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Organising body | UEFA |
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Founded | 2021 (rebranded in 2024) |
Region | Europe |
Number of teams | 36 (league stage) 184 (total) |
Qualifier for | UEFA Europa League |
Related competitions | UEFA Champions League (1st tier) UEFA Europa League (2nd tier) |
Current champions | ![]() |
Most successful club(s) | ![]() ![]() ![]() (1 title each) |
Website | uefa.com/uefaconferenceleague |
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The UEFA Conference League (previously known as the UEFA Europa Conference League), abbreviated as UECL or sometimes UEFA ECL, is an annual football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It is the third tier of continental club football in Europe, behind the second-tier Europa League, and the first-tier Champions League.
Introduced in 2021 as the UEFA Europa Conference League, the competition was initially intended as the bottom level of the Europa League. The competition is primarily contested by teams from lower-ranked UEFA member associations.[1] No teams qualify directly to the group stage, with 12 teams eliminated in the Europa League play-offs and the rest coming from the Conference League qualifiers. The winners of the competition qualify for the following season's Europa League, unless they qualify for the Champions League.[2]
From the 2024–25 season, the competition has been rebranded as UEFA Conference League. Roma were the inaugural winners of the competition, having beaten Feyenoord 1–0 in the 2022 final.