The 2024–25 UEFA Conference League was the fourth season of the UEFA Conference League, Europe's tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA.
From this season, the competition was renamed from the UEFA Europa Conference League to the UEFA Conference League.[3] This was also the first edition of the tournament played under a new format involving a 36-team league phase.[4] This increased the total number of matches played in the competition proper from 141 to 153. The new format also did not allow teams to transfer from the Europa League league or knockout phase to the Conference League knockout phase, and thus Conference League winners (Olympiacos in the 2023–24 edition) could no longer defend their title as the winner of the Conference League automatically qualified for the Europa League league phase.
A total of 164 teams from 54 of the 55 UEFA member associations participated in the 2024–25 UEFA Conference League. The association ranking based on the UEFA association coefficients was used to determine the number of participating teams for each association:[8]
Associations 1–12 each have one team.
Associations 13–33 and 51–55 (except Russia)[Note RUS] each have two teams.
Associations 34–50 each have three teams (except Liechtenstein, which has one).[Note LIE]
For the 2024–25 UEFA Conference League, the associations were allocated places according to their 2023 UEFA association coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 2018–19 to 2022–23.[9]
Apart from the allocation based on the association coefficients, associations could have additional teams participating in the Conference League, as noted below:
(UCL) – Additional teams transferred from the UEFA Champions League
(UEL) – Additional/vacated teams transferred from/to the UEFA Europa League
Association ranking for 2024–25 UEFA Conference League
21 domestic league runners-up from associations 34–55 (except Liechtenstein)[Note LIE]
20 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 30–50 (except Liechtenstein)[Note LIE]
Second qualifying round (98 teams)
Champions Path (12 teams)
12 teams eliminated from Champions League first qualifying round
League Path (86 teams)
13 domestic cup winners from associations 34–46
17 domestic league runners-up from associations 16–33 (except Russia)[Note RUS]
15 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 13–29 (except Russia[Note RUS] and title holders)
9 domestic league fourth-placed teams from associations 7–15
1 domestic league fifth-placed team from association 6
25 winners from the first qualifying round
6 teams eliminated from Europa League first qualifying round
Third qualifying round (60 teams)
Champions Path (8 teams)
6 winners from the second qualifying round (Champions Path)
2 teams eliminated from Champions League first qualifying round [Note UCL Q1]
League Path (52 teams)
43 winners from the second qualifying round (League Path)
9 teams eliminated from Europa League second qualifying round
Play-off round (48 teams)
Champions Path (10 teams)
4 winners from the third qualifying round (Champions Path)
6 teams eliminated from Europa League third qualifying round (Champions Path)
League Path (38 teams)
5 domestic league sixth-placed teams from associations 1–5 (EFL Cup winners for England)
26 winners from the third qualifying round (League Path)
7 teams eliminated from Europa League third qualifying round (League Path)
League phase (36 teams)
5 winners from the play-off round (Champions Path)
19 winners from the play-off round (League Path)
12 teams eliminated from Europa League play-off round
Knockout phase play-offs (16 teams)
16 teams ranked 9–24 from the league phase
Round of 16 (16 teams)
8 teams ranked 1–8 from the league phase
8 winners from the knockout phase play-offs
The information here reflects the ongoing suspension of Russia in European football, and so the following changes to the default access list were made:
The cup winners of associations 39 to 44 (Armenia, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Luxembourg, Faroe Islands and Northern Ireland) will enter the second qualifying round instead of the first qualifying round.
As a result of corresponding changes to the Champions League access list, there was one fewer loser from the Champions League first qualifying round transferred to the Conference League second qualifying round (Champions Path) so one transferred team received a bye to the third qualifying round (Champions Path).
As the Champions League title holders (Real Madrid) qualified for the Champions League via their domestic league's standard berth allocation, the following changes to the default access list were made:
As a result of corresponding changes to the Champions League access list, there was one fewer loser from the Champions League first qualifying round (two fewer in total) transferred to the Conference League second qualifying round (Champions Path), so one transferred team (two in total) received a bye to the third qualifying round (Champions Path).
As the Europa Conference League title holders (Olympiacos) entered the Europa League, the berth they qualified for via league position (Conference League second qualifying round) was vacated, and the following changes to the default access list were made:
The cup winners of associations 45 (Malta) and 46 (Georgia) will enter the second qualifying round instead of the first qualifying round.
Teams
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 Conference League play-offs winners
UCL: Transferred from the Champions League
Q1: Losers from the first qualifying round
UEL: Transferred from the Europa League
PO: Losers from the play-off round
CH/MP Q3: Losers from the third qualifying round (Champions/Main Path)
Q2: Losers from the second qualifying round
Q1: Losers from the first qualifying round
The second qualifying round, third qualifying round and play-off round were divided into Champions Path (CH) and Main Path (MP).
Qualified teams for 2024–25 UEFA Conference League
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 league phase berths vacated following the Champions League title holders (Real Madrid) qualifying via league position and the suspension of Russia from the 2024–25 European season.
Albania (ALB):Skënderbeu, who finished third in the 2023–24 Kategoria Superiore, were banned from entering UEFA competitions. As a result, their berth in the competition was passed onto the fifth-placed team, Tirana.
Latvia (LVA):Valmiera, who finished fourth in the 2023 Latvian Higher League, were denied a UEFA license. As a result, their place in the competition was passed onto the fifth-placed team, Liepāja.
Lithuania (LTU): Due to the three-year rule, cup winners FK TransINVEST were not expected to compete as they were less than three years old. However, they were granted an exception and allowed to participate in European competitions.[10]
Luxembourg (LUX):Swift Hesperange, who finished second, were denied a UEFA license. Consequently, their place in the competition was passed onto the next highest-ranked team granted a UEFA licence by the FLF, UNA Strassen, who finished sixth.
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.[11] The tables reflect Russia's ongoing suspension from UEFA competitions.[12]
Round and draw dates
The schedule of the competition is as follows.[13][14] Matches are scheduled for Thursdays, with an exclusive day of 19 December, apart from the final, which takes place on a Wednesday, though exceptionally can take place on Tuesdays or Wednesdays due to scheduling conflicts.[15][16][17]
The draw for the first qualifying round was held on 18 June 2024.[18]
The first legs were played on 10 and 11 July, and the second legs were played on 17 and 18 July 2024.
The winners of the ties advanced to the Main Path second qualifying round. The losers were eliminated from European competitions for the season.
The draw for the second qualifying round was held on 19 June 2024.
The first legs were played on 23, 24 and 25 July, and the second legs were played on 30, 31 July and 1 August 2024.
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.
^ abDnipro-1 forfeited its two matches due to bankruptcy.[19]
Third qualifying round
The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 22 July 2024.
The first legs were played on 6, 7 and 8 August, and the second legs were played on 13, 14 and 15 August 2024.
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.
The draw for the play-off round was held on 5 August 2024.
The first legs were played on 20, 21 and 22 August, and the second legs were played on 28 and 29 August 2024.
The winners of the ties advanced to the league phase. The losers were eliminated from European competitions for the season.
Location of teams of the 2024–25 UEFA Conference League league phase
The league phase draw for the 2024–25 UEFA Conference League took place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on 30 August 2024, 14:30 CEST.[20][21] The 36 teams were divided into six pots of six teams each based on their UEFA club coefficient.
The 36 teams were manually drawn and then automated software digitally drew their six different opponents at random, determining which of their matches were at home and which ones away. Each team faced one opponent from each of the six pots. Teams could not face opponents from their own association, and could only be drawn against a maximum of two sides from the same association.[22][23]
A total of 29 national associations were represented in the league phase.
Table
The top eight ranked teams received a bye to the round of 16. The teams ranked from 9th to 24th will contest the knockout phase play-offs, with the teams ranked from 9th to 16th seeded for the draw. Teams ranked from 25th to 36th were eliminated from the competition.
In the knockout phase, teams will play against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis, except for the one-match final. The bracket structure for the knockout phase is partially fixed in advance using seeding, with teams' positions in the bracket determined by the final standings in the league phase.
In the knockout phase, there is no country protection, with teams from the same association able to face each other in any round. Teams can also face opponents they played during the league phase.
The mechanism of the draws for each round was as follows:[8]
In the draw for the knockout phase play-offs, the eight teams finishing the league phase in positions 9–16 were seeded, and the eight teams finishing the league phase in positions 17–24 were unseeded. The draw was split into four sections based on the predetermined bracket, with the seeded teams in each section drawn against one of their two possible unseeded opponents. The seeded teams hosted the second leg.
In the draw for the round of 16, the eight teams finishing the league phase in positions 1–8 were seeded, and the eight winners of the knockout phase play-offs were unseeded. Again, the draw was split into four sections based on the predetermined bracket, with the seeded teams in each section drawn against one of their two possible unseeded opponents. The seeded teams hosted the second leg.
In the quarter-finals and semi-finals, the exact match pairings were predetermined based on the tournament bracket. A draw was conducted only to determine which team played the first leg at home. The winner of semi-final 1 will be designated as the "home" team for the final (for administrative purposes as it is played at a neutral venue).
The draw for the knockout phase play-offs was held on 20 December 2024, 13:00 CET.[24][25]
The first legs were played on 13 February, and the second legs were played on 20 February 2025.
The draw for the round of 16 was held on 21 February 2025, 14:00 CET.[26]
The first legs were played on 6 March, and the second legs were played on 13 March 2025.
The draw for the order of the quarter-final legs was held on 21 February 2025, 14:00 CET, after the round of 16 draw.[26]
The first legs were played on 10 April, and the second legs were played on 17 April 2025.
The draw for the order of the semi-final legs was held on 21 February 2025, 14:00 CET, after the round of 16 and quarter-final draws.[26]
The first legs were played on 1 May, and the second legs were played on 8 May 2025.
The final was played on 28 May 2025 at the Wrocław Stadium in Wrocław. The winner of semi-final 1 was designated as the "home" team for administrative purposes.