UEFA Europa Conference League

UEFA Europa Conference League
Association	UEFA
First edition	2021/22
Teams	32 (group stage)
Qualification for	UEFA Europa League

The UEFA Europa Conference League is a planned football European Cup competition that will be held for the first time in the 2021/22 season.

It is said to be the third most important continental competition in Europe after the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League .

mode

The new competition is part of a reorganization of UEFA club team competitions. The number of participants in the group stage of the UEFA Europa League will be reduced from 48 to 32. Nations that are ranked lower than 15th in the UEFA five-year ranking can no longer qualify for the UEFA Europa League (with the exception of any relegated champions from the Champions League qualification). Instead, the new competition, which is initially under the working title UEFA Europa League 2 ran, preferably based on clubs of smaller nations.

qualification

A total of 138 teams take part in the qualification.

Champions / Europa League way

The teams who failed in qualifying for the Champions or Europa League determine 15 of the 32 participants in the UEFA Europa Conference League on their own qualification channel.

This qualification path only begins with the 2nd qualification round, in which the 20 participating clubs (losers from the CL qualification preliminary round and CL-Q1) play for the advancement in a round trip. The 10 winners play five participants in the play-offs in Q3, who determine the five participants in this qualification path against five losers in the third qualifying round for the UEFA Europa League. The ten losers of the Europa League playoffs also take part in the group stage.

Placement route

The teams that qualify by placing in the national championship determine 17 of the 32 participants in the UEFA Europa Conference League. An exception are three teams from qualifying for the Champions League, which intervene in the play-offs.

In the first qualifying round, the 72 participating clubs play for progress in the first and second leg, followed by the second qualifying round, in which 54 other clubs join the 36 winners from Q1. Seven more clubs will join the third qualifying round, together with the 45 winners from Q2 the 26 playoff participants will be determined. In the playoffs, three clubs that failed in the Champions League and five teams from the strongest European leagues intervene and determine a total of 17 participants in the group stage with the 26 winners from Q3.

Finals

32 teams take part in the group stage. The group winners of the eight groups, each consisting of four teams, qualify for the round of 16. The runners-up play a preliminary knockout round against the third-placed teams in the UEFA Europa League groups for a place in the round of 16. From the round of 16, the tournament continues in a knockout system until the final game. A total of 141 games will be played, and the title winner will be given the right to start the UEFA Europa League the following season.

Participating teams

Access list for the 2021/22 season

Game round	Champions / Europa League path	Placement route
1st qualifying round		72 teams 26 cup winners of the associations in the 5-JW places 30-55 25 runner-ups of the associations on the 5-JW places 30-55 (except Liechtenstein) 21 championship thirds of the associations on the 5-JW places 29-50 (except Liechtenstein)
2nd qualifying round	20 teams 3 UEFA Champions League pre-qualifier losers 17 UEFA Champions League first qualifying round losers	90 teams 14 cup winners of the associations in the 5-JW places 16-29 14 vice champions of the associations on the 5-JW-places 16-29 16 championship thirds of the associations on the 5-JW-places 13-28 9 championship fourth of the associations on the 5-JW places 7-15 1 championship fifth of the association on the 5th JW place 6 36 1st qualifying round winners
3rd qualifying round	10 teams 10 2nd qualifying round winners	52 teams 6 championship thirds of the associations on the 5-JW places 7-12 1 championship fourth of the association on the 5th JW place 6 45 2nd qualifying round winners
Play-offs	10 teams 5 UEFA Europa League third qualifying round losers (champions path) 5 3rd qualifying round winners	34 teams 1 championship fifth of the association on the 5-JW place 5 4 championship six of the associations on the 5-JW places 1-4 3 losers in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League (placement route) 26 3rd qualifying round winners
Group stage	32 teams 10 UEFA Europa League play-offs losers 5 winners of the play-offs (champions path) 17 winners of the play-offs (placement route)
Intermediate round	16 teams 8 Third in the group stage of the UEFA Europa League 8 Group second group stage
Round of 16	16 teams 8 group winners group stage 8 winners intermediate round
Quarter finals	8 teams 8 winners round of 16
Semifinals	4 teams 4 winners quarterfinals
final	2 teams 2 winners semi-finals

Qualification of German teams

The German Football Association receives - provided it holds at least 4th place in the five-year ranking - a starting place in the UEFA Europa Conference League. The sixth place in the Bundesliga or the seventh place if the DFB Cup winner is among the top six in the Bundesliga table is qualified for a playoff round. He can reach the group stage through the playoff round. The number of German teams participating in the European Cup will not change, as the Bundesliga will in return lose a place in the UEFA Europa League (two instead of three).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ UEFA Executive Committee approves new club competition , on uefa.com
2. ↑ ^{a b} Access list 2021-24 with Europa League 2 on the far right , on uefa.com
3. ↑ Confirmed: Third European Cup is coming , on kicker.de