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:
- San Marino – Tre Penne
- San Marino – Libertas
- Andorra – Atletic Escaldes
- Andorra – Engordany
- Faroe Islands – IF
- Faroe Islands – Vikingur
- Kosovo – Drita
- Kosovo – Prishtina
- Estonia – Paide
- Estonia – Levadia
- Montenegro – Decic
- Montenegro – Sutjeska
- Montenegro – Rudar
- Gibraltar – Lincoln Red Imps
- Gibraltar – St Joseph’s FC
- Gibraltar – Lynx
- Norther Ireland – Glentoran
- Norther Ireland – Coleraine
- Northern Ireland – Cliftonville
- Wales – The New Saints
- Wales – Bala Town
- Wales – Barry
- Iceland – Stjarnan
- Iceland – Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar
- Iceland – Breioablik
- Malta – Hibernians
- Malta – Gzira
- Malta – Birkikara FC
- Georgia – Locomotive Tbsilisi
- Georgia – Dinamo Batumi
- Georgia – Saburtalo
- Finland – Inter Turku
- Finland – KuPS
- Finland – FC Honka
- Ireland – Sligo Rovers
- Ireland – Bohemians
- Ireland – Dundalk
- Moldova – Petrocub
- Moldova – Milsami
- Moldova – Sfintul Gheorghe Suruceni
- Bosnia – Velez
- Bosnia – NK Siroki Brijeg
- Bosnia – Borac
- North Macedonia – Shkupi
- North Macedonia – Makedonija
- North Macedonia – Rabotnicki
- Albania – KF Laci
- Albania – FK Partizani Tirana
- Albania – Teuta
- Latvia – RFS
- Latvia – Valmieras
- Latvia – Liepaja
- Armenia – Alashkert
- Armenia – Ararat-Armenia
- Armenia – Lori
- Lithuania – Suduva
- Lithuania – Kauno Zalgiris
- Lithuania – Banga
- Luxembourg – Dundelage
- Luxembourg – Swift Hesperange
- Luxembourg – FC Differdange
- Hungary – Puskas Akademia
- Hungary – Fehervar
- Hungary – MTK Budapest
- Slovenia – Maribor
- Slovenia – Domzale
- Slovenia – Mura
- Slovakia – MSK Zilina
- Slovakia – DAC
- 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.
- Poland – Pogon Szczecin
- Slovakia – Spartak Trnava
- Poland – Lechi Gdansk
- Romania – CFR Cluj
- Romania – Craiova
- Romania – Sepsi
- Bulgaria – Arda
- Bulgaria – CSKA Sofia
- Bulgaria – Lokomotiv Plovdiv
- Azerbaijan – Neftci
- Azerbaijan – FC Inter Baku
- Azerbaijan – Sumqayit
- Belarus – FC Torpedo
- Belarus – BATE
- Belarus – Dinamo Brest
- Kazakhstan – Astana
- Kazakhstan – Tobol
- Kazakhstan – Shakther
- Israel – Ashdod
- Israel – Hapoel Ironi Kiryat
- Israel – Maccabi Tel Aviv
- Norway – Molde FK
- Norway – Valerenga
- Norway – Rosenborg
- Sweden – Hacken
- Sweden – IF Elsborg
- Sweden – Djurgarden
- Croatia – Rijeka
- Croatia – NK Osijek
- Croatia – HNK Gorica
- Serbia – Vojvodina
- Serbia – Partizani Belgrade
- Serbia – Cukaricki
- Greece – Aris
- Greece – PAOK
- Greece – AEK Athens
- Switzerland – Lugano
- Switzerland – Servette
- Switzerland – Basel
- Cyprus – AEL Limassol
- Cyprus – Apollon Limassol
- Cyprus – Anorthosis
- Czech Republic – Jablonec
- Czech Republic – FC Slovacko
- Scotland – Hibernian
- Scotland – Aberdeen
- Denmark – Copenhagen
- Austria – SK Sturm Graz
- Turkey – Trabzsponsor
- Netherlands – Vitesse
- Ukraine – Vorskla
- Belgium – Anderlecht
- Russia – CSKA Moscow
- Portugal – Pacos Ferreira
- Liechestein – FC Vaduz
- Luxembourg – Dundelage
- Luxembourg – Swift Hesperange
- Luxembourg – FC Differdange
- Hungary – Puskas Akademia
- Hungary – Fehervar
- Hungary – MTK Budapest
- Slovenia – Maribor
- Slovenia – Domzale
- Slovenia – Mura
- Slovakia – MSK Zilina
- Slovakia – DAC
- Poland – Rakow Czestochowa
- Albania – KF Laci
- Albania – FK Partizani Tirana
- Albania – Teuta
- Latvia – RFS
- Latvia – Valmieras
- Latvia – Liepaja
- Amernia – Alashkert
- Armenia – Ararat-Armenia
- Armenia – Lori
- Lithuania – Suduva
- Lithuania – Kauno Zalgiris
- North Macedonia – Rabotnicki
- Bosnia – Velez
- Bosnia – NK Siroki Brijeg
- Bosnia – Borac
- North Macedonia – Shkupi
- Finland – KuPS
- Finland – FC Honka
- Ireland – Sligo Rovers
- Ireland – Bohemians
- Ireland – Dundalk
- Norther Ireland – Glentoran
- 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:
- Armenia – Ararat
- Latvia – Riga
- Albania – Vllaznia
- North Macedonia – Shkendija
- Bosnia – Sarajevo
- Moldova – Sheriff
- Republic of Ireland – Shamrock Rovers
- Finland – HJK
- Georgia – Dinamo Tsbilisi
- Malta – Hamrun
- Iceland – Valur
- Wales – Connah’s Quay
- Gibraltar – Europa
- Northern Ireland – Lindfield
- Montenegro – Budocnost
- Estonia – TJK Legion
- Kosovo – Ballkani
- San Marino – Tre Fiori
- Andorra – Inter d’Escaldes
- 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.
- Russia – Lokomotiv Moscow
- Belgium – Genk
- Ukraine – Zorya Luhansk
- Netherlands – AZ Alkmaar
- Turkey – Fenerbahce
- Austria – LASK
- Denmark – AGF
- Poland – Pogon Szczecin
- Romania – CFR Cluj
- Romania – Craiova
- Bulgaria – CSKA Sofia
- Azerbaijan – Neftci
- Belarus – BATE
- Kazakhstan – Astana
- Israel – Hapoel Ironi Kiryat
- Israel – Maccabi Tel Aviv
- Norway – Molde FK
- Norway – Valerenga
- Norway – Rosenborg
- Sweden – IF Elsborg
- Sweden – Djurgarden
- Croatia – Rijeka
- Croatia – NK Osijek
- Serbia – Vojvodina
- Serbia – Partizani Belgrade
- Greece – PAOK
- Greece – AEK Athens
- Switzerland – Lugano
- Switzerland – Servette
- Switzerland – Basel
- Cyprus – AEL Limassol
- Cyprus – Apollon Limassol
- Czech Republic – Jablonec
- Scotland – Livingstone
- Scotland – Aberdeen
- Denmark – Copenhagen
- Austria – SK Sturm Graz
- Turkey – Trabzsponsor
- Netherlands – Vitesse
- Ukraine – Vorskla
- Belgium – Anderlecht
- Russia – CSKA Moscow
- Portugal – Pacos Ferreira
- Luxembourg – Dundelage
- Hungary – Fehervar
- Slovenia – Maribor
- Slovakia – MSK Zilina
- Slovakia – DAC
- Poland – Rakow Czestochowa
- Albania – FK Partizani Tirana
- Finland – KuPS
- 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.
- Armenia – Ararat
- Latvia – Riga
- Albania – Vllaznia
- North Macedonia – Shkendija
- Bosnia – Sarajevo
- Republic of Ireland – Shamrock Rovers
- Finland – HJK
- Georgia – Dinamo Tsbilisi
- Iceland – Valur
- 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.
- Portugal – Braga
- France – Marseille
- Italy – Roma
- Germany – Bayer Leverkusen
- England – Tottenham
- Spain – Real Betis
- Russia – Lokomotiv Moscow
- Belgium – Genk
- Ukraine – Zorya Luhansk
- Netherlands – AZ Alkmaar
- Turkey – Fenerbahce
- Austria – LASK
- Israel – Maccabi Tel Aviv
- Norway – Molde FK
- Norway – Valerenga
- Sweden – Djurgarden
- Serbia – Partizani Belgrade
- Greece – PAOK
- Greece – AEK Athens
- Switzerland – Lugano
- Switzerland – Basel
- Cyprus – Apollon Limassol
- Scotland – Aberdeen
- Denmark – Copenhagen
- Austria – SK Sturm Graz
- Turkey – Trabzsponsor
- Netherlands – Vitesse
- Belgium – Anderlecht
- Russia – CSKA Moscow
- Portugal – Pacos Ferreira
- Hungary – Fehervar
- Ireland – Dundalk
- Celtic
- 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.
- Republic of Ireland – Shamrock Rovers
- Finland – HJK
- Georgia – Dinamo Tsbilisi
- Northern Ireland – Lindfield
- Bosnia – Sarajevo
- Hungary – Ferencvaros
- Poland – Legia Warsaw
- Slovakia – Slovan Bratislava
- Luxembourg– Fola Esch
- 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:
- Denmark – AGF
- Scotland – Hibernian
- Ukraine – Desna
- Sweden – Malmo
- Norway – Bodo Glimt
- Austria – Rapid Vienna
- Romania – FCSB
- Azerbaijan – Qarabag
- Israel – Maccabi Haifa
- Belarus – Shakhtar Soligorsk
Which would make the final 32 teams of the tournament:
- Celtic
- CSKA Moscow
- Sturm Graz
- Basel
- PAOK
- Molde FK
- LASK
- Fenerbahce
- AZ Alkmaar
- Genk
- Lokomotiv Moscow
- Real Betis
- Tottenham/Liverpool
- Bayer Leverkusen
- Roma
- Marseille
- Braga
- Ferencvaros
- Legia Warsaw
- Slovan Bratislava
- Shamrock Rovers
- Olimpija
- Hibernian
- AGF
- Bodo Glimt
- Desna
- Malmo
- Rapid Vienna
- Qarabag
- FCSB
- Shakhtar Soligorsk
- 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
- Tottenham/Liverpool – A
- AS Roma – B
- Bayer Leverkusen – C
- Basel – D
- CSKA Moscow – E
- Braga – F
- Celtic – G
- Lokomotiv Moscow – H
2nd Seed
- Marseille – G
- Genk – A
- AZ Alkmaar – H
- LASK – B
- FCSB – C
- Qarabag – D
- PAOK – F
- Fenerbahce – E
3rd Seed
- Real Betis – G
- Malmo – B
- Molde FK – A
- Legia Warsaw – C
- Rapid Vienna – E
- Ferencvaros – D
- NK Olimpija – H
- Sturm Graz – F
Unseeded
- Slovan Bratislava – G
- Shamrock Rovers – H
- Hibernian – C
- AGF – E
- Bodo Glimt – D
- Desna – B
- Shakhtar Soligorsk – A
- 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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