
It means at least 34 countries will be represented in the group stages of the UEFA club competitions (the guaranteed number is 26 under the present format). Originally named "Europa League 2" as a working title, the competition was created to give teams from smaller nations, who would usually not make the group stage of European competition, a greater chance.

Group stage: August 27 Why has UEFA Europa Conference League been created? 19 with two matches to play (one tie) rather than six. One bonus for teams from the top leagues is they only have to play one qualifying round (rather than the three of recent seasons in the Europa League). The opening matches of the first qualifying round were played on Tuesday, July 6. Knockout stage: 8 third-placed teams from Europa League groups enter When does the UEFA Europa Conference League begin? Group stage: 10 losers from Europa League playoff round enter

Playoff round: 8 losers from Europa League third-qualifying round enter Second qualifying round: 20 losers from Champions League qualifying enter Teams who lose in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League and Europa League will filter down to the Europa Conference League. Starting in the second qualifying round: Santa Clara, Sochi, Gent, Vorskla Poltava, Feyenoord, Sivasspor, Austria Vienna, FC Copenhagen, Aarhus, Hibernian, Aberdeen, Slovacko, Viktoria Plzen, Apollon Limassol, AEL Limassol, FC Basel, Servette, Aris Thessaloniki, AEK Athens, Partizan, Cukaricki, Vojvodina, Osijek, Rijeka, Hajduk Split, IF Elfsborg, BK Hacken, Molde, Valerenga, Rosenborg, Maccabi Tel Aviv, FC Ashdod, Hapoel Be'er Sheva, Tobol, Astana, Shakhter Karagandy, BATE Borisov, Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino, Dynamo Brest, Kesla, Qarabag, Sumgayit, CSKA Sofia, Lokomotiv Plovdiv, Arda, Universitatea Craiova, FCSB, Sepsi, Rakow Czestochowa, Pogon Szczecin, Dunajska Streda, Vaduz, Olimpija Ljubljana, Upjest, F91 Dudelange, Panevezys Who else will be involved? Starting in the third qualifying round: Pacos de Ferreira, Rubin Kazan, Anderlecht, Kolos Kovalivka, Vitesse, Trabzonspor, LASK, Luzern, PAOK Starting in the final qualifying round: Tottenham, Union Berlin, AS Roma, Stade Rennes So who will be playing in the inaugural edition of this new competition? Here the clubs who will take part from the second qualifying round onwards. The qualifying rounds are then rebalanced. As Villarreal won the Europa League, they will play in the Champions League and Spain will have no representative in the Europa Conference League. No team will qualify automatically for the group stage, and only the five nations from the top leagues would start in the final qualifying round. The lowest-ranked team in each of these national domestic leagues will switch from the Europa League to the Conference League. In simple terms, it's the teams who would have entered the Europa League at the preliminary round and first and second qualifying rounds.Īs the competition is aimed at giving smaller countries more group-stage football, only five clubs will come from the top leagues - all of which will enter in the final qualifying round.

So who will play in the UEFA Europa Conference League? In total, 184 teams will participate at some stage. There will be 32 teams in the group stage, and the new competition will feature 141 matches over 15 match weeks, exactly like the Europa League. How many teams will be in the UEFA Europa Conference League? All these teams could grace the group stage of the UEFA Europa Conference League in the future. Not to mention the Faroe Islands' Klaksvikar Itrottarfelag (luckily they are commonly known as KI!). How about a trip to Albania to take on KF Tirana? Or off to Estonia to take on FC Flora? Kuopion Palloseura (or KuPS) of Finland and FC Ararat-Armenia have also just failed to make the Europa League recently. And the UEFA Europa Conference League is the minor competition primarily for those who qualify by league place though it will also include the cup winners from lower-ranked leagues. The UEFA Europa League will now, for the most part, be for domestic cup winners.

It is the new third-tier of European competition, below the Champions League and the Europa League. Ranking Europe's major club silverware as newest trophy revealed What is the UEFA Europa Conference League? Find out all you need to know about the competition. The UEFA Europa Conference League will begin in the 2021-22 season. Aleksander Ceferin, the UEFA president, with the brand new UEFA Europa Conference League trophy.
