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Statistics used for ranking and seeding teams
The confederation publishes three types of rankings: one analysing a single season, a five-year span, and a ten-year span. For men's competitions, three sets of coefficients are calculated:
National team coefficient: used during 1997–2017 to rank national teams, for seeding in the UEFA Euro qualifying and finals tournaments. UEFA decided after 2017, instead to seed national teams based on the:
The association coefficient is used to rank the football associations of Europe, and thus determine the number of clubs from an association that will participate in the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Conference League.
The UEFA ranking determines the number of teams competing in the season after the next, not in the first season after the publication of the ranking. Thus, the rankings at the end of the 2022–23 season determine the team allocation by association in the 2024–25 (not 2023–24) UEFA season. This is unrelated to the selection of teams which will fill each allocation through the individual association leagues and national cups (which is decided in the preceding season).
This coefficient is determined by the results of the clubs of the associations in the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Conference League games over the past five seasons. Two points are awarded for each win by a club, and one for a draw (points are halved in the qualifying rounds). Results determined by extra time do count in determining the allocation of points, but results determined by penalty shootouts do not affect the allocation of points, other than for bonus points given for qualification into the latter rounds. The number of points awarded each season is divided by the number of teams that participated for that association in that season. This number is calculated to three decimal places then truncated (e.g. 2+2⁄3 would be truncated to 2.666).
To determine an association's coefficient for a particular season, the coefficients for the last five seasons are added. Bonus points are added to the number of points scored in a season. Bonus points are allocated for:
Bonus Points
2024–25 through 2026–27 seasons
Round
Champions League
Europa League
Conference League
League phase participation (1–36)
6
–
–
League phase bonus increase per ascending final ranking (9–24)
0.25
0.25
0.125
League phase bonus increase per ascending final ranking (1–8)
0.25
0.25
0.25
Maximum league phase bonus (ranked 1st, for reference)
12
6
4
Each knockout round participation (R16, QF, SF, Final)
1.5
1
0.5
2021–22 through 2023–24 seasons
Round
Champions League
Europa League
Europa Conference League
Group stage participation
4
–
–
Group winner
–
4
2
Group runners-up
–
2
1
Round of 16 participation
5
1
–
Quarter-finals participation
1
1
–
Semi-finals and Finals participation
1
1
1
2018–19 through 2020–21 seasons
Round
Champions League
Europa League
Group stage participation
4
–
Round of 16 participation
5
–
Quarter-finals, semi-finals, and finals participation
1
1
UEFA uses this coefficient system to decide which teams gain automatic entry to the league phase and which teams must go through qualifying. For instance, the teams who occupy the top four league places in the associations ranked 1 to 4 in UEFA competition, the top two teams of the association ranked 5 and 6, and the champions in the associations ranked 7 to 10 gain automatic entry into the league phase for the following season's Champions League competition.
Current ranking
The ranking below takes into account of each association's performance in European competitions from 2020–21 to 2024–25, with the 2024–25 season underway. The final ranking at the end of the 2024–25 season will be used to determine the minimum number of places for each association in the 2026–27 UEFA club competitions.
The two highest annual coefficients from the 2023–24 season and onward will be used to determine two additional European Performance Spots in the Champions League for the next season.
As of 19 December 2024, the coefficients are as follows:
Ranking
Member association (L: League, C: Cup, LC: League Cup)
Indicates active associations which have all their teams still competing in this season's UEFA club competitions (i.e. Champions League, Europa League or Conference League).
Indicates active associations which have some teams still competing in this season's UEFA club competitions.
Indicates associations which have no teams remaining in this season's UEFA club competitions.
European Performance Spots: The two associations with the highest one-year coefficient in the most recent season are awarded an additional berth in the Champions League league stage.
The winner of the league cup of England is given a place in the UEFA Conference League by special permission from UEFA (replacing the lowest-ranked league team which would have qualified).
^ Did not participate in Europe this season, but were assigned 4.333 (the lowest coefficient obtained in the previous 5 seasons)
Not participating in European competitions this season.
Russia (RUS): On 28 February 2022, Russian football clubs and national teams were suspended from FIFA and UEFA competitions due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. On 2 May 2022, UEFA confirmed that all Russian clubs would be excluded from the 2022–23 UEFA competitions and be assigned the minimum coefficient from the previous 5 seasons (4.333) for 2022–23. Technically, in the UEFA official website, the coefficient of each club is only counted once they have played their first game in the competition. As a result, the coefficient of Russia will be counted as zero while the season is ongoing, because no clubs are participating in the UEFA competitions that season. The minimum coefficient from the previous 5 seasons will only be assigned upon completion of the season, which happened in both 2022–23 and 2023–24 seasons.
Further information on Liechtenstein's status and similar cases
According to the UEFA regulations a National League needs to consist of at least eight clubs to be considered valid, otherwise no participants of such a league will be allowed to enter European competitions.
There are only seven clubs that are active in Liechtenstein, all of which play in neighbouring Switzerland's league competitions.
Prior to the introduction of the Welsh Premier League, now known as Cymru Premier, in 1992, Wales also had a single participant in European competitions, the winner (or best placed Welsh team as several English teams also competed) of the Welsh Cup, in the now defunct UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.
3 points for a win (1.5 points for qualifying and play-off matches)
2 points for a draw (1 point for qualifying and play-off matches)
1 point for a loss (0.5 points for qualifying and play-off matches)
This translates to the original system (2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss) by considering the "unplayed leg" as a draw.
Distribution of team competition quotas
2024–27
The following is the default access list for the 2024–25 and future seasons. Rankings in table exclude Liechtenstein which receives one Conference League qualifying berth for their cup winner.
Following the introduction of the UEFA Cup in 1971, the competition began to grow in complexity having more clubs than the European Champions Cup and the Cup Winners' Cup, reaching up to four from a single country. UEFA began to publish association rankings in 1979, to identify the number of participants for each association in the UEFA Cup.
Subsequently, for statistical purposes, various rankings were introduced to portray the history of the associations. According to the prorated (extended) calculation system, only four associations have succeeded in being ranked as the top European association.
Following the Heysel Stadium disaster, all English teams were banned from UEFA competitions in 1985. The ban was only lifted after five seasons, with the knock-on effects continuing to impact on English football for a total of nine years from 1986 to 1994. Having been top in 1985, England were un-ranked in 1990 and would not regain the top position until 2008.
Top associations by period
The following data indicates the three top-ranked associations in each five-year period. Data prior to 1975–1979 period has been calculated, but precedes the first published by the Confederation and has merely informative value. Note that the table take into account the results from the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, which was a non-UEFA competition that took place until 1971, whose teams in the first editions were representing cities instead of clubs.
The ranking below takes into account of each association's performance in European competitions from 2020–21 to 2024–25, with the 2024–25 season currently taking place.
The final ranking at the end of the 2024–25 season will be used to determine the number of places for each association in the 2026–27 UEFA Women's Champions League.
As of 18 December 2024 the coefficients are as follows:
^ Did not participate in Europe this season, but were assigned 1.750 (the lowest coefficient obtained in the previous 5 seasons)
^ Did not participate in European competitions that season.
^ No rank, association did not enter in any of the seasons used for computing coefficients (NR)
^ No women's domestic league (NL)
Notes
Russia (RUS): On 28 February 2022, Russian football clubs and national teams were suspended from FIFA and UEFA competitions due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. On 2 May 2022, UEFA confirmed that Russian clubs would be excluded from the 2022–23 UEFA competitions and be assigned the minimum coefficient from the previous 5 seasons (1.750) for 2022–23. Technically, in the UEFA official website, the coefficient of each club will only be counted since they played their first game in the competition. As a result, the coefficient of Russia will be counted as zero because no clubs are participating in the UEFA competitions when the season is ongoing. The minimum coefficient from the previous 5 seasons will be only assigned upon completion of the season, which happened in both 2022–23 and 2023–24 seasons.
History
Top associations by period
The following data indicates the three top-ranked women's associations in each five-year period.
Introduced first in 1990 with various calculation principles applied throughout the years, currently the club coefficient is either the sum of the points earned by the club in the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League over the previous five seasons or 20% of the club's association coefficient over the same period, whichever coefficient is higher. This ranking is used by UEFA to determine a club's seeding in club competition draws, including the qualifying and group stages of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League.
The clubs receive two points for a win, one point for a draw, and no points for a defeat in games of the main stages of the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League. Results determined after extra-time are included in this method, however results determined after penalty shoot-outs are not (the result is considered a draw). Bonus points for entering the Europa League or Conference League group stage / league phase are not additional to win/draw points; they provide a minimum points allowance for participating clubs, whereas bonus points for entering the Champions League group stage / league phase (and those for qualifying to the knockout stage) are additional to win/draw points.
Qualifying round results are only taken into account if the club is eliminated in one of the rounds (see table below). Otherwise, the qualifying round results are taken into account only for the calculation of the association's coefficient and are halved. The clubs do not receive any points for elimination in the Champions League or Europa League qualifying because those clubs move to the Europa League and/or Conference League and receive points from participation in that competition.
Current club ranking
The ranking below takes into account of each club's performance in European competitions from 2020–21 to 2024–25, with the 2024–25 season underway.
The top 25 clubs as of 19 December 2024 are as follows.
Indicates clubs still active in this season's Champions League.
Indicates clubs still active in this season's Europa League.
Indicates clubs still active in this season's Conference League.
Indicates clubs from active associations in this season's UEFA club competitions.
Indicates clubs from associations which have no teams remaining in this season's UEFA club competitions.
^ Did not participate in European competitions that season
Club point allocations
2024–25 through 2026–27 seasons
Round
Points awarded
Champions League
Europa League
Conference League
First qualifying round elimination
move to CO Q2
1
Second qualifying round elimination
move to EL Q3
move to CO Q3
1.5
Third qualifying round elimination
move to EL PO
move to CO PO
2
Play-off elimination
move to EL LP
move to CO LP
2.5
League phase participation
–
3.0 (minimum)
2.5 (minimum)
All wins from league phase onwards (except CL/EL/CO knockout round play-offs)
2
All draws from league phase onwards (except CL/EL/CO knockout round play-offs)
1
League phase bonus
6
–
–
League phase bonus increase per ascending final ranking (9–24)
0.25
0.25
0.125
League phase bonus increase per ascending final ranking (1–8)
0.25
Maximum league phase bonus (ranked 1st, for reference)
12
6
4
Each knockout round participation bonus (R16, QF, SF, Final)
1.5
1
0.5
2021–22 through 2023–24 seasons
Round
Points awarded
Champions League
Europa League
Europa Conference League
Preliminary Round elimination
move to ECL Q2
–
–
First qualifying round elimination
move to ECL Q2
–
1
Second qualifying round elimination
move to EL Q3
–
1.5
Third qualifying round elimination
move to EL PO
move to ECL PO
2
Play-off elimination
move to EL GS
move to ECL GS
2.5
Group stage participation
4
3 (minimum)
2.5 (minimum)
All wins from group stage onwards (except EL/ECL knockout round play-offs)
2
2
2
All draws from group stage onwards (except EL/ECL knockout round play-offs)
1
1
1
Group winner
–
4
2
Group runners-up
–
2
1
Round of 16 participation
5
1
–
Quarter-finals participation
1
1
–
Semi-finals and Finals participation
1
1
1
2018–19 through 2020–21 seasons
Round
Points awarded
Champions League
Europa League
Preliminary Round elimination
move to EL Q2
0.5
First qualifying round elimination
move to EL Q2
1
Second qualifying round elimination
move to EL Q3
1.5
Third qualifying round elimination
move to EL PO
2
Play-off elimination
move to EL GS
2.5
Group stage participation
4
3 (minimum)
Win in group stage or subsequent round
2
2
Draw in group stage or subsequent round
1
1
Round of 16 participation
5
–
Quarter-finals, semi-finals, and finals participation
1
1
Prior to the 2018 club rankings, teams received the sum of their points earned over the last five seasons plus 20% of the club's association coefficient.
Before 1999 a number of strong teams in the UEFA Cup were seeded such that those teams did not meet in the first two rounds. To determine these teams, the sum of the ratio of the number of points achieved to the number of games played by each team, was calculated for the past five seasons.
Top club by period
The following data indicate the top-ranked clubs in each 5-year period. Data prior to 1975–1979 period has been calculated, but precedes the first published by the Confederation and has merely informative value.
A club's five-season coefficient is the cumulative total of its five-season coefficients from the reference period and 20% of its association's five-season association's coefficient. This ranking is used by UEFA to determine a club's seeding in club competition draws, including the qualifying and group stages of the UEFA Women's Champions League.
The distribution of points is symmetrical to the distribution of points in association ranking.
2021–22 and future seasons
Round
Points awarded
Women's Champions League
Preliminary Round elimination
0.5
The defeated club of the round 1 third-place match
1
The winner of the round 1 third-place match (four-team mini-tournament) or defeated team in the MD1 tie (three-team mini-tournament)
1.5
Round 1 defeated finalist
2
Round 2 elimination
3
Group stage participation
4
Win in group stage or subsequent round
2
Draw in group stage or subsequent round
1
Quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals participation
1
Current team ranking
The ranking below takes into account of each team's performance in European competitions from 2020–21 to 2024–25, with the 2024–25 season starting 4 September 2024.
The top 25 clubs as of 17 December 2024 are as follows:
UEFA calculates coefficients for each association that takes part in the UEFA Regions' Cup. These coefficients are calculated to compile ranking lists that are used to determine the round in which each team enters the competition and to seed the teams for the draws. The coefficient ranking list is established for the preliminary and intermediate round draws on the basis of the associations’ results in the three most recent completed seasons at the time of the draws. For the 2022–23 competition, the coefficient ranking list is therefore based on the associations' results in the seasons 2014–15, 2016–17 and 2018–19.
As of 8 December 2021 the coefficients are as follows:
Points are awarded for each match played in the qualifying competition. Match points are awarded in accordance with the final scores as ratified by UEFA. Final tournament matches and penalty shoot-outs are not taken into consideration. In addition to the match points, the bonus points are awarded for each season.The points are given as follows:
Round
Points awarded
Automatic qualification for intermediate round
3
Qualification from preliminary to intermediate round
3
Qualification from intermediate round to final tournament
The club coefficient, used to determine seeds and entrance round on the UEFA Futsal Champions League, is the sum of the points earned by the club in that competition on the previous three seasons and 50% of the club's association coefficient over the same period. The association coefficient is the sum of the points earned by all the clubs of the association. Even though all calculation procedures are public for association and club coefficients, UEFA only publishes the coefficients of the clubs competing in the next season of UEFA Futsal Champions League.
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Criticisms
The UEFA coefficient system has been criticised for being likely to preserve the status quo for rankings and seedings, as well as for favouring teams from stronger leagues.
^ Patric Andersson; Peter Ayton; Carsten Schmidt (2009). Myths and Facts about Football: The Economics and Psychology of the World's Greatest Sport. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 136. ISBN978-14-4381-525-3.