The 2024 UEFA Europa Conference League final was the final match of the 2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference League, the third season of Europe's tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA. It was held at the Agia Sophia Stadium in Athens, Greece, on 29 May 2024, between Greek club Olympiacos and Italian club Fiorentina.
Olympiacos won the match 1–0 after extra time courtesy of a header by Ayoub El Kaabi for their first European title, also becoming the first Greek club to win a European trophy. As winners, they qualified for the league phase of the 2024–25 UEFA Europa League. Meanwhile, Fiorentina lost their second consecutive final, becoming the first team to lose European finals in consecutive seasons since Benfica in the 2013 and 2014 Europa League finals.
Background This was Olympiacos' first European final and only the second to feature a Greek team, the other coming in the 1971 European Cup final which Panathinaikos lost to Ajax. Five weeks prior to this final, Olympiacos' under-19 team had won the 2023–24 UEFA Youth League, the first UEFA competition win for a Greek club at any level. Fiorentina became the first club to play in two UEFA Europa Conference League finals and the first to contest them consecutively. Fiorentina were looking to win their first major trophy since winning the 2000–01 Coppa Italia, and their first European title since winning the 1960–61 European Cup Winners' Cup.
Both managers were seeking their first Europa Conference League title, with Olympiacos' José Luis Mendilibar the more experienced in winning a European trophy, having won the previous year's Europa League final with Sevilla. With a win, Mendilibar would become the first manager to win two different major European trophies in consecutive seasons since fellow Spaniard Rafael Benítez won the 2003–04 UEFA Cup with Valencia and the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League with Liverpool, the sixth manager ever to achieve that, and the second to do it with different clubs.
Previous finals TeamPrevious final appearances (bold indicates winners) OlympiacosNone Fiorentina1 (2023)
Venue
The Agia Sophia Stadium in Athens, known as the OPAP Arena for sponsorship reasons, is the home of AEK Athens, one of Olympiacos' local rivals. The stadium opened in September 2022, and had a capacity of 31,100. The match was the eighth single-leg UEFA club final to be played in Greece, having hosted three European Cup/Champions League finals (in 1983, 1994 and 2007), three Cup Winners' Cup finals (in 1971, 1973 and 1987) and the 2023 UEFA Super Cup.
Host selection On 21 June 2022, UEFA opened the bidding process for the final, which was held in parallel with that of the 2025 final. Interested bidders could bid for either one or both of the finals. The proposed venues had to include natural grass and be ranked as a UEFA category four stadium, with a gross capacity of between 30,000 and 50,000 preferred. The bidding timeline was as follows:
21 June 2022: Applications formally invited 31 August 2022: Closing date for registering intention to bid 7 September 2022: Bid requirements made available to bidders 3 November 2022: Submission of preliminary bid dossier 23 February 2023: Submission of final bid dossier 28 June 2023: Appointment of host
The UEFA Executive Committee appointed the Agia Sophia Stadium as the host during their meeting in Nyon, Switzerland, on 28 June 2023. As the stadium was new and had never been operated by the club for international competitions, it was subject to an observation period until November 2023 for matches played in UEFA club competitions and UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying. A date of December 2023 was set for official confirmation that the venue met the requirements.
Route to the final
Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away). OlympiacosRound FiorentinaEuropa LeagueEuropa Conference LeagueOpponentAgg.1st leg2nd legQualifying phase (EL, ECL)OpponentAgg.1st leg2nd leg Genk2–11–0 (H)1–1 (A)Third qualifying roundBye Čukarički6–13–1 (H)3–0 (A)Play-off round Rapid Wien2–10–1 (A)2–0 (H)OpponentResultGroup stage (EL, ECL)OpponentResult SC Freiburg2–3 (H)Matchday 1 Genk2–2 (A) TSC2–2 (A)Matchday 2 Ferencváros2–2 (H) West Ham United2–1 (H)Matchday 3 Čukarički6–0 (H) West Ham United0–1 (A)Matchday 4 Čukarički1–0 (A) SC Freiburg0–5 (A)Matchday 5 Genk2–1 (H) TSC5–2 (H)Matchday 6 Ferencváros1–1 (A)Group A third placeFinal standingsGroup F winnersEuropa Conference LeagueOpponentAgg.1st leg2nd legKnockout phaseOpponentAgg.1st leg2nd leg Ferencváros2–01–0 (H)1–0 (A)Knockout round play-offsBye Maccabi Tel Aviv7–51–4 (H)6–1 (A)Round of 16 Maccabi Haifa5–44–3 (A)1–1 (H) Fenerbahçe3–3 3–2 (H)0–1 (A)Quarter-finals Viktoria Plzeň2–00–0 (A)2–0 (H) Aston Villa6–24–2 (A)2–0 (H)Semi-finals Club Brugge4–33–2 (H)1–1 (A)
Pre-match
Identity The original identity of the 2024 UEFA Europa Conference League final was unveiled at the group stage draw on 1 September 2023.
Ticketing The stadium has a capacity of 32,500, and 27,100 were made available of which 21,000 were on sale to the general public. Each club in the final received an allocation of 9,000 tickets each.
Match Summary After a goalless ninety minutes, the match went into extra-time. In the 116th minute Olympiacos went in front when Ayoub El Kaabi got the only goal of the match when he stooped low to head the ball into the left corner of the net after a cross from the left by Santiago Hezze. After a lengthy VAR check the goal was eventually awarded and Olympiacos went on to win their first European trophy.
Details The "home" team (for administrative purposes) was determined by an additional draw held after the quarter-final and semi-final draws.
GK 88 Konstantinos TzolakisRB 23 RodineiCB 45 Panagiotis RetsosCB 16 David CarmoLB 3 Francisco Ortega CM 32 Santiago HezzeCM 8 Vicente IborraRW 56 Daniel Podence AM 6 Chiquinho LW 7 Kostas Fortounis (c) CF 9 Ayoub El Kaabi Substitutes:GK 1 Alexandros Paschalakis GK 99 Athanasios PapadoudisDF 18 Quini DF 27 Omar RichardsDF 65 Apostolos ApostolopoulosDF 74 Andreas NtoiMF 5 André Horta MF 15 Sotiris AlexandropoulosMF 19 Georgios Masouras MF 20 João CarvalhoFW 11 Youssef El-Arabi FW 22 Stevan Jovetić Manager: José Luis Mendilibar GK 1 Pietro TerraccianoRB 2 DodôCB 4 Nikola MilenkovićCB 28 Lucas Martínez Quarta LB 3 Cristiano Biraghi (c) CM 6 Arthur CM 38 Rolando MandragoraRW 10 Nicolás González AM 5 Giacomo Bonaventura LW 99 Christian Kouamé CF 20 Andrea Belotti Substitutes:GK 53 Oliver ChristensenDF 16 Luca Ranieri DF 22 Davide FaraoniDF 33 Michael KayodeDF 65 Fabiano ParisiMF 8 Maxime LopezMF 19 Gino InfantinoMF 32 Alfred Duncan MF 72 Antonín Barák FW 9 Lucas Beltrán FW 11 Jonathan Ikoné FW 18 M'Bala Nzola Manager: Vincenzo Italiano
Man of the Match: Ayoub El Kaabi (Olympiacos)
Assistant referees: Paulo Soares (Portugal) Pedro Ribeiro (Portugal) Fourth official: Glenn Nyberg (Sweden) Reserve assistant referee: Mahbod Beigi (Sweden) Video assistant referee: Tiago Martins (Portugal) Assistant video assistant referee: Christian Dingert (Germany) Support video assistant referee: Marco Fritz (Germany)
Statistics
+First halfStatisticOlympiacosFiorentinaGoals scored00Total shots29Shots on target22Saves22Ball possession49%51%Corner kicks22Fouls committed65Offsides21Yellow cards11Red cards00
+Second halfStatisticOlympiacosFiorentinaGoals scored00Total shots13Shots on target01Saves10Ball possession49%51%Corner kicks13Fouls committed49Offsides12Yellow cards01Red cards00
+Extra timeStatisticOlympiacosFiorentinaGoals scored10Total shots35Shots on target21Saves11Ball possession41%59%Corner kicks21Fouls committed03Offsides10Yellow cards31Red cards00
+OverallStatisticOlympiacosFiorentinaGoals scored10Total shots617Shots on target44Saves43Ball possession47%53%Corner kicks56Fouls committed1017Offsides43Yellow cards43Red cards00
Post-match After the match Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis made a post on social media platform X, describing Olympiacos as "a true legend". This win caused a big celebration with several thousand Olympiacos fans gathered in Piraeus, Greece.
Notes
See also 2024 UEFA Champions League final 2024 UEFA Europa League final 2024 UEFA Women's Champions League final 2024 UEFA Super Cup Olympiacos F.C. in European football ACF Fiorentina in European football 2023–24 ACF Fiorentina season 2023–24 Olympiacos F.C. season
References
External links