Stafa Stadium in the centre of the Albanian capital. Open / Comment

2021-02-02 16:04:55 Who enters the UEFA Europa Conference League?

In all, 184 teams will be involved over the course of the season including at least one from each of the 55 associations and 46 clubs transferring from either the UEFA Champions League or UEFA Europa League.


No teams qualify directly for the group stage, with the 32 teams consisting of:
• 17 teams from the UEFA Europa Conference League main path
• 5 teams from the UEFA Europa Conference League champions path
• 10 teams eliminated in the UEFA Europa League play-offs Open / Comment

2021-01-29 21:27:13 @raffikof Open / Comment

2021-01-29 21:26:24 Channel name was changed to «UEFA Conference League» Open / Comment

2021-01-29 21:21:21 Channel name was changed to «UECL UEFA» Open / Comment