France, 5th in the UEFA coefficient ranking, remains threatened by the Netherlands and Portugal, which still have several teams involved in the Champions League, Europa League and Europa League Conference.
Beware of unpleasant surprises in the coming months. After the elimination of FC Nantes, Stade Rennais and AS Monaco in the Europa League on Thursday February 23, French football has only two representatives left in European competitions: Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League and OGC Nice in the Europa League Conference. This represents a danger for France’s UEFA index, currently 5th in this ranking which then determines the number of qualifying places for European competitions for the 2024-2025 season.
As calculations by @SwissFootData on Twitter show, France’s lead over their pursuers has eroded slightly. At the end of this European week, the French clubs have garnered only 0.334 points. Behind, the Dutch (6th place) and the Portuguese (7th) respectively made +0.4 and +0.5.
The gap between France and the Netherlands is now 3.031 points. There is a little more margin with Portugal: 5.615 points.
5th place is precious
Currently (and until the reform which will come into force in 2024), 5th place in the UEFA ranking grants two direct places for the group stage of the Champions League and one for the third qualifying round. Ditto for 6th place, but this only gives one ticket to the Europa League instead of two.
As for 7th place, it only delivers one direct place for the Champions League, one for the third preliminary round and a play-off place for the Europa League (as well as two qualifying tickets for the Europa League Conference).
Benfica, Porto and Feyenoord, the three clubs to watch
As a reminder, the UEFA coefficient of each country is calculated on the basis of the results of its clubs in European competitions. The total obtained is divided by the number of clubs involved that the country engages in C1, C3 and C4 over the whole season.
Two points are awarded for a win, one point for a draw, one point for each qualification to the next round (from the semi-finals for the Europa League Conference). Shots on goal do not count.
In particular if Paris Saint-Germain are knocked out by Bayern Munich in the round of 16 of the C1 (return on March 8), France will have to monitor the paths of Benfica and Porto in the Champions League, Feyenoord and Sporting CP in the Europa League and AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League Conference.
