Season 2025/2026
Source: https://www.uefa.com/uefaconferenceleague/
The UEFA Conference League is the third-tier competition in European club football, ranking below the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League.
Key points in its history are:
- Establishment: It was officially launched by UEFA for the 2021/2022 season.
- Purpose: The competition was created primarily to make European club football more inclusive, ensuring more clubs, particularly from lower-ranked UEFA member associations, had the chance to participate in a continental tournament’s group stage. Its introduction also coincided with the reduction of the UEFA Europa League group stage from 48 to 32 teams.
- Original Name: The competition was initially named the UEFA Europa Conference League (UECL).
- Inaugural Season: The first season was 2021/2022, with AS Roma becoming the inaugural winners.
- Name Change: In 2023, UEFA announced that the competition would be renamed the UEFA Conference League starting from the 2024/2025 season. This was done to help it develop further as a stand-alone competition.
- Format Changes: From the 2024/2025 season, the traditional group stage was replaced with an expanded league phase featuring 36 teams, mirroring changes made to the other two UEFA club competitions.
The competition provides another pathway for clubs to achieve continental success, with the winner earning a spot in the following season’s UEFA Europa League (unless they qualify for the Champions League through their domestic league).
