What You Need to Know About the UEFA Europa Conference League Format
2025-11-16 11:00
Let me be honest with you - when UEFA first announced the Europa Conference League back in 2021, I was skeptical. Another European competition? Really? It felt like football was getting unnecessarily complicated. But having followed the tournament through its inaugural season and into the current one, I've completely changed my perspective. What initially seemed like just another trophy has revealed itself as something genuinely special, offering exactly what European football needed - more opportunities for clubs outside the traditional powerhouses.
The format itself is beautifully straightforward once you wrap your head around it. Thirty-two teams start in the group stage, divided into eight groups of four. Unlike the Champions League where you need to finish top two to advance, here only the group winners automatically qualify for the round of 16. The eight runners-up face an additional playoff round against teams that finished third in their Europa League groups. This creates this fascinating dynamic where every match matters profoundly. I remember watching Bodø/Glimt's incredible run last season, thinking how this format gave smaller clubs genuine European nights to cherish rather than just making up the numbers.
What really strikes me about this competition is how it mirrors the sentiment expressed by Kristensen when he said, "This is a good six points for the team. We trust each other and I'm very proud of the team." That essence of collective belief and pride translates perfectly to the Conference League stage. For clubs like Roma, who won the inaugural edition, or West Ham currently competing, it's about building momentum through trust and system development. The group stage requires consistency - those six points from two games can completely transform a team's European campaign. I've noticed how teams that develop strong systems and trust among players, much like Kristensen described, tend to outperform expectations in this competition.
The knockout phase follows a traditional two-legged format until the single-match final, which creates this wonderful narrative arc throughout the season. What I particularly appreciate is how the competition integrates with Europa League - it creates this ecosystem where performance in one tournament directly affects your standing in another. Last season, I tracked how Feyenoord used their Conference League experience as a springboard to domestic success, demonstrating how valuable European experience can be for squad development. The financial distribution, while smaller than Champions League money, can be transformative for clubs from smaller leagues. We're talking about roughly €15-20 million for the winner compared to Champions League's astronomical figures, but for many clubs, that represents significant investment power.
From my perspective as someone who's followed European football for decades, the Conference League addresses a crucial gap in the football ecosystem. Before its introduction, only about 80 clubs participated in UEFA group stages annually. Now we're looking at 96 teams getting that experience. That's 16 additional clubs, many from associations that rarely saw European group stage football. I've spoken with fans from countries like Slovakia and Norway who describe what it means to have prolonged European campaigns rather than just early qualifying exits. The magic isn't just in the trophy - it's in those Tuesday and Thursday nights where smaller stadiums across Europe get to host meaningful continental football.
The scheduling works beautifully too, with matches on Thursdays alongside Europa League, creating this European football extravaganza that carries fans from afternoon Champions League matches right through the evening. As a broadcaster, I've seen how this creates compelling storytelling opportunities - following a team's journey from July qualifiers all the way to the May final in cities like Tirana or Prague. The road to the final involves 141 matches starting from the early qualifying rounds in July, creating this epic journey that tests squad depth and tactical flexibility.
What I've come to love most about this competition is its authenticity. While Champions League has become somewhat predictable with the usual suspects dominating, the Conference League feels fresh and unpredictable. Last season's semifinal featuring Roma, Leicester, Feyenoord, and Marseille demonstrated how the competition creates new European narratives. The format encourages attacking football too - with the away goals rule now abolished across UEFA competitions, teams play with more freedom in knockout stages. I've noticed more open matches compared to the sometimes-cautious approaches in Champions League.
Looking ahead, I believe the Europa Conference League will only grow in prestige. We're already seeing clubs taking it seriously - Jose Mourinho's passionate celebration when Roma won demonstrated what it means to managers and players. The format strikes this perfect balance between accessibility for smaller nations and meaningful competition for established clubs. It's become my favorite Thursday night viewing, offering the raw emotion and unpredictability that first drew me to European football. In many ways, it's a return to football's romantic roots, where every match matters and every team has a story worth following.