UEFA Coefficients calculation method

UEFA European Cup Football
by Bert Kassies

For history and details of the calculation method see below.

UEFA coefficients are based on the performance of clubs in the European Cups during a five year period. During those 5 years match results (2 points for a win and 1 point for a draw) are awarded from the group stage onwards of the Champions League (CL), the Europa League (EL), and the Conference League (CO). However, in the knockout round play-offs, match results do count for the country ranking but not for the club ranking.

In addition bonus points are allocated for reaching the round of 16, the quarter finals, the semi finals and the finals. For each stage in CL the bonus is 1.5 point, for each stage in EL the bonus is 1 point, and for each stage in CO the bonus is 0.5 point.

Furthermore there are bonus points for the final ranking of the league stage. Clubs at ranks between 1-9, 9-17, 17-25 get bonus points on a linear scale between the indicated ranks. Clubs between rank 25-36 get the same bonus points as those at rank 25.

Matches in qualifying rounds are awarded with 1 point for a win, and 0.5 point for a draw, but only for the country coefficient. Clubs that are eliminated in qualifying rounds of the Conference League are rewarded with a number of points for the club coefficient based on the reached (qualifying) round.

UEFA Country Ranking

The so-called UEFA coefficients are calculated by taking an average, based on the total number of points divided by the total number of clubs of each country. See the country coefficients of 2020 for an example of such a calculation.

The UEFA country ranking is computed by the sum of 5 coefficients in the last 5 years. See the country ranking of 2020 for an example of such a ranking list. To determine the participants in UEFA European club football last year's country ranking is used, because each country should know at the start of the season how many places it disposes. If countries (or clubs) have the same amount of points then the ranking is determined by the most recent season in which the yearly coefficients differ.

UEFA Club Ranking

These qualification points are not cumulative. The group stage of the Champions League is already rewarded with bonus points (see above). The points for the group stages of the Europa League and the Conference League are a minimum and will not be added to the match points obtained during the group stage. So, all participating clubs get at least some bonus points, qualification points, or match points.

Bonus points before 2024

Furthermore there were bonus points for the winners and runners-up of the EL and ECL group stages: 4 bonus points for the winners of the EL groups, 2 bonus points for the runners-up of the EL groups, 2 bonus points for the winners of the ECL groups, and 1 bonus point for the runners-up of the ECL groups.

In 2021 the introduction of the Europa Conference League led to changes in the distribution of bonus points and qualification points.

Bonus points before 2021

Country ranking

Club ranking

Before 2018 the UEFA club coefficients were calculated as the sum of the number of points of each individual club, and 20% of the country coefficient. From 2004-2008 the contribution of the country coefficient was 33%, and before 2004 the contribution of the country coefficient was 50%. The UEFA club ranking was then computed by the sum of 5 coefficients in the last 5 years.

Before 1999 a number of strong clubs in the UEFA Cup were seeded such that those clubs did not meet in the first two rounds. To determine these clubs, the sum of the ratio of the number of points achieved, divided by the number of games played by each club, was calculated for the past five years.

2020 - COVID-19 special rules

For these single-leg matches the calculation of coefficients were adapted as follows:
- 3 points for a win in regular time or extra time (1.5 points for qualifying and play-off matches),
- 2 points for a draw in extra time (1 point for qualifying and play-off matches),
- 1 point for a defeat in regular time or extra time (0.5 points for qualifying and play-off matches).

nclubs = number of clubs per country,
tpoints = number of points per club (club coefficient method),
tmatches = number of matches per club, and
cpoints = number of points per country (country coefficient method).

ccoef = country coefficient per year,
crank = country ranking over 5 years,
tcoef = club coefficient per year, and
trank = club ranking over 5 years.

1. Country Coefficients and Country Ranking

ccoef = rounddown(cpoints/nclubs, 3)
crank = sum(ccoef);

2. Club Coefficients and Club Ranking

trank = max ( tpoints, rounddown( crank / 5 , 3) )
10-year trank = max ( tpoints + title points, rounddown( 10year-crank / 5 , 3) )

tcoef = 0.20 * rounddown(cpoints/nclubs, 3) + tpoints = ccoef / 5 + tpoints
trank = rounddown(sum(tcoef) , 3)

tcoef = 0.5 * rounddown( 0.33 * (2*cpoints/nclubs), 3) + tpoints
trank = rounddown(sum(tcoef) , 3)

tcoef = 0.5 * rounddown( 0.50 * (2*cpoints/nclubs), 3) + tpoints
trank = rounddown(sum(tcoef) , 3)

tcoef = rounddown(tpoints/tmatches, 3)
trank = sum(tcoef)

where
sum = sum over 5 years, and
rounddown(..., 3) = truncation to 3 significant digits after the decimal point.

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