What is the UEFA Europa Conference League? When is it & how do teams qualify?

UEFA will host the Europa Conference League for the first time in 2021/22, marking a return to three season-long European competitions since the defunct Cup Winners’ Cup was pulled in 1999.

With the current domestic season getting towards the final stretch across the continent, attention is now turning to the new competition and which clubs might be playing in it.

This is everything you need to know about the Conference League, including when it will be played, how clubs will qualify for it and what the winners will get.

What is the UEFA Europa Conference League?

The new Conference League is UEFA’s third tier annual continental club competition, sitting below the Champions League (first tier) and Europa League (second tier).

The Europa League group stage will be cut from 48 teams to 32 as of next season to help accommodate the additional tournament, but it is ultimately intended that the Conference League will open up more meaningful European football to a greater number of clubs.

As things stand, 80 clubs compete in European competition from the group stage onwards each season. But under the new structure that will be increased to 96, with 32 in the Champions League, 32 in the Europa League and 32 in the Conference League.

There will also be more opportunity for clubs who are knocked out of the Europa League to remain in a European competition, where currently there is none.

The Conference League will be similar in format to the other competitions, beginning with three qualifying rounds and a playoff round prior to the six-game group stage.

There will be a slightly unique preliminary knockout round after the group stage, which will see the eight group runners-up face the eight third place clubs from the Europa League group stage. The winners will progress to the last 16, where they will face the Conference League’s group winners.

The last 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final all follow the typical format.

When is the UEFA Europa Conference League?

The Conference League will run alongside the Champions League and Europa League during the normal European club season, starting with the first qualifying round from 8 July 2021.

The group stage will begin with the other competitions in mid-September and finish in early December. Games are to be played on a Thursday night, like the Europa League. Matchday one will be Thursday 16 September 2021 and matchday six will be Thursday 9 December 2021.

After that, the rounds will match the dates of the Europa League knockouts, but the Conference League final will be played a week later on Wednesday 25 May 2022.

The inaugural final will be hosted at the Air Albania Stadium in Tirana.

Which clubs will qualify for the UEFA Europa Conference League?

No clubs will qualify directly for the Conference League group stage. Instead, every competing team will have come through qualifying rounds or be drop-outs from the Europa League or Champions League.

With the Europa League being considerably streamlined, some clubs that would previously have entered the secondary competition will now go into the Conference League instead.

In the first qualifying round for the Conference League, domestic cup winners and league runners-up, plus some third placed teams, from UEFA’s lowest ranked national leagues will enter.

The second qualifying round will be inflated by 20 clubs knocked out of the Champions League first qualifying round, with the 35 teams that advanced from the Conference League also joined by domestic cup winners and second and third placed teams from middle ranked national leagues.

At that stage there will also be places for clubs that finish fourth in countries like the Netherlands, Scotland, Russia and Turkey, plus the fifth placed team in Portugal.

The second qualifying round will additionally see a split between champions and non-champions that continues throughout the remaining rounds until all group stage qualifiers are decided. That will serve to keep champions from weaker nations away from third, fourth or fifth placed sides from stronger domestic leagues and ensure at least a minimum number of ‘champions’ are playing in Europe.

In the third qualifying round, domestic third placed teams join from UEFA’s secondary bracket of national leagues (Russia, Belgium, Ukraine, Netherlands, Turkey, Austria and Denmark).

In the final playoff round, there will be seven new clubs that drop out of the Europa League third qualifying round, the fourth placed team from Portugal, the fifth placed team from France, the sixth placed teams from Spain, Italy and Germany, as well as the League Cup winner from England.

In the latter case, should England’s League Cup winner (either Manchester City or Tottenham this season), have already qualified for one of the other European competitions, the Conference League playoff place would instead go to the Premier League’s sixth placed team.

The 22 playoff round winners will enter the Conference League group stage, where they will be joined by 10 clubs eliminated from the Europa League playoff round.

What do UEFA Europa Conference League winners get?

As well as the chance to lift a European trophy, the club that wins the Conference League will be granted automatic entry into the following season’s Europa League group stage unless they have already qualified for the Champions League via their national league.

The new trophy is yet to be properly revealed, although the shape of it is featured in the Conference League logo, which has already been unveiled.

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