UEFA Europa Conference League

The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual football competition organised since 2021 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It is the third-tier competition of European club football, ranking below the second-tier UEFA Europa League, and the first-tier UEFA Champions League.

Introduced in 2021 as the UEFA Europa Conference League, the competition was initially intended as the bottom level of the UEFA Europa League. Teams from lower-ranked UEFA member associations primarily contest the competition. From the 2024–25 season, the competition was rebranded to the UEFA Conference League, and the group stage was replaced with an expanded league phase of 36 teams. No teams qualify directly for the league phase: instead the teams eliminated in the Europa League play-off round qualify, with the rest coming from the Conference League qualifying and play-off rounds.

The winner of the competition qualifies for the following season's UEFA Europa League league phase, unless they also qualify for the Champions League or Europa League via their domestic league position.

English clubs have the highest number of victories (2 wins), followed by Italy and Greece (1 win each). Roma were the inaugural winners of the competition, having beaten Feyenoord 1–0 in the 2022 final. The current holders of the title are Chelsea, who defeated Real Betis 4–1 in the 2025 final.

History

UEFA had reportedly considered adding a third-tier competition since at least 2015, believing that a bottom-level tournament could act as a means of giving clubs from lower-ranked UEFA member countries a chance of progressing beyond their customary elimination from the Champions League and Europa League. In mid-2018, talk of an announcement intensified, with news sources claiming an agreement had already been reached for the competition to be launched and that the 48-team Europa League group stage would be split in two, with the lower half forming the nucleus of what would be the new event.

On 2 December 2018, UEFA announced that the competition – provisionally known as "Europa League 2" or just "UEL2" – was to be launched as part of the 2021–24 three-year competition cycle, with UEFA adding that the new tournament would bring "more matches for more clubs and more associations".

The original official name of the competition, "UEFA Europa Conference League", was announced on 24 September 2019.

On 24 May 2021, UEFA revealed the competition's trophy and brand identity. The Europa Conference League Trophy stands tall and weighs .

The first goal in the then-named Europa Conference League qualifiers was scored on 6 July 2021 by Mosta player Evo Chris in a 2021–22 qualifying round match against Spartak Trnava. The first goal in the then-named Europa Conference League group stage was scored on 14 September 2021 by Maccabi Tel Aviv player Stipe Perica in a 2021–22 group stage match against Alashkert. On 30 September 2021, the competition's first hat-trick was scored by Harry Kane for Tottenham Hotspur in a group stage match against NS Mura. Kane came on as a 59th minute substitute at 2–1 before scoring three goals within 20 minutes of each other to finish off the game (5–1).

On 5 May 2022, Feyenoord and Roma became the first teams ever to reach the Europa Conference League final, ending with Roma being crowned the inaugural champions.

On 3 November 2022, West Ham United became the first side to win all six of their Europa Conference League group stage matches, picking up wins against FCSB, Silkeborg. They went on to win the competition by defeating Fiorentina 2–1 in the 2023 final, in the process becoming the first side to finish the competition undefeated, with 12 wins and one draw.

On 28 June 2023, UEFA announced that the competition would be renamed to the UEFA Conference League from the 2024–25 season onwards. According to UEFA, removing 'Europa' from the name of the competition would enable further development as a stand-alone competition in their research amongst fans and commercial partners. In the same season, the 32-team group stage was replaced with a 36-team league phase, in line with similar changes made to the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.

In the 2024 final, Olympiacos beat Fiorentina 1–0, becoming the first Greek club to win a major European competition.

Trophy

The Conference League trophy, designed by Pentagram, is made from brass, with galvanic steel and silver plating. It features 32 hexagonal columns, to represent the 32 teams in the original group stage, curving upwards in a manner intended to resemble a football curling through the air towards the goal.

Format

Qualification

Similar to the UEFA Champions League, qualification to the Conference League is split into two paths – separating champions and non-champions – and contains three rounds plus a play-off. However, unlike the Champions League, the Champions Path will only be contested by teams eliminated from Champions League qualifying and consequently relegated either directly into the Conference League or via a second relegation from the UEFA Europa League as a result of two straight eliminations.

The association ranking based on the UEFA country coefficients is used to determine the number of participating teams in main path qualification for each association:
* Nations ranked 1 to 5 have one team;
* Nations ranked 6 to 15 have two teams;
* Nations ranked 16 to 50 have three teams;
* Nations ranked 51 to 55 have two teams;
* Liechtenstein does not have a domestic league and will provide the winner of the Liechtenstein Football Cup irrespective of their coefficient ranking.

Based on this reorganisation, no association benefits from more berths to continental football than they had before the 2021–24 competition cycle, with the tournament essentially being the lower orders of the previous Europa League tournament split off into a secondary tournament.

League phase and knockout phase

The format involves a league phase and a knockout phase consisting of preliminary knockout play-offs, followed by a round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final (all of the knockout matches except the final are played over two legs). The top eight teams from the league phase receive a bye to the round of 16, while the teams ranked 9th to 24th contest the knockout play-offs with the winners advancing to the round of 16. The teams ranked 25th to 36th in the league phase and the losers of the play-offs are eliminated from the competition.

The final is played at a neutral venue. The winner of the competition is entitled to participate in the UEFA Europa League league phase the following season. The competition's matches are usually played on Thursdays.

Distribution (from 2024–25)

Changes will be made to the access list above if the Conference League title holder qualifies for the tournament via their domestic leagues.
* If the Conference League title holders qualify for the league phase via their domestic league's standard berth allocation, the best-ranked club in the qualifying rounds enter the league phase, without leapfrogging, then clubs of associations in the UEFA coefficient ranking are promoted to later qualifying rounds, and teams of the highest-ranked associations in earlier rounds are also promoted accordingly.
* If the Conference League title holders qualify for the qualifying rounds via their domestic league, their spot in the qualifying rounds is vacated, and teams of the highest-ranked associations in earlier rounds are promoted accordingly.

Prize money

Similar to the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, the prize money received by the clubs is divided into fixed payments based on participation and results, and variable amounts that depend on the value of their TV market.

For the 2024–25 season, League Phase participation in the Conference League was awarded a base fee of €3,170,000. A victory in the group pays €400,000 and a draw €133,000. Teams which placed in the top 8 of the League Phase earned €400,000 and progressed automatically to the Round of 16. Teams which placed between 9th and 24th qualified for the knockout round play-offs and earned €200,000. Reaching the knock-out stage triggered additional bonuses: €800,000 for the round of 16, €1,300,000 for the quarter-finals and €2,500,000 for the semi-finals. The losing finalists received €4,000,000 and the champions received €7,000,000.
* First qualifying round elimination: €150,000 + €175,000 per qualifying round played
* Second qualifying round elimination: €350,000 + €175,000 per qualifying round played
* Third qualifying round elimination: €550,000 + €175,000 per qualifying round played
* Play-off round elimination: €750,000 + €175,000 per qualifying round played
* Qualified to League Phase: €3,170,000
* Match won in League Phase: €400,000
* Match drawn in League Phase: €133,000
* 1st–8th in League Phase: €400,000
* 9th–24th in League Phase: €200,000
* Round of 16: €800,000
* Quarter-finals: €1,300,000
* Semi-finals: €2,500,000
* Runners-up: €4,000,000
* Winners: €7,000,000

Additionally, each domestic champion not qualifying for the League Phase of any tournament received an additional €260,000.

Each club which qualifies for the League Phase will also receive a bonus payment based on their league ranking. The total amount initially available for the league ranking bonus is €18,648,000 divided into 666 equal shares of €28,000. As €400,000 is available for each match played in the league phase, for every draw in the League Phase, €133,000 is unallocated and is added to the total league ranking bonus fund, increasing the value of each share. The team that finishes 1st in the League Phase receives 36 shares, with the amount of shares received falling by 1 for each subsequent position, with the 36th place team receiving a single share.

Records and statistics

Performances by club

Performances by nation

Number of participating clubs of the Conference League

The following is a list of clubs that have played or will be playing in the Conference League league phase (group stage prior to the 2024–25 season). Season in bold represents teams that qualified for the knockout phase that season.

Most goals

:Players taking part in the 2024–25 UEFA Conference League are highlighted in bold.

:Players still active but not in this year's Conference League are highlighted in ''italics''.
:The table below does not include goals scored in the qualification phase of the competition.

Other records

* The largest single-match margin of victory in the current Conference League format is 8–0, with Chelsea's victory over FC Noah in the 2024–25 edition's league stage.
* West Ham are the only club to have won the competition unbeaten, winning all but one game which they drew in the 2022–23 edition.
* West Ham and Chelsea share the record for the most wins in one singular Conference League campaign, with 13 wins each in 2022–23 and 2024–25 respectively.
* Chelsea scored a record of 42 goals in 13 matches in their 2024–25 winning campaign.

Awards

Player of the Season

Starting from the first edition of the competition, UEFA introduced the UEFA Conference League Player of the Season award. It was known as the UEFA Europa Conference League Player of the Season award before the renaming of the competition in 2024.

The jury is composed of the coaches of the clubs which participate in the league phase (group stage prior to 2024–25 season) of the competition, together with 55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group, one from each UEFA member association.

Young Player of the Season

UEFA also introduced the UEFA Conference League Young Player of the Season award. It was known as the UEFA Europa Conference League Young Player of the Season award before the renaming of the competition in 2024.

Sponsorship

The UEFA Conference League is sponsored by international corporations, sharing the same partners as the UEFA Europa League. Among the main sponsors of the tournament for the 2024–2027 cycle are:
* Just Eat Takeaway
* Hankook
* Engelbert Strauss
* Swissquote
* Kipsta
* Betano

See also

* UEFA club competition records
* UEFA Intertoto Cup
* UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

Notes

References

External links

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Conference League
Recurring sporting events established in 2021
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Multi-national professional sports leagues
2021 establishments in Europe