Netherlands UEFA Coefficient Ranking Drop: 2024 Update

The Netherlands has lost sixth place on the coefficient list to Portugal. It is almost certain that this will remain the case until the end of the season, which means that the Premier League will only have one direct ticket for the Champions League from the summer of 2027, instead of the two that the Netherlands currently has.

Dutch clubs suffered no fewer than 32 defeats in European competitions this season, an ‘improvement’ of the negative record from the 2008/09 season (26 defeats). As a result, fourteen countries received more coefficient points than the Netherlands this season, including countries such as Cyprus and the Czech Republic.

Because Portuguese teams performed well in European tournaments this season, that country took over sixth place on the coefficient list from the Netherlands earlier than expected. Only if the four Portuguese clubs lose almost all their European matches from now on and AZ reaches at least the final, the Netherlands can still overcome Portugal.

The coefficient malaise for the Netherlands may continue for a while, because there is a threat of a free fall on the list. The list is drawn up over a cycle of five seasons, so the strong 2020/21 season in the Netherlands will be canceled this summer. Then the Premier League even scored more points than countries such as Spain and Germany.

‘Coefficient competitors’ Portugal, Belgium and Turkey then had relatively weak seasons and therefore benefit from the fact that 2021/22 is cancelled.

The Netherlands will most likely end the current season in seventh place on the coefficient list. For the following season, the Premier League must be careful that it does not drop further to eighth or even ninth place.

From the coming cycle, which runs from 2022 to 2027, Belgium will already have a significant lead. An important nuance is that points can still be earned this season and that the Netherlands still has the entire coming season to make up for the deficit with the Belgians and Portuguese.

*The 2025/26 season is still running so these numbers may increase

By the way, the coefficient list is not only alive in the Netherlands, but also in Portugal. Major sports media such as A Bola and Record report about the “epic” European week in which sixth place on the list was conquered at the expense of the Netherlands.

Under these articles, Portuguese football fans show that they have not forgotten how the Netherlands celebrated conquering sixth place in 2023, with a video in which Khalid Boulahrouz collected a suitcase containing the newly acquired ‘European tickets’.