In European football, the UEFA coefficients are statistics based in weighted arithmetic means used for ranking and seeding teams in club and international competitions. Introduced in 1979 for men's football tournaments (country rankings only), and later applied in women's football and futsal, the coefficients are calculated by UEFA, who administer football within Europe, and the Asian parts of some transcontinental countries.
The confederation publishes three types of rankings: one each analysing a single season, a five-year span, and a ten-year span. For men's competitions, three sets of coefficients are calculated:
National team coefficient: used during 1997–2017 to rank national teams for seeding in the UEFA Euro qualifying and finals tournaments. UEFA decided after 2017 to instead seed national teams based on the: Overall ranking of the biennial UEFA Nations League for the seeded draw of groups in the UEFA Euro qualification stage. Overall ranking of the UEFA Euro qualification stage for the seeded draw of groups in the UEFA Euro final tournament. Association coefficient: used to rank the collective performance of the clubs of each member association, for assigning the number of places, and at what stage clubs enter, the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Conference League. Club coefficient (since 1990): used to rank individual clubs, for seeding in the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (until 1999) and UEFA Conference League (since 2021). For the expanded format of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA has used a mixed style of seeding for the competition, with the winners of the 2021–2024 Champions League each receiving a place and the other 8 teams being chosen based on their UEFA Club Coefficient.
Men's association coefficient
The association coefficient is used to rank the football associations of Europe, and thus determine the number of clubs from an association that will participate in the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Conference League.
The UEFA ranking determines the number of teams competing in the season after the next, not in the first season after the publication of the ranking. Thus, the rankings at the end of the 2026–27 season determine the team allocation by association in the 2028–29 UEFA season (not 2027–28). This is unrelated to the selection of teams which will fill each allocation through the individual association leagues and national cups (which is decided in the preceding season).
This coefficient is determined by the results of the clubs of the associations in the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Conference League games over the past five seasons. Two points are awarded for each win by a club, and one for a draw (points are halved in the qualifying rounds). Results determined by extra time do count in determining the allocation of points, but results determined by penalty shootouts do not affect the allocation of points, other than for bonus points given for qualification into the latter rounds. The number of points awarded each season is divided by the number of teams that participated for that association in that season. This number is calculated to three decimal places then truncated (e.g. would be truncated to 2.666).
To determine an association's coefficient for a particular season, the coefficients for the last five seasons are added. Bonus points are added to the number of points scored in a season. Bonus points are allocated for:
Bonus Points
2024–25 through 2026–27 seasons Round Champions League Europa League Conference League League phase participation (1–36) 6 – – League phase bonus increase per ascending final ranking (9–24) 0.25 0.25 0.125 League phase bonus increase per ascending final ranking (1–8) 0.25 0.25 0.25 Maximum league phase bonus (ranked 1st, for reference) 12 6 4 Each knockout round participation (R16, QF, SF, Final) 1.5 1 0.52021–22 through 2023–24 seasons Round Champions League Europa League Europa Conference League Group stage participation 4 – – Group winner 4 4 2 Group runner-up 4 2 1 Round of 16 participation 1 1 – Quarter-finals participation 1 1 – Semi-finals and Finals participation 1 1 1
UEFA uses this coefficient system to decide which teams gain automatic entry to the league phase and which teams must go through qualifying. For instance, the teams who occupy the top four league places in the associations ranked 1 to 4 in UEFA competition, the top three teams of the association ranked 5, the top two teams of the association ranked 6, and the champions in the associations ranked 7 to 10 gain automatic entry into the league phase for the following season's Champions League competition.
Current ranking The ranking below takes into account each association's performance in European competitions from 2022–23 to 2026–27, with the 2026–27 season underway. The final ranking at the end of the 2026–27 season will be used to determine the minimum number of places for each association in the 2028–29 UEFA club competitions.
From the 2023–24 season and onward, the two highest annual coefficients are used to determine two additional European Performance Spots (one per association) in the Champions League for the next season. These associations are highlighted in bold; prior to the 2023–24 season only the leading association was highlighted.
As of 17 September 2026, the coefficients are as follows:
RankingMember associationCoefficientTeamsPlaces in 2028–29 season202720262022–232023–242024–252025–262026–27TotalCLELECLTotal1 1 – England 23.00017.37529.46428.6805.277103.7969/942172 2 – Italy 22.35721.00021.87519.0004.35788.5897/73 3 – Spain 16.57116.06223.89222.0934.62583.2438/84 4 – Germany 17.12519.35718.42121.7854.85781.5457/75 5 – France 12.58316.25017.92818.3214.07169.1537/76 6 – Portugal 12.50011.00016.25020.5005.50065.7505/532167 8 +1 Belgium 14.20014.40015.65011.4003.80059.4505/522158 7 –1 Netherlands 13.50010.00015.2509.9793.83352.5626/69 9 – Turkey 11.80012.00010.30011.0755.10050.2754/510 10 – Czechia 6.75013.50010.55011.0253.30045.1254/511 12 +1 Poland 7.7506.87511.75015.7503.00045.1252/512 11 –1 Greece 2.12511.40012.68714.2004.60045.0124/513 14 +1 Norway 5.7508.00011.8128.0505.00038.6124/5212514 13 –1 Denmark 5.9008.5007.65612.2504.00038.3064/415 15 – Cyprus 5.1003.75010.56212.1563.12534.6932/416 16 – Switzerland 8.5005.2007.0506.2003.25030.2002/4112417 17 – Austria 4.9004.8009.6504.1004.80028.2503/518 22 +4 Hungary 5.8754.5006.6257.4373.37527.8121/419 18 –1 Scotland 3.5006.4009.2505.0002.10026.2502/520 20 – Croatia 3.3755.8755.8757.0313.75025.9062/421 19 –2 Sweden 6.2501.87511.3755.0001.25025.7501/422 25 +3 Romania 6.2503.2507.7505.7501.87524.8751/423 23 – Ukraine 5.7004.1003.6008.3122.62524.3371/424 21 –3 Israel 6.2508.7502.8752.8753.37524.1251/425 27 +2 Azerbaijan 4.0005.8752.8755.8125.12523.6871/426 26 – Slovenia 2.1253.8759.0936.3751.37522.8431/427 29 +2 Slovakia 6.0005.0004.6252.6254.12522.3751/428 30 +2 Bulgaria 4.5004.3753.6255.1872.87520.5622/429 24 –5 Serbia 5.3751.4003.7255.7502.00018.2501/430 28 –2 Russia 4.3334.3334.3334.3330.00017.3320/031 32 +1 Iceland 3.0003.8334.5623.6252.00017.0200/432 31 –1 Republic of Ireland 3.3751.5005.3434.2501.87516.3430/433 33 – Armenia 2.3752.2504.3754.1872.62515.8121/434 36 +2 Kosovo 2.8753.0002.0003.7812.37514.0310/4103435 38 +32.0002.2504.5313.3121.87513.9681/436 39 +3 Latvia 2.7501.6253.8752.0003.62513.8751/437 35 –2 Finland 2.6251.7502.2503.6253.37513.6251/438 37 –1 Kazakhstan 1.1253.1253.0003.6251.50012.3751/439 42 +3 Liechtenstein 6.5000.5000.5001.0002.50011.0000/1001140 34 –6 Moldova 3.7502.0002.1251.5000.87510.2500/4103441 40 –1 Faroe Islands 2.2502.7501.5001.7501.6259.8750/442 44 +2 Albania 0.8752.1251.2502.2502.5009.0001/443 45 +2 North Macedonia 1.6251.5000.6663.3431.8338.9670/344 50 +6 Belarus 0.6251.7501.8752.1252.3338.7080/345 46 +1 Lithuania 2.3751.1251.3751.1252.1258.1251/446 49 +3 Andorra 0.6661.6661.0002.0002.5007.8321/347 41 –6 Malta 2.6251.5001.0002.0000.5007.6250/448 48 – Gibraltar 0.8750.1661.5003.3331.3337.2071/349 43 –6 Estonia 1.1660.1251.6251.6252.5007.0410/450 47 –3 Northern Ireland 1.2501.1251.5001.7501.0006.6250/451 53 +2 Georgia 1.1251.2501.2501.1251.7506.5001/4102352 51 –1 Luxembourg 1.1252.2501.2500.7500.8756.2500/453 52 –1 Montenegro 1.0001.3332.5001.0000.0005.8330/454 54 – Wales 1.1660.6252.0000.3330.3754.4990/455 55 – San Marino 0.8330.3330.6660.8330.3332.9980/3
Notes
Liechtenstein's status and similar cases According to the UEFA regulations a National League needs to consist of at least eight clubs to be considered valid, otherwise no participants of such a league will be allowed to enter European competitions. There are only seven clubs that are active in Liechtenstein, all of which play in neighbouring Switzerland's league competitions. Prior to the introduction of the Welsh Premier League, now known as Cymru Premier, in 1992, Wales also had a single participant in European competitions, the winner (or best placed Welsh team as several English teams also competed) of the Welsh Cup, in the now defunct UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.
Distribution of team competition quotas 2024–27 The following is the default access list for the 2024–25 and future seasons. Rankings in table exclude Liechtenstein which receives one Europa or Conference League qualifying berth, depending on their ranking, for their cup winner.
Champions League Europa League Conference League Ranking 1–4 4 2 1 5 3 1 2 1 6 2 1 1 1 1 7 1 1 1 1 1 8–9 1 1 1 1 1 10 1 1 1 1 1 11–12 1 1 1 1 1 13–14 1 1 1 2 15 2 1 2 16–22 1 1 2 23–29 1 1 2 30–33 1 1 1 1 34–37 1 1 2 38–49 1 3 50–54 1 2 1
History
Following the introduction of the UEFA Cup in 1971, the competition began to grow in complexity, with more clubs than either the European Champions Cup or the Cup Winners' Cup, reaching up to four from a single country. UEFA began to publish association rankings in 1979, to identify the number of participants from each association in the UEFA Cup.
Subsequently, for statistical purposes, various rankings were introduced to portray the history of the associations. According to the pro-rated (extended) calculation system, only four associations have ever been ranked as the top European association.
Following the Heysel Stadium disaster, all English teams were banned from UEFA competitions in 1985. The ban was only lifted after five seasons, with the knock-on effects continuing to impact on English football for a total of nine years from 1986 to 1994. Having been top in 1985, England were unranked in 1990 and would not regain the top position until 2008.
Top associations by period The following data indicates the three top-ranked associations in each five-year period. Data prior to 1975–1979 period has been calculated, but precedes the first published by the Confederation and has merely informative value. Note that the table take into account the results from the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, which was a non-UEFA competition that took place until 1971, whose teams in the first editions were representing cities instead of clubs.