UEFA announces the start of third European club competition from 2021, calls it Europa Conference League

UEFA, in its executive committee meeting in Ljubljana, Slovenia announced the creation of a third European club competition from the 2021 season, to go with the Champions League and Europa League.

The new competition will be called the Europa Conference League, and it will be played on Thursdays at the same kick-off times as the Europa League. The Europa Conference League will allow clubs who had missed out on the Champions League and Europa League, the opportunity to play continental European club football.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin opines that the need for the tournament was necessitated following the 'widespread demand' of more accessible European football to teams from less traditionally successful nations.

Ceferin said on Tuesday:

“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. This competition was borne out of ongoing dialogue with clubs through the European Club Association (ECA).

There was a widespread demand by all clubs to increase their chances of participating more regularly in European competition. This has been achieved with a strategic approach and in accordance with UEFA's objective of having both more quality and more inclusivity in our club competitions.”

The Qualification Process

Qualification for the UEFA Europa Conference League would comprise of three rounds and a play-off round involving a total of 268 clubs from UEFA's 55 member associations. All rounds would be two-legged knockouts based on a home and away basis.

First Qualifying Round (72 clubs)

The first round of qualifying would feature the following 72 clubs:

26 domestic cup winners for associations ranked 30 to 55
24 domestic league runner-up clubs from associations ranked 30 to 54
22 third-placed teams from associations ranked 29 to 51.

Second Qualifying Round (110 clubs)

The second round would involve a total of 110 clubs. 20 teams from the Champions League preliminary and first qualifying rounds would clash with each other to qualify for the third qualifying round. 90 non-Champions teams would feature the 36 winners of the first round and 54 clubs from the following:

14 domestic cup winners from associations ranked 16 to 29
14 domestic league runners-up from associations 16–29
16 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 13–28
9 domestic league fourth-placed teams from association 7-15
1 domestic league fifth-placed team from association 6.

Third Qualifying Round (62 clubs)

This round would comprise the 10 second-round winners from the Champions route and 52 teams from the non-Champions route. The non-Champions route third round qualifiers would feature the 45 winners from the second round and the following 7 clubs:

6 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 7–12
1 domestic league fourth-placed team from associations 6.

Play-off Round (44 clubs)

The play-off round would comprise of 10 clubs from the Champions-route and 34 from the non-Champions route. The Champions-route would pit the 5 winners of the third qualifying round against the 5 losers from the Europa League third qualifying round from the champions-route.

34 non-Champions route teams would comprise of the 26 winners from the third qualifying round and the following 8 teams:

4 domestic league sixth-placed qualifiers from associations 1–4
1 domestic league fifth-placed qualifier from association 5
3 losers from the Europa League third qualifying round for non-champions.

Europa Conference League Tournament Proper (32 clubs)

The tournament would comprise of 32 teams in the group stage, divided into 8 groups of 4 teams each, followed by two-legged preliminary knockout rounds, the Round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals and a one-leg final. It would mean 141 matches will be played over 15 match-days.

Group-stage

It would feature the following teams:

5 winners from the Champions-route of the Playoffs
17 winners from the non-Champions route of the Playoffs
10 losing teams from the Europa League play-off round.

Preliminary Knockout round

This round would pit the 8 group runner-ups against the 8 third-placed teams from the Europa League. From 2021, the Europa League would be cut to 32 teams (8 groups of 4 teams each), down from its present size of 48 teams in 12 groups of 4 teams each.

Knockout Stage

The knockout stage would comprise of 8 Round of 16 matches, 4 quarterfinals, 2 semifinals, and a one-leg final.

The Round of 16 would be contested by the 8 group-stage winners against the 8 winners from the preliminary knockout round.

The winner of the Europa Conference League will earn a spot in the Europa League group stages the next season.

Also check out: Premier League Table La Liga Table Champions League Schedule

About the author

Bhargav is a veteran sports journalist and editor at Sportskeeda, with a rich professional experience of 17 years, working for the likes of Siemens and Bombay Dyeing. An avid football and tennis follower for over three decades, Bhargav uses his vast knowledge and experience, attention to detail, an unbiased yet interesting writing style, and thorough research to craft insightful articles, which have raked in over 20 million reads so far.

Bhargav supports Italy at national level, a team steeped in tradition and history according to him. He still harbors the heartbreak from the Azzurri’s 1994 FIFA World Cup final defeat against Brazil, and protagonist-turned-antagonist from the game, ‘Divine Ponytail’ Roberto Baggio is his all-time favorite player. His favorite manager is Marcelo Lippi, who ended Italy’s 24-year wait for the World Cup trophy, winning it in 2006.

Outside Europe’s top five leagues, he follows the MLS following Lionel Messi’s move in 2023 but favors Cristiano Ronaldo in the G.O.A.T. debate. During his free time, Bhargav enjoys driving off to new places and singing.

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Edited by Zaid Khan