Introduced in 1971 as the UEFA Cup, it replaced theInter-Cities Fairs Cup. The UEFA Cup was the third-tier European club competition from 1971 to 1999 before theUEFA Cup Winners' Cup was discontinued,[1][2] and it is still often referred to as the "C3" in reference to this.[3] Clubs qualify for the competition based on their performance in their national leagues and cup competitions.
In1999, the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was merged with the UEFA Cup and discontinued as a separate competition.[4] From the2004–05 season a group stage was added before the knockout phase. The competition took on its current name in2009,[5][6] following a change in format.[7] The 2009 re-branding included a merge with theUEFA Intertoto Cup, producing an enlarged competition format, with an expanded group stage and a change in qualifying criteria. The winner of the UEFA Europa League qualifies for theUEFA Super Cup, for the following season'sUEFA Champions League since the 2014–15 season, entering at the group stage, and for theUEFA–CONMEBOL Club Challenge — afriendly cup against the winners of theCONMEBOL Copa Sudamericana — since 2023. In the2024–25 season, the group stage was replaced with an expanded league phase.
Spanish clubs have the highest number of victories (14 wins), followed by teams from Italy (10 wins) and England (9 wins). The title has been won by 30 clubs, 14 of which have won it more than once. Themost successful club in the competition isSevilla, with seven titles. Colombian strikerRadamel Falcao holds the record ofmost goals (17) scored in a single season of the tournament.[8]
The UEFA Cup was preceded by theInter-Cities Fairs Cup, which was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971.[9] The competition grew from 11 teams during the first edition (1955–58) to 64 teams by the last edition which was played in1970–71. It was replaced by the UEFA Cup, a new seasonal confederation competition with different regulations, format and disciplinary committee.[3][10]
The UEFA Cup was first played in the 1971–72 season, and ended with an all-English final betweenWolverhampton Wanderers andTottenham Hotspur, with Spurs taking the first honours.[11] The competition has since gained greater prestige and interest from themass media than the Fairs Cup.[12] The title was retained by another English club,Liverpool, in 1973, who defeatedBorussia Mönchengladbach in the final.[13] Gladbach won the competition in 1975[14] and 1979,[15] and reached the final in 1980.[16]Feyenoord won the cup in 1974 after defeating Tottenham Hotspur 4–2 on aggregate (2–2 in London, 2–0 in Rotterdam).[17] Liverpool won the competition for the second time in 1976 after defeatingClub Brugge in the final.[18]
1995 saw a third all-Italian final, withParma proving their consistency after two consecutive Cup Winners' Cup finals.[30] The only final with no Italians in the 1990s was in 1996.[31] Internazionale reached the final the following two years, losing in 1997 toSchalke 04 on penalties,[32] and winning another all-Italian final in 1998, taking home the cup for the third time in only eight years.[33] Parma won the cup in 1999, the last win of the Italian-domination era.[34] It was the last UEFA Cup/Europa League final appearance for any Italian club until Internazionale reached the2020 final.[35]
The era of the 2000s began with victory forGalatasaray, the first Turkish team to win the trophy, defeatingArsenal.[36] Liverpool won the competition for the third time in 2001.[37] In 2002, Feyenoord became winners for the second time, defeatingBorussia Dortmund.[38]Porto triumphed in the 2003[39] and 2011 tournaments, with the latter victory against fellow Portuguese sideBraga.[40]
Since the 2009–10 season, the competition was rebranded as the UEFA Europa League.[47] At the same time, theUEFA Intertoto Cup, UEFA's third-tier competition, was discontinued and merged into the new Europa League.[48]
Atlético Madrid won twice in three seasons, in 2010[49] and 2012, the latter in another all-Spanish final between them andAthletic Bilbao.[50] In 2013,Chelsea became the first Champions League holders to win the UEFA Cup/Europa League the following year.[51] In 2014, Sevilla won their third cup in eight years after defeatingBenfica on penalties.[52] In 2015, Sevilla won their fourth UEFA Cup/Europa League[53] and, in an unprecedented feat, they defended their title a third year in a row beatingLiverpool in the 2016 final, making them the most successful team in the history of the competition with five titles.[54] Atlético won their third title in 2018.[55] The 2019 all-London final between Chelsea and Arsenal was the first UEFA Cup/Europa League final between two teams from the same city.[56] Sevilla added a record-extending sixth victory in 2020, after defeatingInter Milan,[57] and won an unprecedented seventh title in 2023.[58]
The UEFA Cup, also known as theCoupe UEFA, is thetrophy awarded annually by UEFA to the football club that wins the UEFA Europa League. Before the2009–10 season, both the competition and the trophy were known as the 'UEFA Cup'.
Before the competition was renamed the UEFA Europa League in the2009–10 season, the UEFA regulations stated that a club could keep the original trophy for a year before returning it to UEFA. After its return, the club could keep a four-fifths scale replica of the original trophy. Upon their third consecutive win or fifth win overall, a club could retain the trophy permanently.[59]
Under the new regulations, the trophy remains in UEFA's keeping at all times. A full-size replica trophy is awarded to each winner of the competition. A club that wins three consecutive times or five times overall will receive a multiple-winner badge.[60] As of2016–17, only Sevilla has earned the honour to wear the multiple-winner badge, having achieved both of the prerequisites in2016.[61]
The trophy was designed and crafted bySilvio Gazzaniga, who also designed theFIFA World Cup Trophy, working forBertoni, for the1972 UEFA Cup Final. It weighs 15 kg (33 lb) and is silver on a yellow marble plinth. 67 centimetres (26 in) tall, the cup is formed by a base with twoonyx discs in which a band with the flags of the UEFA member nations is inserted. The lower part of the sculpture symbolises the stylised footballers and is surmounted by a hand-embossed slab.[62]
A musical theme for the competition, the Anthem, is played before every Europa League game at a stadium hosting such an event and before every television broadcast of a Europa League game as a musical element of the competition's opening sequence.[63]
The competition's first anthem was composed by Yohann Zveig and recorded by theParis Opera in early 2009. The theme for the re-branded UEFA Cup competition was first officially unveiled at theGrimaldi Forum on 28 August 2009 before the2009–10 season group stage draw. A new anthem was composed by Michael Kadelbach and recorded in Berlin and was launched as part of the competition's rebranding at the start of the2015–16 season.[64]
Qualification for the competition is based onUEFA coefficients, with better entrance rounds being offered to the more successful nations. In practice, each association has a standard number of three berths (across both the Europa League and the Conference League), except:
Usually, each country's places are awarded to teams who finish in various runners-up places inits top-flight league and the winner of themain cup competition. Typically the teams qualifying via the league are those in the highest places not eligible for theUEFA Champions League; however, theBelgian league awards one place via a playoff betweenFirst A andFirst B teams. Before its discontinuation in 2020–21, France offered a place to the winners of theCoupe de la Ligue.
A team may qualify for European competitions through more than one route. In all cases, if a club is eligible to enter theUEFA Champions League then the Champions League place takes precedence and the club does not enter the UEFA Europa League. The UEFA Europa League place is then granted to another club or vacated if the maximum limit of teams qualifying for European competitions is exceeded. If a team qualifies for European competition through both winning a cup and league placing, the "spare" UEFA Europa League place will go to the highest placed league team which has not already qualified for European competition, depending on the rules of the national association, or vacated, if the described limit is reached.
The top three ranked associations may qualify for a fourth berth if both the Champions League and Europa League champions are from that association and do not qualify for European competition through their domestic performance. In that case, the fourth-placed team in that association will join the Europa League instead of the Champions League, in addition to their other qualifying teams.
More recently, clubs that are knocked out of the qualifying round and (prior to 2024–25) the group stage of the Champions League can also join the UEFA Europa League, at different stages (see below). Formerly, the reigning champions qualified for the Europa League to defend their title, butsince 2015 they qualify for the Champions League.From the2024–25 season, the winner of the Europa League can no longer defend their title as they automatically qualify for the Champions League league phase and teams cannot be transferred from that phase to the Europa League. From 1995 to 2015, three leagues gained one extra place via theUEFA Respect Fair Play ranking.
The format involves a league phase and a knockout phase consisting of preliminary knockout play-offs, followed by a round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final (all of the knockout games except the final are played over two legs). The league phase consists of each team playing a total of eight matches, with four at home and four away. The top eight teams from the league phase receive a bye to the round of 16, while the teams ranked 9th to 24th contest the knockout play-offs with the winners advancing to the round of 16. The teams ranked 25th to 36th in the league phase and the losers of the play-offs are eliminated from the competition.[66]
The final is played at a neutral venue. The winner of the competition is entitled to participate in the UEFA Champions League league phase the following season. The competition's matches are usually played on Thursdays.[67]
UEFA coefficients were introduced in 1980 and, until 1999, they gave a greater number of berths in UEFA Cup to the more successful nations. Three nations had four places, five nations had three places, thirteen nations had two places, and eleven nations only one place. Since 1998, a similar system has been used for theUEFA Champions League. Before 1980, the entrance criteria of the lastFairs Cup was used.
The competition was traditionally a pure knockout tournament. All ties weretwo-legged, including the final. Starting with the1997–98 season, the final became a one-off match, but all other ties remained two-legged.
Before the2004–05 season, the tournament consisted of one qualifying round, followed by a series of knockout rounds. The sixteen non-qualifiers from the final qualifying round of the Champions League entered at the first round proper; later in the tournament, the survivors were joined by third-place finishers from the (first) group stage of the Champions League.
From the 2004–05 season, the competition started with two knockout qualifying rounds held in July and August. Participants from associations ranked 18 and lower entered the first qualifying round with those from associations ranked 9–18 joining them in the second qualifying round. In addition, three places in the first qualifying round were reserved for theUEFA Fair Play ranking winners (until 2015–16), and eleven places in the second qualifying round for theUEFA Intertoto Cup winners.
Winners of the qualifying rounds then joined teams from the associations ranked 1–13 in the first round proper. In addition, non-qualifiers in the third qualifying round of the Champions League also joined the competition at this point along with the current title-holders (unless they had qualified for the Champions League via their national league), for a total of 80 teams in the first round.
After the first knockout round, the 40 survivors entered a group stage, with the clubs being drawn into eight groups of five each. Unlike the Champions League group stage, the UEFA Cup group stage was played in a singleround-robin format, with each club playing two home and two away games. The top three teams in each of the eight groups qualified for the main knockout round along with the eight third-placed teams in the Champions League group stage. From then on a series of two-legged knockout ties were played before a single-legged final, traditionally held on a Wednesday in May, exactly one week before the Champions League final.
A map of UEFA countries whose teams reached the league phase or group stage of the UEFA Europa League
UEFA member country that has been represented in the league phase or group stage
UEFA member country that has not been represented in the league phase or group stage
In the2009–10 season, the competition was rebranded as the UEFA Europa League to raise its profile.[5] Eight more teams qualified for the group stage, which consisted of 12 groups with four teams each (in a double round-robin); the top two teams in each group advanced. The competition was then similar to the previous format, with four rounds oftwo-legged knockout rounds and a one-off final held at a neutral ground which met UEFA'sCategory Four stadium criteria. Matches are generally played on Thursdays. The final was played in May, on the Wednesday ten days before the Champions League final.
Qualification changed significantly. Associations ranked 7–9 in theUEFA coefficients sent the cup winners and three (two since the 2015–16 season) other teams to the UEFA Europa League qualification; all other nations sent a cup winner and two other teams, except for Andorra and San Marino (who sent a cup winner and a runner-up) and Liechtenstein (who sent only a cup winner). Since Gibraltar was accepted as a full UEFA member at the 24 May 2013UEFA Congress in London, their cup winner also qualified for the Europa League.
Although the other teams were the next-highest-ranked in each domestic league (after those qualifying for the UEFA Champions League), France and England continued to use one spot for their league-cup winners. With the abolition of theIntertoto Cup, all participants in the Europa League are qualified through domestic routes. The higher an association is ranked in the UEFA coefficients, the later its members begin the qualification. However, every team except for the title-holder (until the 2014–15 season) and the highest-ranked (the cup winner or the best Europa League-qualified) from the top (six from 2012 to 2015, 12 since the 2015–16 season) associations had to play at least one qualification round.
Except for the teams mentioned, all teams eliminated in the Champions League preliminary round, qualifying rounds and play-off round were transferred to the Europa League. The 12 winners and runners-up in the group stage advanced to the knockout round, with eight third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage.
The distribution was changed in 2014 to broaden the competition's appeal, giving the Europa League champions a Champions League qualification berth, more teams automatically qualified for the group stage. If cup winners had already qualified for European competition through league performance, their place in the league is vacated and goes to the best-ranked teams not qualified for European competition; the cup runner-up is no longer qualified through the cup berth.[68][69] These rules became effective for the 2015–16 season.
Beginning with the2018–19 tournament, all domestic champions eliminated in the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Champions League will transfer to the Europa League, rather than just teams that are eliminated in the third-qualifying and play-off rounds. Europa League qualifying will also provide a separate champions route for these teams, allowing more opportunities for domestic league champions to compete against each other.[70]
Teams entering in this round
Teams advancing from previous round
Teams transferred from Champions League
Preliminary round (16 teams)
6 domestic cup winners from associations 50–55
7 domestic league runners-up from associations 49–55
3 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 48–50
First qualifying round (94 teams)
25 domestic cup winners from associations 25–49
30 domestic league runners-up from associations 18–48 (except Liechtenstein)
31 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 16–47 (except Liechtenstein)
8 winners from preliminary round
Second qualifying round
Champions (20 teams)
17 losers from Champions League first qualifying round
3 losers from Champions League preliminary round
Non-champions (74 teams)
7 domestic cup winners from associations 18–24
2 domestic league runners-up from associations 16–17
3 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 13–15
9 domestic league fourth-placed teams from associations 7–15
2 domestic league fifth-placed teams from associations 5–6 (League Cup winners for France)
4 domestic league sixth-placed teams from associations 1–4 (League Cup winners for England)
47 winners from first qualifying round
Third qualifying round
Champions (20 teams)
10 winners from second qualifying round for champions
10 losers from Champions League second qualifying round for champions
Non-champions (52 teams)
5 domestic cup winners from associations 13–17
6 domestic league third-placed teams from associations 7–12
1 domestic league fourth-placed team from association 6
37 winners from second qualifying round for non-champions
3 losers from Champions League second qualifying round for non-champions
Play-off round
Champions (16 teams)
10 winners from third qualifying round for champions
6 losers from Champions League third qualifying round for champions
Non-champions (26 teams)
26 winners from third qualifying round for non-champions
Group stage (48 teams)
12 domestic cup winners from associations 1–12
1 domestic league fourth-placed team from association 5
4 domestic league fifth-placed teams from associations 1–4
21 winners from play-off round
6 losers from Champions League play-off round
4 losers from Champions League third qualifying round for non-champions
Knockout phase (32 teams)
12 group winners from group stage
12 group runners-up from group stage
8 third-placed teams from Champions League group stage
If the Europa League title holders already qualified for the Champions League group stage via their domestic league, the following changes to the access list would be made:
The cup winners of association 18 entered the third qualifying round instead of the second qualifying round.
The cup winners of association 25 entered the second qualifying round instead of the first qualifying round.
The cup winners of associations 50 and 51 entered the first qualifying round instead of the preliminary round.
The announcement of theUEFA Europa Conference League, a tertiary competition which would serve to split off the lower-ranked teams in the Europa League to give them a greater chance to compete, included a document from UEFA listing their intentions for qualification to the Europa League from 2021 onwards.[71] With a majority of the former entrants into the Europa League now participating solely in the UECL, the Europa League itself would have a greatly reduced format which will focus primarily around its group stage.[72] There would also be an additional knockout round before the knockout phase proper, allowing for third-placed teams in the Champions League group stage to fall into the Europa League while still keeping the knockout stage itself at only 16 teams total.[71]
Teams entering in this round
Teams advancing from previous round
Teams transferred from Champions League
Third qualifying round
Champions (10 teams)
10 losers from Champions League second qualifying round for champions
Non-champions (6 teams)
3 domestic cup winners from associations 13–15
3 losers from Champions League second qualifying round for non-champions
Play-off round (20 teams)
6 domestic cup winners from associations 7–12
5 winners from qualifying round for champions
3 winners from qualifying round for non-champions
6 losers from Champions League third qualifying round for champions
5 domestic league fifth-placed teams from associations 1–5
12 winners from play-off round
5 losers from Champions League play-off round for champions
6 losers from Champions League third qualifying round and play-off round for non-champions
Changes will be made to the access list above if the Europa League or Conference League title holder qualifies for the tournament via their domestic leagues.
If the Europa League title holders qualify for the league phase via their domestic league's standard berth allocation, the best-ranked club in qualifying rounds (both champions path and league path) enters the league phase without leapfrogging, then associations in the UEFA coefficient ranking are promoted to later qualifying rounds, and teams of the highest-ranked associations in earlier rounds are also promoted accordingly.
If the Conference League title holders qualify for the league phase via their domestic league's standard berth allocation, the best-ranked club in qualifying rounds (both champions path and league path) enters the league phase without leapfrogging, then associations in the UEFA coefficient ranking are promoted to later qualifying rounds, and teams of the highest-ranked associations in earlier rounds are also promoted accordingly.
If the Europa League or Conference League title holders qualify for the qualifying rounds via their domestic league, their spot in the qualifying rounds is vacated, and teams of the highest-ranked associations in earlier rounds are promoted accordingly.
Similar to the UEFA Champions League, the prize money received by the clubs is divided into fixed payments based on participation and results, and variable amounts that depend of the value of their TV market.[74]
For the2021–22 season, group stage participation in the Europa League awarded a base fee of €3,630,000. A victory in the group pays €630,000 and a draw €210,000. Each group winner earns €1,100,000 and each runner-up €550,000. Reaching the knock-out stage triggered additional bonuses: €500,000 for the round of 32, €1,200,000 for the round of 16, €1,800,000 for the quarter-finals and €2,800,000 for the semi-finals. The losing finalists received €4,600,000 and the champions received €8,600,000.[75]
Decathlon's Kipsta sub-brand is the official match ball supplier from the 2024–25 season onwards for a three-year period.[83]
Since the inception of the Europa League brand, the tournament has used its ownadvertising hoardings (in that year they debuted in the round of 32) like the UEFA Champions League. LED hoardings made their debut in the 2012–13 final and appeared in the 2015–16 season from the round of 16. Since the same season, from the group stage onwards, teams are not allowed to show their own sponsors.[84] They appeared in the 2018–19 season for selected matches in the group stages and the round of 32.[85]
Individual clubs may wear jerseys with advertising, even if such sponsors conflict with those of the Europa League. Two sponsorships are permitted per jersey (plus that of the manufacturer), at the chest and the left sleeve.[86] Exceptions are made for non-profit organisations, which can feature on the front of the shirt, incorporated with the main sponsor, or on the back, either below the squad number or between the player name and the collar.
The UEFA Cup finals were played over two legs until1997. The first final, betweenWolverhampton Wanderers andTottenham Hotspur, was played on 3 May 1972 in Wolverhampton and 17 May 1972 in London. The first leg was won 2–1 by Tottenham Hotspur. The second leg ended in a 1–1 draw, meaning that Tottenham Hotspur became the first UEFA Cup winners.
Starting from the 2016–17 edition of the competition, UEFA introduced theUEFA Europa League Player of the Season award.
The jury is composed of the coaches of the clubs which participate in the group stage of the competition, together with 55 journalists selected by theEuropean Sports Media (ESM) group, one from each UEFA member association.
Starting from the 2021–22 edition of the competition, UEFA introduced theUEFA Europa League Young Player of the Season award, chosen by UEFA's Technical Observer Panel.
^ab"Origins of the UEFA Cup"(PDF).UEFA direct. No. 85. Nyon: Union des Associations Européennes de Football. May 2009.Archived(PDF) from the original on 31 July 2021.
^"UEFA Europa League History".UEFA.com (Press release). Union of European Football Associations.Archived from the original on 16 February 2010. Retrieved27 April 2008.
^ab"UEFA Cup gets new name in revamp". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 26 September 2008.Archived from the original on 27 September 2008. Retrieved26 September 2008.
^"UEFA Cup to become UEFA Europa League".UEFA.com (Press release). Union of European Football Associations. 26 September 2008.Archived from the original on 12 August 2020. Retrieved30 July 2020.
^"UEFA Europa League trophy".UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. January 2017.Archived from the original on 12 August 2020. Retrieved12 May 2020.
^"UEFA Europa League anthem anthem".UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 September 2015.Archived from the original on 1 March 2010. Retrieved12 September 2015.
^"UEL2 Access List 2021–24"(PDF).UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 2 December 2018.Archived(PDF) from the original on 3 December 2018. Retrieved2 December 2018.
