There will be a third season-long UEFA men’s football club competition for the first time in more than 20 years next season when the UEFA Europa Conference League begins. We explain who will be involved and when games will be played.
Who enters the UEFA Europa Conference League?
In all, 184 teams will be involved over the course of the season including at least one from each of the 55 associations and 46 clubs transferring from either the UEFA Champions League or UEFA Europa League.
Before the group stage there will be three qualifying rounds and a play-off round (split into a main path, and a champions path for those transferring from the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League champions path). The access list explains which teams (including some national cup winners) enter from which associations and in which rounds, as well as how clubs transfer from the other competitions.
No teams qualify directly for the group stage, with the 32 teams consisting of:
• 17 teams from the UEFA Europa Conference League main path
• 5 teams from the UEFA Europa Conference League champions path
• 10 teams eliminated in the UEFA Europa League play-offs
How will it work?
There will be eight groups of four teams, followed by knockout round play-offs, the round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final.
The eight group winners automatically go through to the last 16. Additional knockout round play-offs will then be played before the round of 16 between the eight group runners-up and the third-ranked teams of the UEFA Europa League groups.
First final: Tirana
The 21,690-capacity National Arena (Arena Kombëtare) will stage the first final on 25 May 2022, as announced by the UEFA Executive Committee on 3 December 2020. The stadium opened in November 2019 with a European Qualifier between Albania and France. It was built, with the help of UEFA’s HatTrick assistance programme, on the site of the former Qemal Stafa Stadium in the centre of the Albanian capital.
When are the games?
The UEFA Europa Conference League fixtures will take place on Thursdays along with UEFA Europa League games though the final in Tirana will be a week after the UEFA Europa League final in Sevilla on 18 May 2020. The matches of the two competitions will in principle be equally split between the two time slots. Draw dates are to be confirmed.
First qualifying round: 8 & 15 July
Second qualifying round: 22 & 29 July
Third qualifying round: 5 & 12 August
Play-offs: 19 & 26 August
Group stage: 16 & 30 September, 21 October, 4 & 25 November, 9 December
Knockout round play-offs: 17 & 24 February
Round of 16: 10 & 17 March
Quarter-finals: 7 & 14 April
Semi-finals: 28 April & 5 May
Final: 25 May (National Arena, Tirana)
The competition will run throughout the 2021–2024 cycle at least.