The first step to understanding all about the UEFA Conference League is to understand the reason for its creation, which stemmed from UEFA’s aim of democratizing access for smaller teams to continental championships such as the Champions League and the Europa League.
And indeed, this role has been fulfilled by the UEFA Conference League offering a new opportunity for clubs from all over the continent to compete at a high level.
In other words, the UEFA Conference League is an opportunity for teams from less traditional leagues to showcase their talent and compete at a high level;
But that doesn’t mean that the more traditional teams won’t take part in the competition. After all, those eliminated from the Champions League and the Europa League have the chance to win a place in the UEFA Europa Conference League.
But you’ll understand these rules in our guide to the UEFA Conference League;
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What is the UEFA Conference League?
The UEFA Conference League is the third most important club tournament in Europe, behind the Champions League and the Europa League. The competition was created to give clubs from less prestigious leagues more chances to take part in tournaments with the continent’s biggest teams.
The idea of creating a third continental competition had been around for some time, but only became a reality in 2021;
UEFA was looking for a tournament that would be more inclusive and give more opportunities to clubs from different countries, in addition to the soccer giants such as Spain, Italy, Germany and England.
And it was from this goal that the history of the UEFA Conference League began.
All about the UEFA Conference League: rules?
To begin to understand all about the UEFA Conference League, you need to master its rules, which are similar to those of other European competitions, with a few minor differences;
- Qualification Phase: in this phase, clubs from less prestigious leagues face each other to win a place in the UEFA Conference League group stage.
- Group Stage: the winning clubs from the qualifying stage join the clubs that have qualified directly for the group stage. At this point the teams are divided into groups, and the top two from each qualify for the knockout phase.
- Knockout phase: The knockout phase is played in back-to-back matches, with the exception of the final, which is a single match;
The winner of the competition qualifies for the group stage of next season’s Europa League.
How does the UEFA Conference League work?
To introduce you to how the UEFA Conference League works, we’re going to divide this guide into blocks, so it’s easier to understand the competition that involves dozens of teams;
How many teams take part in the UEFA Europa League Conference?
The Conference League has 32 teams in the group stage, with 141 games over 15 weeks of competition;
Which teams play in the Conference League?
A total of 167 teams from 54 of UEFA’s 55 member associations are expected to take part in the 2024-25 UEFA Conference League.
Until the 2023/24 season, the associations’ ranking was based on the UEFA associations’ coefficients, which defined the number of teams from each country in the competition. As you’ll see below, some UEFA Conference League rules have changed. But don’t worry about that now;
In addition to the coefficient, some teams eliminated from the 2024-25 UEFA Champions League and teams eliminated from the 2024-25 UEFA Europa League are transferred to the Conference League.
Have a place in the Conference League
UEFA member associations have a place in the Conference League, which they can enter:
- the winner of your national cup;
- a certain number of other clubs, by ranking the teams in their main national championship.
The Libertadores also works like this: the four best-placed teams in the Brazilian Championship go through to the group stage of the continental competition. In addition, the 5th and 6th placed teams also have a chance of going to the championship, depending on other combinations of results;
Returning to the UEFA Conference League, each European country affiliated to UEFA has a number of places allocated to its clubs;
According to the regulations made available by UEFA for the 2023/2024 competition, the associations are represented on the following basis:
- One representative: the club that finishes the national championship in the best position, immediately below the last club that qualifies for the UEFA Europa League;
- Two representatives: the two clubs that finish the national championship immediately below the last club that qualifies for the UEFA Champions League; or the winner of the national cup and the club that finishes the national championship immediately after the club that qualifies for the UEFA Champions League.
- Three representatives: the winner of the national cup and the two clubs that finish the national championship immediately below the club that qualifies for the UEFA Champions League.
In special circumstances, the winner of another official domestic competition may be entered in the UEFA Conference Europa League, provided that this competition has been approved by UEFA before the start of the season.
Let’s look once again at how the Libertadores works, in which the champion of the Copa do Brasil also wins a place in the continental competition. To bring it into our reality makes it easier to understand, right?
But, following the presentation of how the UEFA Conference League works: if the winner of the national cup qualifies for the Champions League through the national championship, the access slot initially reserved for him is transferred to the club that finishes the national championship in the next highest position.
Access for clubs in the Champions League and Europa League
Clubs eliminated in the qualifying round or play-offs of the Champions League and the Europa League are admitted to the qualifying rounds or group stage of the UEFA Conference League;
In the table below, we summarize the phase in which the team eliminated from the Champions League and Europa League can access the UEFA Conference League.
| UEFA Champions League (UCL) knockout stage | UEFA Europa League knockout stage (UEL | UEFA Europa Conference Leaguefase de acesso |
| Preliminary round | 2nd qualifying round of the UECL | |
| 1st qualifying round of the UCL | 2nd qualifying round of the UECL | |
| 2nd qualifying round of the UCL | UEL 3rd qualifying round | Playoffs da UECL |
| 3rd UCL qualifying round | Play-offs | UECL group stage |
| Play-offs | UEL group stage | |
| 2nd qualifying round of the UCL league | UEL main qualifying round 3 | UECL play-offs |
| 3rd qualifying round of the UCL league route | UEL group stage | |
| Play-offs | UEL group stage |
In addition, the eight clubs that finish third in the Europa League group stage are admitted to the UEFA Europa Conference League play-offs.
The holder of the UEFA Europa Conference League title is admitted to the group stage of next season’s UEFA Europa League.
How will the UEFA Conference League work in 2025?
After learning all about the UEFA Conference League, it’s time to forget everything and learn how the league will work in 2025… MENTIRA!lol
In fact, some of the rules of the UEFA Europa Conference League have changed, but all about the UEFA Conference League that you’ve learned so far is still essential to understanding the competition, okay?
The biggest change is in the group stage, which will become a single league stage with 36 teams;
- Each team faces eight different teams (four home and four away);
- The top eight teams advance directly to the round of 16
- The teams that finish between ninth and 24th place will compete in the knockout stage play-offs, with the winners advancing to the Round of 16;
From the Round of 16 onwards, the matches are back and forth, with the team that loses on aggregate being eliminated;
In addition, there is also a change in the criteria for awarding two of the four additional places in the UEFA Champions League, eliminating access based on the club coefficient.
Curiosities about the UEFA Conference League
Below, we’ve put together some of the most interesting facts about the UEFA Europa Conference League.
Who are the greatest UEFA Conference League champions?
Created in 2021, the UEFA Europa Conference League has only two champions, with one title each:
- Roma (Italy): 1 title (2022)
- Tottenham Hotspur (England): 1 title (2023)
Also read: The 10 greatest English teams of all time
Who are the top scorers in the UEFA Conference League?
Among the UEFA Conference League records are the competition’s top scorers to date:
- Tammy Abraham (England): 8 goals (2021-2023)
- Cyriel Dessers (Belgium): 7 goals (2021-2023)
- Lorenzo Pellegrini (Italy): 6 goals (2021-2023)
- Artem Dzyuba (Russia): 6 goals (2021-2023)
- Viktor Claesson (Sweden): 6 goals (2021-2023)
Fastest goals in the UEFA Europa Conference League
On the list of the fastest goals in the competition are:
- Slavoj Ristic (Sérvia): 6.7 segundos (Maccabi Haifa x CFR Cluj, 2022/23)
- Joe Aribo (Nigéria): 7.6 segundos (Slavoj Ristic (Serbia): 6.7 seconds (Maccabi Haifa v CFR Cluj, 2022/23)Rangers x Lyon, 2021/22)
- Myrto Uzuni (Albania): 8.2 seconds (FK Partizani Tirana v Maccabi Netanya, 2021/22)
Now you have a guide to all about the UEFA Conference League and can start cheering on your favorite European teams.
With only a few years of history, the competition is creating its own tradition, but it offers very exciting and challenging games for both large and small teams.
Get ready to follow the matches, thrill to the exciting moments and be amazed at the records that will be broken in the next edition of the UEFA Conference League!
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