UEFA Europa Conference League facts for kids
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| Organising body | UEFA |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2021 (rebranded in 2024) |
| Region | Europe |
| Number of teams | 40 (main phase total) 32 (group stage) 184 (total) |
| Qualifier for | UEFA Europa League |
| Related competitions | UEFA Champions League (1st tier) UEFA Europa League (2nd tier) |
| Current champions |  Olympiacos (1st title) |
| Most successful club(s) |  Roma West Ham United Olympiacos(1 title each) |
| Television broadcasters | List of broadcasters |
The UEFA Europa Conference League (often called UECL) is a yearly football competition for European clubs. It is organized by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). This tournament is the third most important club competition in Europe. It comes after the Champions League (the top one) and the Europa League (the second one).
The competition started in the 2021–22 season. It was created to give more European clubs a chance to play in continental tournaments. Teams from countries with lower rankings in UEFA usually play in this league. The winners of the Europa Conference League get a spot in the Europa League for the next season. Roma won the first ever title in 2022. They beat Feyenoord 1–0 in the final. Olympiacos are the current champions, winning in 2024 against Fiorentina. Starting from the 2024–25 season, the competition will be renamed the UEFA Conference League.
Contents
How Did the Competition Start?
| Season | Winner |
|---|---|
| 2021–22 | Roma |
| 2022–23 | West Ham United |
| 2023–24 | Olympiacos |
UEFA thought about adding a third football competition since 2015. They wanted to give clubs from smaller or lower-ranked countries a better chance. These clubs often get knocked out early from the Champions League and Europa League.
In 2018, UEFA announced that a new tournament would start as part of the 2021–24 football cycle. They called it "Europa League 2" at first. UEFA said this new tournament would mean "more matches for more clubs and more associations." The official name, "UEFA Europa Conference League," was announced on September 24, 2019.
On May 24, 2021, UEFA showed off the competition's trophy. The Europa Conference League Trophy is 57.5 centimeters (about 22.6 inches) tall and weighs 11 kilograms (about 24.2 pounds).
The first goal in the Europa Conference League qualifiers was scored on July 6, 2021. It was scored by Mosta player Evo Chris. The first goal in the group stage was scored by Maccabi Tel Aviv player Stipe Perica on September 14, 2021.
On September 30, 2021, Harry Kane scored the first hat-trick (three goals in one game). He played for Tottenham Hotspur against NS Mura. Kane came on as a substitute and scored three goals in just 20 minutes!
Feyenoord and Roma were the first teams to reach the final on May 5, 2022. Roma became the first champions.
On November 3, 2022, West Ham United became the first team to win all six of their group stage matches. They later won the whole competition in 2023. They beat Fiorentina 2–1 in the final. West Ham was also the first team to finish the competition without losing any games. They had 12 wins and one draw.
On June 28, 2023, UEFA announced a name change. From the 2024–25 season, the competition will be called the UEFA Conference League. UEFA said removing "Europa" from the name will help it stand out more on its own.
How Does the Tournament Work?
The Europa Conference League has different stages. These include qualification rounds, a group stage, and then knockout rounds.
How Do Teams Qualify?
Teams qualify for the Europa Conference League in two main ways. One way is for "champions" (teams that won their domestic league but didn't make it into the Champions League). The other way is for "non-champions" (teams that finished high in their league or won a domestic cup).
The number of teams from each country depends on their UEFA country ranking. This ranking shows how well clubs from that country have done in European competitions.
- Countries ranked 1 to 5 send one team.
- Countries ranked 6 to 15 send two teams.
- Countries ranked 16 to 50 send three teams.
- Countries ranked 51 to 55 send two teams.
- Liechtenstein sends the winner of its domestic cup. This is because they do not have a league.
This system makes sure that no country gets more spots in European football than before. The tournament basically takes the lower-ranked teams from the Europa League and puts them into this new competition.
Group Stage and Knockout Rounds
The main part of the tournament starts with eight groups. Each group has four teams. After the group stage, there are knockout rounds. These include the round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and the final. All these matches, except the final, are played over two games (one home, one away).
There is also an extra knockout round before the round of 16. In this round, teams that finished second in their Europa Conference League groups play against teams that finished third in their Europa League groups.
The final match is played at a special, neutral stadium. The team that wins the Europa Conference League gets to play in the UEFA Europa League the next season. All matches in this competition are usually played on Thursdays.
Prize Money
Clubs in the Europa Conference League earn money based on how well they do. This is similar to the Champions League and Europa League. They get money for taking part, for winning or drawing matches, and for how far they go in the tournament. They also get money based on how valuable their TV market is.
For the 2022–23 season, here is how some of the prize money worked:
- Just playing in the group stage earned a team €2,940,000.
- A win in the group stage was worth €500,000.
- A draw in the group stage was worth €166,000.
- Winning your group earned an extra €650,000.
- Finishing second in your group earned an extra €325,000.
- Reaching the round of 16 was worth €600,000.
- Reaching the quarter-finals was worth €1,000,000.
- Reaching the semi-finals was worth €2,000,000.
- The team that lost in the final received €3,000,000.
- The champions received €5,000,000.
Also, any domestic champion that did not qualify for the group stages of any European tournament received an extra €260,000.
Who Has Won?
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 | — |
| Fiorentina |
0 | 2 | — | 2023, 2024 |
 Feyenoord |
0 | 1 | — | 2022 |
Winners by Nation
| Nation | Winners | Runners-up | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Italy |
1 | 2 | 3 |
| England |
1 | 0 | 1 |
| Greece |
1 | 0 | 1 |
| Netherlands |
0 | 1 | 1 |
Awards
UEFA also gives out awards for the best players in the Europa Conference League.
Player of the Season
The UEFA Europa Conference League Player of the Season award started with the first competition. A group of club coaches and journalists from each UEFA country vote for the winner.
- Winners
| Season | Player | Club |
|---|---|---|
| UEFA Europa Conference League Player of the Season | ||
| 2021–22 | Lorenzo Pellegrini |
Roma |
| 2022–23 | Declan Rice |
West Ham United |
| 2023–24 |  Ayoub El Kaabi |
Olympiacos |
Young Player of the Season
The UEFA Europa Conference League Young Player of the Season award also started in the first season. This award celebrates the best young talent in the competition.
- Winners
| Season | Player | Club |
|---|---|---|
| UEFA Europa Conference League Young Player of the Season | ||
| 2021–22 |  Luis Sinisterra |
Feyenoord |
| 2022–23 |  Andy Diouf |
 Basel |
Images for kids
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UEFA Europa Conference League Trophy
See also
In Spanish: Liga Europa Conferencia de la UEFA para niños
- UEFA Intertoto Cup
