The 2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference League was the third season of the UEFA Europa Conference League, Europe's tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA.
The final was played at the Agia Sophia Stadium in Athens, Greece. It was won by Olympiacos, who defeated Fiorentina 1–0 after extra time, and qualified for the 2024–25 UEFA Europa League league stage as a result.
This edition was the final season under this name, as it was renamed to the UEFA Conference League from the 2024–25 season onwards. According to UEFA, the new denomination of the competition would enable further development as a stand-alone competition in their research amongst fans and commercial partners. This was also the final season with the format of 32 teams participating in the group stage, after UEFA announced that a brand-new Swiss-system format would be introduced for the following edition. Due to the change, no clubs could be transferred from the Europa League group stage to the Conference League, so starting with this edition the winners would no longer be able to defend their title.
As the title holders, West Ham United qualified for the 2023–24 UEFA Europa League. They were unable to defend their title after advancing to the Europa League knockout phase.
Association team allocation A total of 178 teams from 54 of the 55 UEFA member associations (excluding Russia) participated in the 2023–24 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: Associations 1–5 each had one team qualify. Associations 6–16 (except Russia) and 51–55 each had two teams qualify. Associations 17–50 (except Liechtenstein) each had three teams qualify. Liechtenstein had only one team that qualified as they organized only a domestic cup and no domestic league. Moreover, 18 teams eliminated from the 2023–24 UEFA Champions League and 25 teams eliminated from the 2023–24 UEFA Europa League were transferred to the Europa Conference League.
Association ranking For the 2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference League, the associations were allocated places according to their 2022 UEFA country coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 2017–18 to 2021–22.
Apart from the allocation based on the country coefficients, associations could have additional teams participating in the Europa Conference League, as noted below: – Additional teams transferred from the UEFA Champions League – Additional teams transferred from the UEFA Europa League
+Association ranking for 2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference LeagueRankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes1106.6411296.141376.902475.213560.081653.3822749.300838.850936.9001034.48201133.37521231.8001330.6001429.6751528.2001627.8001727.25031827.1751927.150RankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes2027.10032126.3752224.3752322.8752419.5002517.1502617.0002716.3752815.8752915.7503015.6253115.0003212.5003311.2503410.000359.125368.875378.750388.625RankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes398.1663408.125418.125428.083438.000447.250457.041467.000477.000487.000496.5001505.5003515.4162525.375534.875544.665551.332
Distribution The following is the access list for this season.
+Access list for 2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference LeagueTeams entering in this roundTeams advancing from previous roundTeams transferred from Champions LeagueTeams transferred from Europa LeagueFirst qualifying round(62 teams) 16 domestic cup winners from associations 40–55 25 domestic league runners-up from associations 30–55 (except Liechtenstein) 21 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 29–50 (except Liechtenstein)Second qualifying round(106 teams)Champions Path(16 teams) 13 teams eliminated from Champions League first qualifying round 3 teams eliminated from Champions League preliminary roundMain Path(90 teams) 20 domestic cup winners from associations 20–39 14 domestic league runners-up from associations 16–29 16 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 13–28 8 domestic league fourth-placed teams from associations 7–15 (except Russia) 1 domestic league fifth-placed team from association 6 31 winners from the first qualifying roundThird qualifying round(64 teams)Champions Path(10 teams) 8 winners from the second qualifying round (Champions Path) 2 teams eliminated from Champions League first qualifying roundMain Path(54 teams) 3 domestic cup winners from associations 17–19 5 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 7–12 (except Russia) 1 domestic league fourth-placed team from association 6 45 winners from the second qualifying round (Main Path)Play-off round(44 teams)Champions Path(10 teams) 5 winners from the third qualifying round (Champions Path) 5 teams eliminated from Europa League third qualifying round (Champions Path)Main Path(34 teams) 1 domestic league fifth-placed team from association 5 3 domestic league sixth-placed teams from associations 2–4 1 league cup winner from England 27 winners from the third qualifying round (Main Path) 2 teams eliminated from Europa League third qualifying round (Main Path)Group stage(32 teams) 5 winners from the play-off round (Champions Path) 17 winners from the play-off round for (Main Path) 10 teams eliminated from Europa League play-off roundPreliminary knockout round(16 teams) 8 group runners-up from the group stage 8 group third-placed teams from Europa League group stageKnockout phase(16 teams) 8 group winners from the group stage 8 winners from the preliminary knockout round
Due to the suspension of Russia for the 2023–24 European season, the following changes to the access list were made: The cup winners of association 16 (Czech Republic) entered the Europa League third qualifying round instead of the second qualifying round. The cup winners of associations 17 to 19 (Norway, Denmark and Croatia) entered the third qualifying round instead of the second qualifying round. The cup winners of associations 30 to 39 (Slovakia, Slovenia, Belarus, Moldova, Lithuania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Finland, Luxembourg, Latvia and Kosovo) entered the second qualifying round instead of the first qualifying round. Combining with the Champions League title holder (Manchester City) qualifying for the Champions League group stage via their domestic league, the following changes to the access list were made: Two of the Champions League first qualifying round losers received byes and entered the third qualifying round instead of the second 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 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).
+Qualified teams for 2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference LeagueEntry roundTeamsKnockout round play-offs Olympiacos Ajax Real Betis Sturm Graz Union Saint-Gilloise Maccabi Haifa Servette Molde Group stage Aberdeen Čukarički Zorya Luhansk Lugano Dinamo Zagreb Ludogorets Razgrad Slovan Bratislava Olimpija Ljubljana Zrinjski Mostar KÍ Play-off round Astana BATE Borisov Žalgiris HJK Breiðablik Aston Villa Osasuna Fiorentina Eintracht Frankfurt Lille Dnipro-1 Genk Third qualifying round Flora Lincoln Red Imps Arouca AZ Rapid Wien Heart of Midlothian Partizan Dynamo Kyiv Brann Nordsjælland Hajduk Split Second qualifying round Farul Constanța Ferencváros Swift Hesperange Valmiera Ballkani Shamrock Rovers Urartu Larne Partizani Hamrun Spartans Dinamo Tbilisi Struga The New Saints Budućnost Podgorica Atlètic Club d'Escaldes Tre Penne Vitória de Guimarães Twente Austria Wien Hibernian Vojvodina Vorskla Poltava Club Brugge Gent Luzern Basel PAOK Aris Viktoria Plzeň Bohemians 1905 Bodø/Glimt Rosenborg AGF Midtjylland Osijek Rijeka Fenerbahçe Beşiktaş Adana Demirspor Omonia APOEL AEK Larnaca Beitar Jerusalem Hapoel Be'er Sheva Maccabi Tel Aviv Djurgårdens IF Hammarby IF Kalmar FF CSKA Sofia CSKA 1948 Levski Sofia Sepsi OSK FCSB CFR Cluj Gabala Sabah Neftçi Zalaegerszeg Kecskemét Debrecen Legia Warsaw Lech Poznań Pogoń Szczecin Ordabasy Aktobe Spartak Trnava Celje Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino Petrocub Hîncești Kauno Žalgiris Borac Banja Luka KuPS Differdange 03 Auda Drita First qualifying round Tobol DAC Dunajská Streda Žilina Maribor Domžale Dinamo Minsk Neman Grodno Zimbru Chișinău Milsami Orhei Panevėžys Hegelmann Željezničar Sarajevo Honka Haka Progrès Niederkorn F91 Dudelange Riga RFS Gjilani Dukagjini Derry City Dundalk St Patrick's Athletic Pyunik Ararat-Armenia Alashkert Crusaders Linfield Glentoran Egnatia Tirana Vllaznia Víkingur Gøta HB B36 Narva Trans FCI Levadia Paide Linnameeskond Birkirkara Gżira United Balzan Torpedo Kutaisi Dinamo Batumi Dila Gori Makedonija GP Shkupi Shkëndija Vaduz Connah's Quay Nomads Penybont Haverfordwest County FCB Magpies Europa Víkingur Reykjavík KA Sutjeska Arsenal Tivat Inter Club d'Escaldes FC Santa Coloma Cosmos La Fiorita One team not playing in a national top division took part in the competition: Vaduz (2nd tier).
Notes
Schedule 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.
+Schedule for 2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference LeaguePhaseRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond legQualifyingFirst qualifying round20 June 202313 July 202320 July 2023Second qualifying round21 June 202327 July 20233 August 2023Third qualifying round24 July 202310 August 202317 August 2023Play-offsPlay-off round7 August 202324 August 202331 August 2023Group stageMatchday 11 September 202321 September 2023Matchday 25 October 2023Matchday 326 October 2023Matchday 49 November 2023Matchday 530 November 2023Matchday 614 December 2023Knockout phaseKnockout round play-offs18 December 202315 February 202422 February 2024Round of 1623 February 20247 March 202414 March 2024Quarter-finals15 March 202411 April 202418 April 2024Semi-finals2 May 20249 May 2024Final29 May 2024 at Agia Sophia Stadium, Athens
Qualifying rounds
First qualifying round
Second qualifying round
Third qualifying round
Play-off round
Group stage
The draw for the group stage was held on 1 September 2023, 14:30 CEST, in Monaco. 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 club coefficients. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group.
All teams besides AZ, Ballkani, Bodø/Glimt, Fiorentina, Gent, HJK, Maccabi Tel Aviv, PAOK, Slovan Bratislava and Zorya Luhansk made their debut appearances in the group stage. Breiðablik, Čukarički, KÍ, Olimpija Ljubljana and Zrinjski Mostar all made their debut appearances in a UEFA competition group stage. Breiðablik, KÍ and Zrinjski Mostar were the first teams from Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Bosnia and Herzegovina, respectively, to play in a UEFA competition group stage. Breiðablik also became the first ever team to qualify for the group stages of a UEFA club competition after starting in a preliminary round.
A total of 28 national associations were represented in the group stage.
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Group G
Group H
Knockout phase