What is the UEFA Europa Conference League and who could play in it?

The UEFA Europa Conference League launches in 2021-22, FTF takes a look at the potential line-up for the competition and how it will function.

There have been many murmurs about the fundamental restructuring of the Champions League in 2024.

However, below Europe’s elite competition, change is already upon us.

The UEFA Europa Conference League has crept up behind many in the football sphere. So much so that to most, its existence remains enshrouded in mystery.

Despite the fact that the competition is about to start in just a few months time.

A competition which will see more European teams competing against one another since the dawn of man.

The history

European football is no stranger to having three elite competitions in the football calendar. In fact as late as 2008, this was the case before the UEFA Intertoto Cup was disbanded and the UEFA Cup was rebranded as the Europa League.

The UEFA Europa Conference League will aim resurrect the previously abolished tournament in the hope to create more competition in Europe.

Although it aims to ignite the same spirit, the new format will look starkly different to the Intertoto days.

For example the Intertoto had no final, and a convoluted qualifying process in its later stages.

Much of the competition took place in the summer which will not be the case with the UEFA Europa Conference League.

The process for who qualified was especially murky and not as clear as the UEFA Europa Conference League promises to be.

What will however remain the same, is the ultimate prize.

The winner of the competition will qualify for the Europa League. Which was the same for Intertoto Cup with winners able to take part in the UEFA Cup.

Qualification process

In the beginning of the Intertoto Cup, teams from lesser powerhouse nations were able to compete at the highest level of the competition.

However, with the modernisation of football in the 90s and 00s the competition was eventually overtaken and became dominated by the smaller clubs from Europe’s elite nations like Italy, France, England and Spain..

UEFA has attempted to keep the original theme of the Intertoto Cup in the UEFA Europa Conference League but also address its previous shortcomings.

Countries from lesser nations therefore will have more initial entrants into the qualifying round of the competition to increase the likelihood of them making it further in the qualifying rounds.

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For example, even UEFA’s lowest ranked sides like San Marino and Andorra will have two (possibly three) sides looking to qualify for the group stages of the competition.

The first qualifying round will see a whopping 70 teams compete from UEFA’s bottom 25 seeded nations.

The teams could look like this based on current league standings:

1. San Marino – Tre Penne
2. San Marino – Libertas
3. Andorra – Atletic Escaldes
4. Andorra – Engordany
5. Faroe Islands – IF
6. Faroe Islands – Vikingur
7. Kosovo – Drita
8. Kosovo – Prishtina
9. Estonia – Paide
10. Estonia – Levadia
11. Montenegro – Decic
12. Montenegro – Sutjeska
13. Montenegro – Rudar
14. Gibraltar – Lincoln Red Imps
15. Gibraltar – St Joseph’s FC
16. Gibraltar – Lynx
17. Norther Ireland – Glentoran
18. Norther Ireland – Coleraine
19. Northern Ireland – Cliftonville
20. Wales – The New Saints
21. Wales – Bala Town
22. Wales – Barry
23. Iceland – Stjarnan
24. Iceland – Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar
25. Iceland – Breioablik
26. Malta – Hibernians
27. Malta – Gzira
28. Malta – Birkikara FC
29. Georgia – Locomotive Tbsilisi
30. Georgia – Dinamo Batumi
31. Georgia – Saburtalo
32. Finland – Inter Turku
33. Finland – KuPS
34. Finland – FC Honka
35. Ireland – Sligo Rovers
36. Ireland – Bohemians
37. Ireland – Dundalk
38. Moldova – Petrocub
39. Moldova – Milsami
40. Moldova – Sfintul Gheorghe Suruceni
41. Bosnia – Velez
42. Bosnia – NK Siroki Brijeg
43. Bosnia – Borac
44. North Macedonia – Shkupi
45. North Macedonia – Makedonija
46. North Macedonia – Rabotnicki
47. Albania – KF Laci
48. Albania – FK Partizani Tirana
49. Albania – Teuta
50. Latvia – RFS
51. Latvia – Valmieras
52. Latvia – Liepaja
53. Armenia – Alashkert
54. Armenia – Ararat-Armenia
55. Armenia – Lori
56. Lithuania – Suduva
57. Lithuania – Kauno Zalgiris
58. Lithuania – Banga
59. Luxembourg – Dundelage
60. Luxembourg – Swift Hesperange
61. Luxembourg – FC Differdange
62. Hungary – Puskas Akademia
63. Hungary – Fehervar
64. Hungary – MTK Budapest
65. Slovenia – Maribor
66. Slovenia – Domzale
67. Slovenia – Mura
68. Slovakia – MSK Zilina
69. Slovakia – DAC
70. Poland – Rakow Czestochowa

Highlighted in bold are the teams FTF expects to advance into the second round of the competition based on a mixture of UEFA coefficient points and previous results in European qualifying.

Second Qualifying Round

The 2nd Qualifying round will be the biggest qualifying round in terms of teams involved in the history of UEFA club competitions.

The round will see a total of 110 teams competing to get through to the third qualifying round.

Whereas in the previous round, there were teams from mostly the minnows of European football, the second round will see more familiar names enter the fray.

Here are the teams who could compete in the main path of the competition based on current league tables.

1. Poland – Pogon Szczecin
2. Slovakia – Spartak Trnava
3. Poland – Lechi Gdansk
4. Romania – CFR Cluj
5. Romania – Craiova
6. Romania – Sepsi
7. Bulgaria – Arda
8. Bulgaria – CSKA Sofia
9. Bulgaria – Lokomotiv Plovdiv
10. Azerbaijan – Neftci
11. Azerbaijan – FC Inter Baku
12. Azerbaijan – Sumqayit
13. Belarus – FC Torpedo
14. Belarus – BATE
15. Belarus – Dinamo Brest
16. Kazakhstan – Astana
17. Kazakhstan – Tobol
18. Kazakhstan – Shakther
19. Israel – Ashdod
20. Israel – Hapoel Ironi Kiryat
21. Israel – Maccabi Tel Aviv
22. Norway – Molde FK
23. Norway – Valerenga
24. Norway – Rosenborg
25. Sweden – Hacken
26. Sweden – IF Elsborg
27. Sweden – Djurgarden
28. Croatia – Rijeka
29. Croatia – NK Osijek
30. Croatia – HNK Gorica
31. Serbia – Vojvodina
32. Serbia – Partizani Belgrade
33. Serbia – Cukaricki
34. Greece – Aris
35. Greece – PAOK
36. Greece – AEK Athens
37. Switzerland – Lugano
38. Switzerland – Servette
39. Switzerland – Basel
40. Cyprus – AEL Limassol
41. Cyprus – Apollon Limassol
42. Cyprus – Anorthosis
43. Czech Republic – Jablonec
44. Czech Republic – FC Slovacko
45. Scotland – Hibernian
46. Scotland – Aberdeen
47. Denmark – Copenhagen
48. Austria – SK Sturm Graz
49. Turkey – Trabzsponsor
50. Netherlands – Vitesse
51. Ukraine – Vorskla
52. Belgium – Anderlecht
53. Russia – CSKA Moscow
54. Portugal – Pacos Ferreira
55. Liechestein – FC Vaduz
56. Luxembourg – Dundelage
57. Luxembourg – Swift Hesperange
58. Luxembourg – FC Differdange
59. Hungary – Puskas Akademia
60. Hungary – Fehervar
61. Hungary – MTK Budapest
62. Slovenia – Maribor
63. Slovenia – Domzale
64. Slovenia – Mura
65. Slovakia – MSK Zilina
66. Slovakia – DAC
67. Poland – Rakow Czestochowa
68. Albania – KF Laci
69. Albania – FK Partizani Tirana
70. Albania – Teuta
71. Latvia – RFS
72. Latvia – Valmieras
73. Latvia – Liepaja
74. Amernia – Alashkert
75. Armenia – Ararat-Armenia
76. Armenia – Lori
77. Lithuania – Suduva
78. Lithuania – Kauno Zalgiris
79. North Macedonia – Rabotnicki
80. Bosnia – Velez
81. Bosnia – NK Siroki Brijeg
82. Bosnia – Borac
83. North Macedonia – Shkupi
84. Finland – KuPS
85. Finland – FC Honka
86. Ireland – Sligo Rovers
87. Ireland – Bohemians
88. Ireland – Dundalk
89. Norther Ireland – Glentoran
90. Gibraltar – Lincoln Red Imps

Once again FTF have highlighted the teams likely to qualify for the next stage of the competition based on UEFA club coefficients and previous performances in European competition.

As well as the main path UEFA will also introduce the Champions Path – the stage that will give clubs, who qualified to compete for a place in the Champions League group stages but were eliminated, a smoother route to the group stages of the UEFA Europa Conference League.

In this round the Champions Path will see 20 teams eliminated from Champions League qualifying to compete for a place in the third round.

The 20 eliminated teams will likely look like this:

1. Armenia – Ararat
2. Latvia – Riga
3. Albania – Vllaznia
4. North Macedonia – Shkendija
5. Bosnia – Sarajevo
6. Moldova – Sheriff
7. Republic of Ireland – Shamrock Rovers
8. Finland – HJK
9. Georgia – Dinamo Tsbilisi
10. Malta – Hamrun
11. Iceland – Valur
12. Wales – Connah’s Quay
13. Gibraltar – Europa
14. Northern Ireland – Lindfield
15. Montenegro – Budocnost
16. Estonia – TJK Legion
17. Kosovo – Ballkani
18. San Marino – Tre Fiori
19. Andorra – Inter d’Escaldes
20. Faroe Islands – HB

Third Qualifying Round

The third round will only have 62 teams but it will include clubs from nations like Russia, Turkey and the Netherlands. These could be the so called ‘big guns’ of the competition.

The main path as a result will look something like this.

1. Russia – Lokomotiv Moscow
2. Belgium – Genk
3. Ukraine – Zorya Luhansk
4. Netherlands – AZ Alkmaar
5. Turkey – Fenerbahce
6. Austria – LASK
7. Denmark – AGF
8. Poland – Pogon Szczecin
9. Romania – CFR Cluj
10. Romania – Craiova
11. Bulgaria – CSKA Sofia
12. Azerbaijan – Neftci
13. Belarus – BATE
14. Kazakhstan – Astana
15. Israel – Hapoel Ironi Kiryat
16. Israel – Maccabi Tel Aviv
17. Norway – Molde FK
18. Norway – Valerenga
19. Norway – Rosenborg
20. Sweden – IF Elsborg
21. Sweden – Djurgarden
22. Croatia – Rijeka
23. Croatia – NK Osijek
24. Serbia – Vojvodina
25. Serbia – Partizani Belgrade
26. Greece – PAOK
27. Greece – AEK Athens
28. Switzerland – Lugano
29. Switzerland – Servette
30. Switzerland – Basel
31. Cyprus – AEL Limassol
32. Cyprus – Apollon Limassol
33. Czech Republic – Jablonec
34. Scotland – Livingstone
35. Scotland – Aberdeen
36. Denmark – Copenhagen
37. Austria – SK Sturm Graz
38. Turkey – Trabzsponsor
39. Netherlands – Vitesse
40. Ukraine – Vorskla
41. Belgium – Anderlecht
42. Russia – CSKA Moscow
43. Portugal – Pacos Ferreira
44. Luxembourg – Dundelage
45. Hungary – Fehervar
46. Slovenia – Maribor
47. Slovakia – MSK Zilina
48. Slovakia – DAC
49. Poland – Rakow Czestochowa
50. Albania – FK Partizani Tirana
51. Finland – KuPS
52. Ireland – Dundalk

Once again based on previous performances, and UEFA club coefficents we have highlighted the teams who would likely advance for the next stage of the tournament.

Meanwhile in the Champions Path the ten winning teams from the previous round will compete for spots for the Play Offs between themselves.

1. Armenia – Ararat
2. Latvia – Riga
3. Albania – Vllaznia
4. North Macedonia – Shkendija
5. Bosnia – Sarajevo
6. Republic of Ireland – Shamrock Rovers
7. Finland – HJK
8. Georgia – Dinamo Tsbilisi
9. Iceland – Valur
10. Northern Ireland – Lindfield

Once again we predicted who could advance to the next stage of the competition.

The Play Offs

In the Play Offs stage, things start to get a bit more complicated. Teams eliminated from the Europa League qualifiers will also now enter the competition.

As well teams from Europe’s more elite nations like England, Spain, Italy and Germany.

That’s right. Unlike the Champions League or the Europa League where there were automatic qualification spots for the group stages of the tournament, the UEFA Europa Conference League will not have that.

Instead the likes of Tottenham/Liverpool/Everton depending on who qualifies will have to compete in a mass 44 team qualification Play Off over a two-legged tie in order to determine whether they make the final stage of the tournament or not.

Here is how the main path of the final stage of the qualification process could look like.

1. Portugal – Braga
2. France – Marseille
3. Italy – Roma
4. Germany – Bayer Leverkusen
5. England – Tottenham
6. Spain – Real Betis
7. Russia – Lokomotiv Moscow
8. Belgium – Genk
9. Ukraine – Zorya Luhansk
10. Netherlands – AZ Alkmaar
11. Turkey – Fenerbahce
12. Austria – LASK
13. Israel – Maccabi Tel Aviv
14. Norway – Molde FK
15. Norway – Valerenga
16. Sweden – Djurgarden
17. Serbia – Partizani Belgrade
18. Greece – PAOK
19. Greece – AEK Athens
20. Switzerland – Lugano
21. Switzerland – Basel
22. Cyprus – Apollon Limassol
23. Scotland – Aberdeen
24. Denmark – Copenhagen
25. Austria – SK Sturm Graz
26. Turkey – Trabzsponsor
27. Netherlands – Vitesse
28. Belgium – Anderlecht
29. Russia – CSKA Moscow
30. Portugal – Pacos Ferreira
31. Hungary – Fehervar
32. Ireland – Dundalk
33. Celtic
34. Sparta Prague

These teams would compete for 17 places in the group stages of the tournament. FTF have again based on UEFA Club coefficient ranking and previous tournament performances have predicted who could go through and highlighted the prospective teams.

Of course at this stage the competition becomes a bit harder to predict, and one would not rule out any surprise results either.

Therefore take this with a pinch of salt.

In addition to that, a further five teams eliminated from Europa League qualifying Champions path, will enter the competition for a Play Off against the five teams who advanced from the previous Champions path qualifying round in the UEFA Europa Conference League.

This could look similar to the line-up below, with the teams eliminated from the Europa League determined based on UEFA Club Coefficient rankings.

1. Republic of Ireland – Shamrock Rovers
2. Finland – HJK
3. Georgia – Dinamo Tsbilisi
4. Northern Ireland – Lindfield
5. Bosnia – Sarajevo
6. Hungary – Ferencvaros
7. Poland – Legia Warsaw
8. Slovakia – Slovan Bratislava
9. Luxembourg– Fola Esch
10. Slovenia – Olimpija

The teams likely to qualify are highlighted in bold letters.

Group Stages

The aforementioned teams only add up to 22, the 10 places left will be filled by those teams who lost their Europa League Play Off matches.

The teams who would have had the pathway to make it that far but would have likely fallen at the last hurdle could be as follows:

1. Denmark – AGF
2. Scotland – Hibernian
3. Ukraine – Desna
4. Sweden – Malmo
5. Norway – Bodo Glimt
6. Austria – Rapid Vienna
7. Romania – FCSB
8. Azerbaijan – Qarabag
9. Israel – Maccabi Haifa
10. Belarus – Shakhtar Soligorsk

Which would make the final 32 teams of the tournament:

1. Celtic
2. CSKA Moscow
3. Sturm Graz
4. Basel
5. PAOK
6. Molde FK
7. LASK
8. Fenerbahce
9. AZ Alkmaar
10. Genk
11. Lokomotiv Moscow
12. Real Betis
13. Tottenham/Liverpool
14. Bayer Leverkusen
15. Roma
16. Marseille
17. Braga
18. Ferencvaros
19. Legia Warsaw
20. Slovan Bratislava
21. Shamrock Rovers
22. Olimpija
23. Hibernian
24. AGF
25. Bodo Glimt
26. Desna
27. Malmo
28. Rapid Vienna
29. Qarabag
30. FCSB
31. Shakhtar Soligorsk
32. Maccabi Haifa

These teams would then be seeded based on UEFA Club coefficient rankings into 4 different pots just like in the Champions League.

Below are the seeds listed and the groups randomly assigned to them.

Top Seed

1. Tottenham/Liverpool – A
2. AS Roma – B
3. Bayer Leverkusen – C
4. Basel – D
5. CSKA Moscow – E
6. Braga – F
7. Celtic – G
8. Lokomotiv Moscow  – H

2^nd Seed

1. Marseille – G
2. Genk – A
3. AZ Alkmaar  – H
4. LASK – B
5. FCSB – C
6. Qarabag – D
7. PAOK – F
8. Fenerbahce – E

3^rd Seed

1. Real Betis – G
2. Malmo – B
3. Molde FK – A
4. Legia Warsaw – C
5. Rapid Vienna – E
6. Ferencvaros – D
7. NK Olimpija – H
8. Sturm Graz – F

Unseeded

1. Slovan Bratislava – G
2. Shamrock Rovers – H
3. Hibernian – C
4. AGF – E
5. Bodo Glimt – D
6. Desna – B
7. Shakhtar Soligorsk – A
8. Maccabi Haifa – F

Ultimately the groups could look like this.

The purpose

The new tournament will be played-out in tandem with the Europa League on Thursday nights.

There will be a preliminary knockout round after the group stages where eight 2nd placed group teams will play against eight 3rd placed teams from the Europa League to compete for a spot in the round of 16.

There are rightly sceptics of the new scheme. Despite UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin declaring the new competition will make ‘UEFA’s club competitions more inclusive than ever before.’

The statement may not be entirely true.

The new competition will likely decrease the likelihood of underdog narratives.

Take the case of Molde FK’s run in the Europa League this season. The blues knocked out Bundesliga side Hoffenheim and came narrowly close to a place in the quarter final falling to a 3-2 aggregate defeat to Granada from Spain.

Under our projections the Norwegian side will find it difficult to qualify for the Europa League again next season and repeat their heroics. Especially since Europe’s 2nd tier competition will be reduced from 48 teams to just 32.

Based on our projected group-stage draw there will be teams competing in the competition from this year’s Champions League group stages, round of 16 and potentially quarter finals. Teams like Ferencvaros. Or Liverpool.

The same can be said of the Europa League.

However, not all of this may be a burden. The likes of potentially Liverpool/Tottenham or Roma being involved, who not long ago (some still are) competed in the Champions League, will only legitimatise the competition.

There will be no changes made to the Champions League qualifying format too which is a promising sign for now.

It means teams like Ferencvaros still stand a chance of competing in the highest tier of European football. Though things are likely to change by 2024.

There is also much to be admired from the new competition.

The tournament will give teams who are unlikely to play competitive European football the chance to grow.

Some estimates and financial experts calculate the revenue generated from the new competition could be similar to Europa League earnings which would be invaluable to the aforementioned clubs from UEFA’s weaker leagues.

The competition will also present the chance for talents, and younger players from these so called ‘weaker’ leagues to catch the eye of scouts on the European stage.

As well as increase support for local teams in respective nations. A struggle many European countries are currently contending with exemplified by plummeting attendances prior to Covid-19.

Hope

The likelihood is that most of our projected third seeded and unseeded teams would not be looking at the prospect of European football next season without the new competition.

The UEFA Europa Conference League will give these clubs a tangible hope of competing against the best.

If the likes of Liverpool/Tottenham, Lazio/Roma or Bayer Leverkusen/Union Berlin are involved that will give the competition a huge legitimacy.

But at the same time, the downfall of the Intertoto Cup was that it became too overcrowded by lesser teams from the bigger nations who took the platform away from clubs in smaller European countries.

If UEFA’s qualifying system remains in place, with this new competition that will not be the case.

However, the future of the tournament remains fragile.

UEFA’s new Champions League format could quickly revamp the entire competition, making the likes of Liverpool and Tottenham no longer able candidates.

And if that is the case, the UEFA Europa Conference League could follow the same path as its predecessor.

Have your say, who do you think are the favourites to win the competition? What do you make of our projected group-stage predictions?

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