UEFA Conference League facts for kids
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| Organising body | UEFA |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2021 (rebranded in 2024) |
| Region | Europe |
| Number of teams | 36 (league phase) 184 (total) |
| Qualifier for | UEFA Europa League |
| Related competitions | UEFA Champions League (1st tier) UEFA Europa League (2nd tier) |
| Current champions |  Chelsea (1st title) |
| Most successful club(s) |  Roma West Ham United Olympiacos Chelsea(1 title each) |
The UEFA Conference League (UECL), also known as the Conference League, is an exciting yearly football competition. It is organized by UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) for football clubs across Europe. This tournament is the third most important club competition in Europe, after the UEFA Champions League (the top one) and the UEFA Europa League (the second one).
The competition started in 2021. It was created to give more football clubs from different European countries a chance to play in big international tournaments. From the 2024–25 season, the competition changed its name to the UEFA Conference League and updated its format. Now, 36 teams play in a "league phase" instead of a group stage. Teams usually get into this competition if they don't qualify for the Champions League or Europa League, or if they are eliminated from the Europa League early on.
The team that wins the UEFA Conference League gets a special reward: they automatically qualify for the UEFA Europa League in the next season.
So far, English clubs have won the most titles (2 wins). Italy and Greece each have one win. Roma was the very first winner in 2022. The current champions are Chelsea, who won the 2025 final.
Contents
History of the Tournament
| Season | Winners |
|---|---|
| UEFA Europa Conference League | |
| 2021–22 | Roma |
| 2022–23 | West Ham United |
| 2023–24 | Olympiacos |
| UEFA Conference League | |
| 2024–25 | Chelsea |
UEFA started thinking about a third European club competition around 2015. They wanted to give clubs from countries with lower football rankings a better chance to play in big tournaments. This would help them go further than they usually could in the Champions League or Europa League.
In December 2018, UEFA officially announced the new competition. It was first called "Europa League 2" or "UEL2". UEFA said the new tournament would mean "more matches for more clubs and more associations." The official name, "UEFA Europa Conference League," was announced in September 2019.
The trophy and the competition's look were revealed in May 2021. The Europa Conference League Trophy is about 57.5 centimeters (22.6 inches) tall and weighs 11 kilograms (24 pounds).
The very first goal in the qualifiers for the tournament was scored on July 6, 2021, by Evo Chris from Mosta. The first goal in the main group stage was scored by Stipe Perica from Maccabi Tel Aviv on September 14, 2021. The first player to score three goals in one game (a hat-trick) was Harry Kane for Tottenham Hotspur on September 30, 2021. He scored his three goals in just 20 minutes!
In May 2022, Feyenoord and Roma were the first two teams to reach the final. Roma won, becoming the first-ever champions.
On November 3, 2022, West Ham United became the first team to win all six of their group stage matches. They went on to win the entire competition in 2023, beating Fiorentina 2–1 in the final. They were also the first team to finish the tournament without losing a single game, with 12 wins and one draw.
On June 28, 2023, UEFA announced that the competition would be renamed to the UEFA Conference League starting from the 2024–25 season. They removed "Europa" from the name to help it stand out as its own unique competition. In the same season, the format changed from a 32-team group stage to a larger 36-team league phase.
In the 2024 final, Olympiacos beat Fiorentina 1–0. This made them the first Greek club to win a major European football competition.
The Conference League Trophy
The Conference League trophy was designed by a company called Pentagram. It is made from brass, with parts covered in steel and silver. The trophy has 32 hexagonal (six-sided) columns. These columns represent the 32 teams that were in the original group stage of the competition. They curve upwards, looking like a football bending through the air towards the goal.
How Teams Qualify and Play
How Teams Get In
Just like the Champions League, teams qualify for the Conference League through different paths. There are three qualifying rounds and then a play-off round. Teams that get knocked out of the Champions League or Europa League qualifiers can sometimes drop down into the Conference League.
The number of teams from each country that can enter depends on their country's football ranking (called the UEFA country coefficients):
- Countries ranked 1 to 5 (like England or Spain) usually get one team.
- Countries ranked 6 to 15 get two teams.
- Countries ranked 16 to 50 get three teams.
- Countries ranked 51 to 55 get two teams.
- Liechtenstein is special because it doesn't have a domestic league. Its cup winner always gets a spot.
This system makes sure that many different countries get a chance to have their clubs play in European competitions.
League Phase and Knockout Rounds
The competition starts with a "league phase" where 36 teams play against each other. After the league phase, the top eight teams get a direct pass to the "Round of 16." Teams ranked 9th to 24th play in special "knockout play-offs" to earn a spot in the Round of 16. Teams ranked 25th to 36th, and those who lose in the play-offs, are out of the competition.
After the Round of 16, there are quarter-finals, semi-finals, and then the final match. All knockout matches, except the final, are played over two games (one at each team's home stadium). The final is played at a special neutral stadium.
The winner of the UEFA Conference League gets to play in the UEFA Europa League the next season. Most matches in the Conference League are played on Thursdays.
Prize Money for Clubs
Clubs in the UEFA Conference League earn money based on how far they go in the competition and how well they perform. They also get money from TV rights.
For the 2024–25 season, here's how some of the prize money worked:
- Just for being in the League Phase, teams received €3,170,000.
- Winning a match in the League Phase earned a team €400,000, and a draw earned €133,000.
- The top 8 teams in the League Phase received an extra €400,000.
- Teams that finished 9th to 24th in the League Phase received €200,000.
- Reaching the Round of 16 earned €800,000.
- Reaching the Quarter-finals earned €1,300,000.
- Reaching the Semi-finals earned €2,500,000.
- The team that lost in the final received €4,000,000.
- The champions received €7,000,000!
Teams also get money for each qualifying round they play in, even if they are eliminated.
Records and Statistics
Winners by Club
| Club | Winners | Runners-up | Years won | Years runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roma |
1 | 0 | 2022 | — |
| West Ham United |
1 | 0 | 2023 | — |
| Olympiacos |
1 | 0 | 2024 | — |
| Chelsea |
1 | 0 | 2025 | — |
| Fiorentina |
0 | 2 | — | 2023, 2024 |
 Feyenoord |
0 | 1 | — | 2022 |
 Real Betis |
0 | 1 | — | 2025 |
Winners by Nation
| Nation | Winners | Runners-up | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| England |
2 | 0 | 2 |
| Italy |
1 | 2 | 3 |
| Greece |
1 | 0 | 1 |
| Netherlands |
0 | 1 | 1 |
| Spain |
0 | 1 | 1 |
Top Goal Scorers
- Players taking part in the 2024–25 UEFA Conference League are highlighted in bold.
- Players still active but not in this year's Conference League are highlighted in italics.
- This table does not include goals scored in the qualifying rounds.
| Rank | Player | Goals | Apps | Ratio | Years | Club(s) (Goals/Apps) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Eran Zahavi |
12 | 14 | 0.86 | 2021– | PSV Eindhoven (4/6), Maccabi Tel Aviv (8/8) |
 Arthur Cabral |
20 | 0.6 | 2021– | Basel (5/6), Fiorentina (7/14) | ||
| Vangelis Pavlidis |
21 | 0.57 | 2021– | AZ | ||
| 4 |  Ayoub El Kaabi |
11 | 9 | 1.22 | 2023– | Olympiacos |
| 5 |  Gift Orban |
10 | 11 | 0.91 | 2022– | Gent |
| Cyriel Dessers |
13 | 0.77 | 2021– | Feyenoord | ||
| 7 | Tammy Abraham |
9 | 13 | 0.69 | 2021– | Roma |
 Hugo Cuypers |
16 | 0.56 | 2022– | Gent | ||
 Aleksandar Čavrić |
20 | 0.45 | 2021– | Slovan Bratislava | ||
| 10 |  Afimico Pululu |
8 | 12 | 0.67 | 2024– | Jagiellonia Białystok |
 Ricardo Gomes |
16 | 0.5 | 2021– | Partizan | ||
 Gaëtan Laborde |
17 | 0.47 | 2021– | Rennes (5/7), Nice (3/10) | ||
 Amahl Pellegrino |
19 | 0.42 | 2021– | Bodø/Glimt | ||
 Cédric Bakambu |
22 | 0.36 | 2021– | Marseille (0/7), Real Betis (8/15) | ||
 Antonín Barák |
22 | 0.36 | 2022– | Fiorentina | ||
| Rolando Mandragora |
37 | 0.22 | 2022– | Fiorentina |
Other Cool Records
- The biggest win in a single match in the Conference League was 8–0. This happened when Chelsea beat FC Noah in the 2024–25 season.
- West Ham United is the only club to win the competition without losing a single game. They won all but one match, which was a draw, in the 2022–23 season.
- West Ham and Chelsea share the record for the most wins in one Conference League season, with 13 wins each. West Ham did it in 2022–23, and Chelsea did it in 2024–25.
- Chelsea scored a record 42 goals in just 13 matches during their winning campaign in 2024–25.
Player Awards
Player of the Season
UEFA gives out an award for the best player in the Conference League each season. Before 2024, it was called the UEFA Europa Conference League Player of the Season.
The winner is chosen by the coaches of the clubs that played in the main part of the competition, along with 55 sports journalists from different European countries.
| Season | Player | Club | |
|---|---|---|---|
| UEFA Conference League Player of the Season | |||
| 2021–22 | Lorenzo Pellegrini |
Roma |
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| 2022–23 | Declan Rice |
West Ham United |
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| 2023–24 | Ayoub El Kaabi |
Olympiacos |
|
| 2024–25 | Isco |
Real Betis |
|
Young Player of the Season
There is also an award for the best young player in the UEFA Conference League. This award was also renamed in 2024, just like the main Player of the Season award.
| Season | Player | Club | |
|---|---|---|---|
| UEFA Conference League Young Player of the Season | |||
| 2021–22 |  Luis Sinisterra |
Feyenoord |
|
| 2022–23 | Andy Diouf |
 Basel |
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| 2023–24 | Igor Thiago |
Club Brugge |
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| 2024–25 | Tobias Gulliksen |
 Djurgården |
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Sponsors of the Tournament
The UEFA Conference League has several international companies that help sponsor it. These are often the same companies that sponsor the UEFA Europa League. Some of the main sponsors for the 2024–2027 period include:
- Just Eat Takeaway
- Hankook
- Engelbert Strauss
- Swissquote
- Kipsta
- Betano
See also
In Spanish: Liga Conferencia de la UEFA para niños
- UEFA club competition records
- UEFA Intertoto Cup
- UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
