2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League
The 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League will be the first season of the UEFA Europa Conference League, Europe's tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA.
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| Tournament details | |
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| Dates | Qualifying: 6 July – 26 August 2021 Competition proper: 16 September 2021 – 25 May 2022 |
| Teams | Competition proper: 32+8 Total: 136+45 (from 54 or 55 associations) |
The final will be played at the Arena Kombëtare in Tirana, Albania.[1] The winners of the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League will automatically qualify for the 2022–23 UEFA Europa League group stage, unless they manage to qualify for the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League group stage.[2]
This season is the first since 1998–99 (the last season that the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was played) where three major European club competitions (UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League) organised by UEFA take place.[3]
On 24 June 2021, UEFA approved the proposal to abolish the away goals rule in all UEFA club competitions, which had been used since 1965. Therefore, if in a two-legged tie, two teams score the same amount of aggregate goals, the winner of tie will not be decided by the number of away goals scored by each team, but always by 30 minutes of extra time, and if the two teams score the same amount of goals in extra time, the winner will be decided by a penalty shoot-out.[4]
Association team allocationEdit
A total of 181 teams from at least 54 of the 55 UEFA member associations participate in the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League (the possible exception being Spain, although one of their teams may still participate after finishing third in the Europa League group stage). The association ranking based on the UEFA country coefficients is used to determine the number of participating teams for each association:[5]
- Associations 1–5 each have one team qualify.
- Association 1 (Spain) do not have any team qualify for this season, as the team which would have participated, Villarreal, won the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League and earned a place in the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League.
- Associations 6–15 and 51–55 each have two teams qualify.
- Associations 16–50 (except Liechtenstein)[Note LIE] each have three teams qualify.
- As the UEFA Europa Conference League title holders' berth in the UEFA Europa League is vacant this season, association 16 (Cyprus) have their domestic cup winner promoted from the Europa Conference League to the Europa League, so they only have two teams qualify.
- Liechtenstein have one team qualify (Liechtenstein organises only a domestic cup and no domestic league).[Note LIE]
- Moreover, 20 teams eliminated from the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League and 26 teams eliminated from the 2021–22 UEFA Europa League are transferred to the Europa Conference League.
- For this season, only 19 teams eliminated from the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League are transferred, as there is one fewer team competing in the Champions Path qualifying of 2021–22 UEFA Champions League.
Association rankingEdit
For the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League, the associations are allocated places according to their 2020 UEFA country coefficients, which takes into account their performance in European competitions from 2015–16 to 2019–20.[6]
Apart from the allocation based on the country coefficients, associations may have additional teams participating in the Europa Conference League, as noted below:
- (UCL) – Additional teams transferred to/from the UEFA Champions League
- (UEL) – Additional teams transferred from the UEFA Europa League
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DistributionEdit
The following is the access list for this season.[7] In the default access list, the title holders of the Europa Conference League qualify for the Europa League group stage. However, since this berth is vacant this season, the following changes to the access list were made:
- The cup winners of association 16 (Cyprus) enter the Europa League instead of the second qualifying round of the Europa Conference League.
- The cup winners of associations 30 (Slovakia) and 31 (Liechtenstein) enter the second qualifying round instead of the first qualifying round.
As Villarreal, which otherwise would have qualified for the Europa Conference League play-off round via their domestic league, won the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League, thereby earning an automatic spot in the Champions League group stage as the Europa League title holders, thus vacating a berth in the play-off round. The following changes have been confirmed by UEFA:[8]
- The domestic cup winners of associations 17 (Switzerland) and 18 (Greece) enter the third qualifying round instead of the second qualifying round.
- The domestic cup winners of associations 32 (Slovenia), 33 (Hungary), 34 (Luxembourg) and 35 (Lithuania) enter the second qualifying round instead of the first qualifying round.
Moreover, in the default access list, originally 17 losers from the Champions League first qualifying round are transferred to the Europa Conference League second qualifying round (Champions Path). However, since the Champions League title holders, Chelsea, which were guaranteed a berth in the Champions League group stage, already qualified via their domestic league, only 16 losers from the Champions League first qualifying round are transferred to the Europa Conference League second qualifying round (Champions Path) after the Champions League access list was rebalanced. As a result, only 19 teams enter the Champions Path second qualifying round (one of the losers from the Champions League first qualifying round is drawn to receive a bye to the third qualifying round).
| Teams entering in this round | Teams advancing from previous round | Teams transferred from Champions League or Europa League | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First qualifying round (66 teams) |
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| Second qualifying round (108 teams) |
Champions Path (18 teams) |
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| Main Path (90 teams) |
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| Third qualifying round (64 teams) |
Champions Path (10 teams) |
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| Main Path (54 teams) |
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| Play-off round (44 teams) |
Champions Path (10 teams) |
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| Main Path (34 teams) |
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| Group stage (32 teams) |
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| Preliminary knockout round (16 teams) |
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| Knockout phase (16 teams) |
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TeamsEdit
NOTE: The following list of qualified teams is provisional, subject to final confirmation by UEFA in June 2021, as each participating team must obtain a UEFA club licence. All qualified teams are included in this list as long as they have not been banned by UEFA or have not failed their final appeal with their football association on obtaining a licence. |
The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round:
- CW: Domestic cup winners
- 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, etc.: League position of the previous season
- LC: League cup winners
- RW: Regular season winners
- PW: End-of-season Europa Conference League play-offs winners
- UCL: Transferred from the Champions League
- Q1: Losers from the first qualifying round
- PR: Losers from the preliminary round (F: final; SF: semi-finals)
- UEL: Transferred from the Europa League
- GS: Third-placed teams from the group stage
- PO: Losers from the play-off round
- CH/MP Q3: Losers from the third qualifying round (Champions/Main Path)
- Abd-: League positions of abandoned season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe as determined by the national association; all teams are subject to approval by UEFA as per the guidelines for entry to European competitions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[9]
The second qualifying round, third qualifying round and play-off round are divided into Champions Path (CH) and Main Path (MP).
CC: 2021 UEFA club coefficients.[10]
Three teams not playing a national top division take part in the competition: Gagra (2nd tier), Sileks (2nd tier) and Vaduz (2nd tier).
Notes
- ^ Champions League (UCL Q1): One of the Champions League first qualifying round losers will be drawn to receive a bye to the third qualifying round (Champions Path), as one fewer loser were transferred to the second qualifying round (Champions Path), due to a Champions League group stage berth vacated by the Champions League title holders.
- ^ Iceland (ISL): The 2020 Úrvalsdeild and the 2020 Icelandic Cup were abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Iceland. The second-placed, third-placed and fourth-placed teams of the league at the time of the abandonment based on the average number of points per matches played for each team, FH, Stjarnan and Breiðablik, were selected to play in the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League by the Football Association of Iceland.[11]
- ^ Kazakhstan (KAZ): The 2020 Kazakhstan Cup was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Kazakhstan. As a result, the fourth-placed team of the 2020 Kazakhstan Premier League was selected to play in the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League by the Football Federation of Kazakhstan.[12]
- ^ Liechtenstein (LIE):
- The seven teams affiliated with the Liechtenstein Football Association (LFV) all play in the Swiss football league system. The only competition organised by the LFV is the Liechtenstein Football Cup – the winners of which qualify for the UEFA Europa Conference League.
- The 2020–21 Liechtenstein Cup was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Liechtenstein. The team remaining in the cup with the highest UEFA club coefficient, Vaduz, were selected to play in the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League by the Liechtenstein Football Association, entering the second qualifying round.[13]
- ^ Luxembourg (LUX): The 2020–21 Luxembourg Cup was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Luxembourg. As a result, the fourth-placed team of the 2020–21 Luxembourg National Division was selected to play in the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League by the Luxembourg Football Federation.[14]
- ^ Malta (MLT): The 2020–21 Maltese Premier League and the 2020–21 Maltese FA Trophy were abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Malta. Originally the second, third and fourth-placed teams of the league at the time of the abandonment, Hibernians, Gżira United and Birkirkara, were selected to play in the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League by the Malta Football Association. However, Ħamrun Spartans who were declared champions were subsequently banned from European competitions for match fixing. As a result, Hibernians were elevated to the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League and Mosta, the sixth-placed team, were selected to play in the UEFA Europa Conference League, since Sliema Wanderers, the fifth-placed team, failed to obtain a UEFA license.[15][16][17]
- ^ Norway (NOR): The 2020 Norwegian Football Cup was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway. As a result, the fourth-placed team of the 2020 Eliteserien was selected to play in the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League by the Norwegian Football Federation.[18]
- ^ Wales (WAL): The 2020–21 Welsh Cup was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Wales. As a result, the third-placed team from the 2020–21 Cymru Premier was selected to play in the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League by the Football Association of Wales.[19]
ScheduleEdit
The schedule of the competition is as follows.[20] Matches are scheduled for Thursdays apart from the final, which takes place on a Wednesday, though exceptionally can take place on Tuesdays or Wednesdays due to scheduling conflicts (especially featuring teams from countries where there are very few sufficient stadiums, such as Gibraltar and Wales). Scheduled kick-off times starting from the group stage are 18:45 (instead of 18:55 previously) and 21:00 CEST/CET, though exceptionally can take place at 16:30 due to geographical reasons.[21]
All draws start at 13:00 or 14:00 CEST/CET and are held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. On 16 July 2021, UEFA announced that the group stage draw will be held in Istanbul, Turkey.[22]
| Phase | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying | First qualifying round | 15 June 2021 | 8 July 2021 | 15 July 2021 |
| Second qualifying round | 16 June 2021 | 22 July 2021 | 29 July 2021 | |
| Third qualifying round | 19 July 2021 | 5 August 2021 | 12 August 2021 | |
| Play-offs | 2 August 2021 | 19 August 2021 | 26 August 2021 | |
| Group stage | Matchday 1 | 27 August 2021 | 16 September 2021 | |
| Matchday 2 | 30 September 2021 | |||
| Matchday 3 | 21 October 2021 | |||
| Matchday 4 | 4 November 2021 | |||
| Matchday 5 | 25 November 2021 | |||
| Matchday 6 | 9 December 2021 | |||
| Knockout phase | Knockout round play-offs | 13 December 2021 | 17 February 2022 | 24 February 2022 |
| Round of 16 | 25 February 2022 | 10 March 2022 | 17 March 2022 | |
| Quarter-finals | 18 March 2022 | 7 April 2022 | 14 April 2022 | |
| Semi-finals | 28 April 2022 | 5 May 2022 | ||
| Final | 25 May 2022 at Arena Kombëtare, Tirana | |||
Qualifying roundsEdit
First qualifying roundEdit
The draw for the first qualifying round was held on 15 June 2021, 13:30 CEST.[23] The first legs were played on 6 and 8 July, and the second legs were played on 13 and 15 July.
The winners of the ties advanced to the Main Path second qualifying round. The losers were eliminated from European competitions for the season.
Second qualifying roundEdit
The draw for the second qualifying round was held on 16 June 2021, 13:30 CEST.[24] The first legs were played on 20, 21 and 22 July, and the second legs were played on 27 and 29 July.
The winners of the ties advanced to the third qualifying round of their respective path. The losers were eliminated from European competitions for the season.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Shamrock Rovers 
|
Bye | N/A | – | – |
Teuta 
|
3–2 |  Inter Club d'Escaldes
|
0–2 | 3–0 (a.e.t.) |
Riga 
|
3–0 |  Shkëndija
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2–0 | 1–0 |
Dinamo Tbilisi 
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2–7 |  Maccabi Haifa
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1–2 | 1–5 |
HB Tórshavn 
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6–0[A] |  Budućnost Podgorica
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4–0 | 2–0 |
Linfield 
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4–0 |  Borac Banja Luka
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4–0 | 0–0 |
Shakhtyor Soligorsk 
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1–3 |  Fola Esch
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1–2 | 0–1 |
Folgore 
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3–7 |  Hibernians
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1–3 | 2–4 |
Prishtina 
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6–5 |  Connah's Quay Nomads
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4–1 | 2–4 |
Valur 
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0–6 |  Bodø/Glimt
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0–3 | 0–3 |
- ^ Order of legs reversed after original draw.
- ^ Order of legs reversed after original draw.
Third qualifying roundEdit
The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 19 July 2021, 14:00 CEST.[25] The first legs will be played on 3 and 5 August, and the second legs on 10 and 12 August.
The winners of the ties will advance to the play-off round of their respective path. The losers will be eliminated from European competitions for the season.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maccabi Haifa
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1 | HB Tórshavn
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5 Aug | 12 Aug |
| Linfield
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2 | Fola Esch
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1–2 | 12 Aug |
| Shamrock Rovers
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3 | Teuta
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5 Aug | 12 Aug |
| Riga
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4 | Hibernians
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5 Aug | 12 Aug |
| Prishtina
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5 | Bodø/Glimt
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5 Aug | 12 Aug |
Play-off roundEdit
The draw for the play-off round will be held on 2 August 2021, 14:00 CEST.[26] The first legs will be played on 19 August, and the second legs on 26 August.
The winners of the ties will advance to the group stage. The losers will be eliminated from European competitions for the season.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loser of match 2 | 1 | Winner of match 5 | Aug 19 | Aug 26 |
| Loser of match 5 | 2 | Winner of match 1 | Aug 19 | Aug 26 |
| Loser of match 1 | 3 | Winner of match 3 | Aug 19 | Aug 26 |
| Winner of match 4 | 4 | Loser of match 4 | Aug 19 | Aug 26 |
| Winner of match 2 | 5 | Loser of match 3 | Aug 19 | Aug 26 |
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner of match 23 | 1 | Winner of match 13 | Aug 19 | Aug 26 |
| Winner of match 6 | 2 | Winner of match 19 | Aug 19 | Aug 26 |
| Winner of match 16 | 3 | Winner of match 21 | Aug 19 | Aug 26 |
| Winner of match 9 | 4 |  Tottenham Hotspur
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Aug 19 | Aug 26 |
Rennes 
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5 | Winner of match 25 | Aug 19 | Aug 26 |
| Winner of match 26 | 6 | Winner of match 27 | Aug 19 | Aug 26 |
| Winner of match 22 | 7 | Loser of match 3 | Aug 19 | Aug 26 |
| Winner of match 8 | 8 | Winner of match 24 | Aug 19 | Aug 26 |
| Winner of match 15 | 9 | Winner of match 12 | Aug 19 | Aug 26 |
| Winner of match 2 | 10 |  Union Berlin
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Aug 19 | Aug 26 |
| Winner of match 10 | 11 | Winner of match 7 | Aug 19 | Aug 26 |
| Winner of match 17 | 12 | Winner of match 11 | Aug 19 | Aug 26 |
| Winner of match 1 | 13 | Winner of match 18 | Aug 19 | Aug 26 |
| Winner of match 5 | 14 | Winner of match 3 | Aug 19 | Aug 26 |
| Winner of match 14 | 15 |  Roma
|
Aug 19 | Aug 26 |
| Winner of match 4 | 16 | Loser of match 2 | Aug 19 | Aug 26 |
| Loser of match 1 | 17 | Winner of match 20 | Aug 19 | Aug 26 |
Group stageEdit
The draw for the group stage will be held on 27 August 2021 in Istanbul, Turkey.[22][27]
Qualified teams
- 10 losers from Europa League play-off round
- 17 winners from the play-off round (Main Path)
- 5 winners from the play-off round (Champions Path)
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
- ^ "Tirana to host first UEFA Europa Conference League Final". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 3 December 2020. Archived from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
- ^ "UEFA Europa Conference League: what is it? When does it start? Who's involved?". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 31 October 2019. Archived from the original on 22 August 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
- ^ "UEFA Executive Committee approves new club competition". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 2 December 2018. Archived from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
- ^ "Abolition of the away goals rule in all UEFA club competitions". UEFA.com. 24 June 2021.
- ^ "Regulations of the UEFA Europa Conference League, 2021/22 Season". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
- ^ "Country coefficients 2019/20". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 2020. Archived from the original on 4 December 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
- ^ "Access list 2021–24" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 December 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
- ^ "Seeding in the Europa Conference League 2021/2022". Kassiesa.net. 30 May 2021.
- ^ "Guidelines on eligibility principles for 2020/21 UEFA Club Competitions – COVID 19" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 23 April 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 November 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
- ^ "Club coefficients 2020/21". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations.
- ^ "Keppni hætt". Knattspyrnusamband Íslands. 30 October 2020. Archived from the original on 7 November 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
- ^ "Итоги OLIMPBET-Чемпионата Казахстана сезона-2020". Профессиональная футбольная лига Казахстана. 30 November 2020. Archived from the original on 16 March 2021. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
- ^ "Auch 2021 kein Cupsieger". Liechtensteiner Fussballverband. 25 May 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
- ^ "Compétitions nationales de la saison 2020/2021 – nouvelles mesures sanitaires du Gouvernement jusqu'au 15 janvier 2021". Fédération Luxembourgeoise de Football. 13 December 2020. Archived from the original on 24 December 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
- ^ "Sports ban forces termination of domestic competitions". Malta Football Association. 9 April 2021.
- ^ "UEFA board turns down Ħamrun Spartans' appeal to compete in 2021-22 Champions League". Sportsdesk.com.mt. Times of Malta. 9 June 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
- ^ "Hamrun Spartans to be excluded from Champions League by UEFA over past match fixing case". Malta Independent. 9 June 2021.
- ^ "NM kvinner gjennomføres - NM menn avlyses". Norges Fotballforbund. 10 September 2020. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
- ^ "The JD Welsh Cup has been cancelled for 2020/21 season". Football Association of Wales. 31 March 2021.
- ^ "UEFA Europa Conference League: all you need to know". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 2 December 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
- ^ "Format change for 2020/21 UEFA Nations League". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 24 September 2019. Archived from the original on 26 September 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
- ^ a b "Venues appointed for club competition finals". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 16 July 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
- ^ "UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifying round draw". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 15 June 2021.
- ^ "UEFA Europa Conference League second qualifying round draw". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 16 June 2021.
- ^ "UEFA Europa Conference League third qualifying round draw". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 19 July 2021.
- ^ "UEFA Europa Conference League play-off round draw". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 2 August 2021.
- ^ "UEFA Europa Conference League group stage draw". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 27 August 2021.