2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League
![]() The Fortuna Arena in Prague hosted the final. | |
Tournament details | |
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Dates | Qualifying: 5 July – 25 August 2022 Competition proper: 8 September 2022 – 7 June 2023 |
Teams | Competition proper: 32+8 Total: 134+43 (from 54 associations) |
Final positions | |
Champions | ![]() |
Runners-up | ![]() |
Tournament statistics | |
Matches played | 141 |
Goals scored | 379 (2.69 per match) |
Attendance | 2,077,952 (14,737 per match) |
Top scorer(s) | Zeki Amdouni (Basel) Arthur Cabral (Fiorentina) 7 goals each |
Best player(s) | Declan Rice (West Ham United)[1] |
Best young player | Andy Diouf (Basel)[2] |
The 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League was the second season of the UEFA Europa Conference League, Europe's tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA.
The final was played at Fortuna Arena in Prague, Czech Republic.[3] It was won by West Ham United, who defeated Fiorentina 2–1, and qualified for the 2023–24 UEFA Europa League group stage as a result.[4]
As the title holders, Roma qualified for the 2022–23 UEFA Europa League. They were unable to defend their title after advancing to the Europa League knockout phase.
Association team allocation
[edit]A total of 177 teams from 54 of the 55 UEFA member associations (excluding Russia) participated in the 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League. The association ranking based on the UEFA country coefficients was used to determine the number of participating teams for each association:[5]
- Associations 1–5 each had one team qualify.
- Associations 6–17 (except Russia)[Note RUS] and 51–55 each had two teams qualify.
- Associations 18–50 (except Liechtenstein)[Note LIE] each had three teams qualify.
- Liechtenstein had one team qualify as they organized only a domestic cup and no domestic league.[Note LIE]
- Moreover, 18 teams eliminated from the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League and 25 teams eliminated from the 2022–23 UEFA Europa League were transferred to the Europa Conference League.
Association ranking
[edit]For the 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League, the associations were allocated places according to their 2021 UEFA country coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 2016–17 to 2020–21.[6]
Apart from the allocation based on the country coefficients, associations could have additional teams participating in the Europa Conference League, as noted below:
- (UCL) – Additional teams transferred from the UEFA Champions League
- (UEL) – Additional teams transferred from the UEFA Europa League
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Distribution
[edit]The following was the access list for this season.[7] In the default access list, the title holders of the Europa Conference League qualified for the Europa League group stage.
Due to the suspension of Russia for the 2022–23 European season, the following changes to the access list were made:
- The cup winners of association 16 (Serbia) enter the Europa League third qualifying round instead of the second qualifying round.
- The cup winners of associations 18 (Croatia) and 19 (Switzerland) enter the third qualifying round instead of the second qualifying round.
- The cup winners of associations 30 to 39 (Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of Ireland, North Macedonia and Armenia) enter the second qualifying round instead of the first qualifying round.
Since several changes were made in the Europa League access list following the qualification of the Europa Conference League title holders to the Europa League group stage, the following changes to the access list were made:
- The cup winners of association 17 (Czech Republic) enter the Europa League third qualifying round instead of the second qualifying round.
- The cup winners of association 20 (Greece) enter the third qualifying round instead of the second qualifying round.
- The cup winners of associations 40 (Latvia) and 41 (Albania) enter the second qualifying round instead of the first qualifying round.
Moreover, in the default access list, originally 16 losers from the Champions League first qualifying round were transferred to the Europa Conference League second qualifying round (Champions Path). However, since the Champions League title holders, Real Madrid, which were guaranteed a berth in the Champions League group stage, already qualified via their domestic league, only 15 losers from the Champions League first qualifying round were transferred to the Europa Conference League second qualifying round (Champions Path) after the Champions League access list was rebalanced. As a result, only 16 teams entered the Champions Path second qualifying round (two of the losers from the Champions League first qualifying round were drawn to receive byes to the third qualifying round).
Teams entering in this round | Teams advancing from previous round | Teams transferred from Champions League or Europa League | ||
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First qualifying round (60 teams) |
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Second qualifying round (106 teams) | Champions Path (16 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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Teams
[edit]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
- Abd-: League positions of abandoned season as determined by the national association; all teams were subject to approval by UEFA
- 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)
The second qualifying round, third qualifying round and play-off round were divided into Champions Path (CH) and Main Path (MP).
CC: 2022 UEFA club coefficients.[8]
One team not playing in a national top division will take part in the competition: Vaduz (2nd tier).
Notes
- ^ Champions League (UCL Q1): Two of the Champions League first qualifying round losers were drawn to receive byes to the third qualifying round (Champions Path), as two fewer losers were transferred to the second qualifying round (Champions Path), due to Champions League group stage berths vacated following the UCL title holders qualifying via league position and the suspension of Russia from the 2022–23 European season.
- ^ Armenia (ARM): Noravank would have qualified for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round as the winners of the 2021–22 Armenian Cup, but failed to obtain a UEFA license. As a result, the berth reserved for the second qualifying round was given to the second-placed team of the 2021–22 Armenian Premier League, Ararat-Armenia, who originally entered the first qualifying round, and the berth reserved for the first qualifying round was given to the fourth-placed team, Ararat Yerevan.[9]
- ^ Liechtenstein (LIE): The seven teams affiliated with the Liechtenstein Football Association (LFV) all played in the Swiss football league system. The only competition organised by the LFV was the Liechtenstein Football Cup – the winners of which qualified for the UEFA Europa Conference League.
- ^ Russia (RUS): On 28 February 2022, Russian football clubs and national teams were suspended from FIFA and UEFA competitions due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[10] On 2 May 2022, UEFA confirmed that Russian clubs would be excluded from the 2022–23 UEFA competitions.[11]
- ^ Ukraine (UKR): The 2021–22 Ukrainian Premier League was abandoned due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The fourth and fifth-placed teams of the league at the time of the abandonment (Zorya Luhansk and Vorskla Poltava) were selected to play in the 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League by the Ukrainian Association of Football.
Schedule
[edit]The schedule of the competition was as follows. Matches were scheduled for Thursdays apart from the final, which took place on a Wednesday, though exceptionally could take place on Tuesdays or Wednesdays due to scheduling conflicts (especially featuring teams from associations where there were few approved stadiums, such as Gibraltar and Wales). Scheduled kick-off times starting from the group stage were 18:45 and 21:00 CEST/CET, though exceptionally could take place at 16:30 due to geographical reasons.[12]
As the 2022 FIFA World Cup took place in Qatar between 20 November and 18 December 2022, the group stage commenced in the first week of September 2022 and concluded in the first week of November 2022 to make way for the World Cup.
The draws for the qualifying round were held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.[13] The group stage draw took place in Istanbul, Turkey.[14]
Phase | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
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Qualifying | First qualifying round | 14 June 2022 | 7 July 2022 | 14 July 2022 |
Second qualifying round | 15 June 2022 | 21 July 2022 | 28 July 2022 | |
Third qualifying round | 18 July 2022 | 4 August 2022 | 11 August 2022 | |
Play-offs | Play-off round | 2 August 2022 | 18 August 2022 | 25 August 2022 |
Group stage | Matchday 1 | 26 August 2022 | 8 September 2022 | |
Matchday 2 | 15 September 2022 | |||
Matchday 3 | 6 October 2022 | |||
Matchday 4 | 13 October 2022 | |||
Matchday 5 | 27 October 2022 | |||
Matchday 6 | 3 November 2022 | |||
Knockout phase | Knockout round play-offs | 7 November 2022 | 16 February 2023 | 23 February 2023 |
Round of 16 | 24 February 2023 | 9 March 2023 | 16 March 2023 | |
Quarter-finals | 17 March 2023 | 13 April 2023 | 20 April 2023 | |
Semi-finals | 11 May 2023 | 18 May 2023 | ||
Final | 7 June 2023 at Fortuna Arena, Prague |
Qualifying rounds
[edit]First qualifying round
[edit]The draw for the first qualifying round was held on 14 June 2022. The first legs were played on 5, 6 and 7 July, and the second legs were played on 12 and 14 July 2022.
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 round
[edit]The draw for the second qualifying round was held on 15 June 2022. The first legs were played on 19, 20 and 21 July, and the second legs were played on 26, 27 and 28 July 2022.
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 |
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Shakhtyor Soligorsk ![]() | Bye | N/A | — | — |
RFS ![]() | Bye | N/A | — | — |
La Fiorita ![]() | 0–10 | ![]() | 0–4 | 0–6 |
Víkingur Reykjavík ![]() | 2–0 | ![]() | 2–0 | 0–0 |
Sutjeska Nikšić ![]() | 0–1 | ![]() | 0–0 | 0–1 |
Hibernians ![]() | 4–3 | ![]() | 3–2 | 1–1 |
Tirana ![]() | 2–4 | ![]() | 0–1 | 2–3 |
Lech Poznań ![]() | 6–1 | ![]() | 5–0 | 1–1 |
CFR Cluj ![]() | 4–1 | ![]() | 3–0 | 1–1 |
Tobol ![]() | 3–0 | ![]() | 2–0 | 1–0 |
Third qualifying round
[edit]The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 18 July 2022. The first legs were played on 3 and 4 August, and the second legs were played on 9, 10 and 11 August 2022.
The winners of the ties advanced to the play-off round of their respective path. The losers were eliminated from European competitions for the season.
Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
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Víkingur Reykjavík ![]() | 2–4 | ![]() | 1–0 | 1–4 (a.e.t.) |
RFS ![]() | 4–2 | ![]() | 1–1 | 3–1 |
Ballkani ![]() | 4–4 (4–3 p) | ![]() | 3–2 | 1–2 (a.e.t.) |
Zrinjski Mostar ![]() | 2–1 | ![]() | 1–0 | 1–1 |
Shakhtyor Soligorsk ![]() | 0–1 | ![]() | 0–0 | 0–1 |
Play-off round
[edit]The draw for the play-off round was held on 2 August 2022. The first legs were played on 17 and 18 August, and the second legs were played on 23 and 25 August 2022.
The winners of the ties advanced to the group stage. The losers were eliminated from European competitions for the season.
Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
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Maribor ![]() | 0–1 | ![]() | 0–0 | 0–1 |
RFS ![]() | 3–3 (4–2 p) | ![]() | 2–2 | 1–1 (a.e.t.) |
Lech Poznań ![]() | 3–1 | ![]() | 2–0 | 1–1 |
Shkupi ![]() | 1–3 | ![]() | 1–2 | 0–1 |
Zrinjski Mostar ![]() | 2–2 (5–6 p) | ![]() | 1–0 | 1–2 (a.e.t.) |
Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
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CSKA Sofia ![]() | 1–2 | ![]() | 1–0 | 0–2 |
Vaduz ![]() | 2–1 | ![]() | 1–1 | 1–0 |
Raków Częstochowa ![]() | 2–3 | ![]() | 2–1 | 0–2 (a.e.t.) |
Djurgårdens IF ![]() | 5–3[A] | ![]() | 3–0 | 2–3 |
Maccabi Tel Aviv ![]() | 1–2 | ![]() | 1–0 | 0–2 (a.e.t.) |
Universitatea Craiova ![]() | 2–2 (3–4 p) | ![]() | 1–1 | 1–1 (a.e.t.) |
İstanbul Başakşehir ![]() | 4–2 | ![]() | 1–1 | 3–1 |
FCSB ![]() | 4–3 | ![]() | 1–2 | 3–1 |
Partizan ![]() | 7–4 | ![]() | 4–1 | 3–3 |
Fiorentina ![]() | 2–1 | ![]() | 2–1 | 0–0 |
Villarreal ![]() | 6–2 | ![]() | 4–2 | 2–0 |
1. FC Köln ![]() | 4–2 | ![]() | 1–2 | 3–0 |
West Ham United ![]() | 6–1 | ![]() | 3–1 | 3–0 |
Young Boys ![]() | 1–1 (1–3 p) | ![]() | 0–1 | 1–0 (a.e.t.) |
Slovácko ![]() | 4–0 | ![]() | 3–0 | 1–0 |
Molde ![]() | 4–1 | ![]() | 0–1 | 4–0 |
AZ ![]() | 6–1 | ![]() | 4–0 | 2–1 |
- ^ Order of legs reversed after original draw.
Group stage
[edit]The draw for the group stage was held on 26 August 2022. The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four. For the draw, the teams were seeded into four pots, each of eight teams, based on their 2022 UEFA club coefficients (CC).[16] Teams from the same association and, for political reasons, teams from Serbia and Kosovo could not be drawn into the same group.
All teams besides AZ, Basel, CFR Cluj, Gent, Partizan, Slavia Prague and Slovan Bratislava, who competed in last season's group stage, made their debut appearances in the group stage. Ballkani, Djurgårdens IF, Dnipro-1, Pyunik, RFS, Silkeborg, Slovácko, Vaduz and Žalgiris made their debut appearances in a UEFA competition group stage. Ballkani, Vaduz and Žalgiris were the first teams from Kosovo, Liechtenstein and Lithuania, respectively, to play in a UEFA competition group stage.
A total of 28 national associations were represented in the group stage.
Group A
[edit]Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | IBFK | FIO | HEA | RFS | |
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1 | ![]() | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 3 | +11 | 13[a] | Advance to round of 16 | — | 3–0 | 3–1 | 3–0 | |
2 | ![]() | 6 | 4 |