UEFA coefficient

In European football, the UEFA coefficients are statistics used for ranking and seeding teams in club and international competitions. The coefficients are calculated by UEFA, who administer football within Europe.

For men's competitions (discussed in this article), three different sets of coefficients are calculated:

• National team coefficient: used to rank national teams, for seeding in the UEFA Euro qualifying and finals tournaments
• Country coefficient: used to rank the collective performance of the clubs of each member association, for assigning the number of places for each member association in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League
• Club coefficient: used to rank individual clubs, for seeding in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League

While not discussed in this article, coefficients are calculated in a similar fashion for women's competitions such as the UEFA Women's Euro^[1] and the UEFA Women's Champions League,^[2][3] as well as for youth tournaments such as the UEFA Euro U-21 tournament.^[4]

National team coefficient [edit]

The UEFA national team coefficient is derived from the results of each European national football team, and only calculated by UEFA every second year in November; defined as being the point of time when all UEFA nations have completed the qualification stage of the upcoming World Cup or European Championship tournament.

The purpose of calculating the coefficients is to compile an official UEFA rank, to be used as seeding criteria for the European nations, when drawing up qualification groups and the final tournament groups of the European Championship. Previously, up until 2006, the UEFA national team coefficient was also used for the seeded draw of World Cup qualification groups in Europe, while the draw for final tournament groups of the World Cup was always seeded on the basis of the official FIFA World Rankings. The reason why UEFA stopped using UEFA national team coefficients for the seeding of World Cup qualification groups was a request from FIFA to only use the official FIFA ranking for all seeded draws related to the World Cup tournament.

Old ranking and calculation method [edit]

It was first introduced in 2003 and used for seeding the 2004 European Final tournament and 2006 World Cup qualification. Until the end of the Euro 2008 tournament, the UEFA national team coefficient was calculated by dividing the number of all points scored (three points for a win, one for a draw) by the number of all matches played, in the last two qualification rounds of the World Cup or European Championship. Results from the final tournaments, Play-off matches and friendly games were all ignored. In those cases where a nation did not take part at one of the two latest qualifying rounds, due to being directly qualified as a host, only one qualifying round would be taken into account.

If two or more nations ended up with exactly the same coefficient, the following ranking criteria was applied:

1. Highest coefficient from the matches played in the most recent qualifying competition.
2. Biggest average goal difference per game, found by dividing the sum of all goal differences by the number of ranked matches.
3. Highest average number of goals scored per game.
4. Highest average number of away goals scored per game.
5. Drawing of lots.

The last three times UEFA used this calculation method was for the final UEFA coefficients in 2003, 2005 and 2007.

New ranking and calculation method [edit]

On 20 May 2008, UEFA announced changes to the coefficient ranking system.^[5][6][7] The ranking will continue to be calculated every second year in November, but under the new system, teams now gain ranking points for each game played in the most recently completed full cycle (defined as all qualifying games and final tournament games) of both the World Cup and European Championship, with addition of ranking points for each game played at the latest completed half cycle (defined as all games played in the latest qualifying round). Ranking points for all games played inside those two and a half cycles, will be awarded according to the rules listed below.

1. 10,000 points are awarded for each match played, regardless of the match result.
2. Each team earns an additional 30,000 for winning and 10,000 for drawing.
3. In case of a game decided by penalty shoot out, the points are allocated as a draw, with the winner of the shoot-out gaining an additional 10,000 points.
4. Each match at the final tournament, or play-offs to determine qualification, are also granted some extra bonus points, ranging from 6,000 points for all play-offs or World Cup group stage games, to 38,000 points for playing a final.
5. 501 points are earned for each goal scored, and -500 are given for each goal conceded.
6. Coefficients are calculated for each two and a half cycle, by dividing the sum of earned points with the number of games played.
7. When calculating the overall average coefficient for the cycles, the latest full cycle and half cycle will each have double the weight, compared to the oldest full cycle.
8. Special arrangements are in place for those nations that did not participate in one of the previous qualifying tournaments due to hosting the competition.

Final ranking in 2009 [edit]

The coefficients from November 2009, to be used for the seeding and pot placements in the draw for UEFA Euro 2012 qualification groups, were calculated for each country by averaging:

• 40% of the average points per game, earned in the 2010 World Cup qualifying stage.
• 40% of the average points per game, earned in the 2008 Euro qualifying stage and final tournament.
• 20% of the average points per game, earned in the 2006 World Cup qualifying stage and final tournament.

The new official UEFA coefficients were calculated for the first time in November 2009:^[8]

Final ranking in 2011 [edit]

The coefficients to be calculated for UEFA Euro 2012 final tournament were found by averaging:^[9]

• 40% of the average points per game, earned in the 2012 Euro qualifying stage.
• 40% of the average points per game, earned in the 2010 World Cup qualifying stage and final tournament.
• 20% of the average points per game, earned in the 2008 Euro qualifying stage and final tournament

The seeding and pot placements of the qualified teams in the draw for Euro 2012 were based on UEFA coefficients, determined on 16 November 2011, which are as follows:^[10]

Country coefficient [edit]

Map of UEFA countries, teams from which have reached the group stage of the UEFA Champions League

  UEFA member country that has been represented in the group stage

  UEFA member country that has not been represented in the group stage

  Not a UEFA member

The country 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 and the UEFA Europa 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 2012–13 season determine the team allocation by association in the 2014–15 (not 2013–14) UEFA season; however, the actual teams that will be participating are determined at the end of the 2013–14 season when the individual association classifications and national cups are finalized.

This coefficient is determined by the results of the clubs of the associations in the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa 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 and playoff 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 of the Champions League or the Europa League. 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 then rounded down to three decimal places (e.g. 2⅔ would be rounded to 2.666).^[11]

To determine a country'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:

• Clubs that reach the quarter-finals, semi-finals, or final of either the UEFA Champions League or the UEFA Europa League (1 bonus point).
• Clubs that qualify for the group stage of the Champions League (4 bonus points).
• Clubs that qualify for the round of 16 of the Champions League (5 bonus points).

Current ranking [edit]

As of 15 May 2013 the coefficients are as follows:^[11]

Rank 2013	Rank 2012	Mvmt.	Member association (L: League, C: Cup, LC: League cup)	2008–09	2009–10	2010–11	2011–12	2012–13	Coeff.	Teams	CL places	EL places	Total
1	2	+1	Spain (L, C)	13.312	17.928	18.214	20.857	17.714	88.025	0/7	4	3	7
2	1	−1	England (L, C, LC)	15.000	17.928	18.357	15.250	16.428	82.963	0/7
3	3	—	Germany (L, C)	12.687	18.083	15.666	15.250	17.642	79.328	2/7
4	4	—	Italy (L, C)	11.375	15.428	11.571	11.357	14.417	64.147	0/6	3		6
5	5	—	Portugal (L, C, LC)	6.785	10.000	18.800	11.833	11.750	59.168	0/6
6	6	—	France (L, C, LC)	11.000	15.000	10.750	10.500	11.750	59.000	0/6
7	9	+2	Ukraine (L, C)	16.625	5.800	10.083	7.750	9.500	49.758	0/6	2	4
8	7	−1	Russia (L, C)	9.750	6.166	10.916	9.750	9.750	46.332	0/6
9	8	−1	Netherlands (L, C)	6.333	9.416	11.166	13.600	4.214	44.729	0/7
10	11	+1	Turkey (L, C)	7.000	7.600	4.600	5.100	10.200	34.500	0/5		3	5
11	12	+1	Belgium (L, C)	4.500	8.700	4.600	10.100	6.500	34.400	0/5
12	10	−2	Greece (L, C)	6.500	7.900	7.600	7.600	4.400	34.000	0/5
13	14	+1	Switzerland (L, C)	2.900	5.750	5.900	6.000	8.400	28.950	0/4
14	16	+2	Cyprus (L, C)	6.333	4.250	3.125	9.125	4.000	26.833	0/4
15	13	−2	Denmark (L, C)	8.200	4.400	6.700	3.100	3.300	25.700	0/5
16	15	−1	Austria (L, C)	2.250	9.375	4.375	7.125	2.250	25.375	0/4	1	3	4
17	19	+2	Czech Republic (L, C)	2.375	4.100	3.500	5.250	8.250	23.475	0/4
18	22	+4	Romania (L, C)	2.642	6.083	3.166	4.333	6.800	23.024	0/5
19	17	−2	Israel (L, C)	1.750	7.250	4.625	6.000	3.250	22.875	0/4
20	23	+3	Belarus (L, C)	4.000	3.375	5.875	3.125	4.500	20.875	0/4
21	20	−1	Poland (L, C)	5.000	2.125	4.500	6.625	2.500	20.750	0/4
22	21	−1	Croatia (L, C)	4.333	3.000	4.125	3.750	4.375	19.583	0/4
23	24	+1	Sweden (L, C)	2.500	2.500	2.600	2.900	5.125	15.625	0/4
24	18	−6	Scotland (L, C, LC)	1.875	2.666	3.600	2.750	4.300	15.191	0/5
25	27	+2	Serbia (L, C)	3.000	3.000	3.500	2.125	3.000	14.625	0/4
26	25	−1	Slovakia (L, C)	4.833	2.500	3.000	2.375	1.500	14.208	0/4
27	26	−1	Norway (L, C)	2.500	2.100	2.375	2.300	4.900	14.175	0/5
28	28	—	Bulgaria (L, C)	2.250	3.125	4.625	1.500	0.750	12.250	0/4
29	29	—	Hungary (L, C)	1.000	2.750	2.750	2.250	3.000	11.750	0/4
30	34	+4	Slovenia (L, C)	1.333	1.375	1.500	2.250	3.250	9.708	0/4
31	31	—	Georgia (L, C)	1.166	1.750	1.875	2.875	1.500	9.166	0/4
32	37	+5	Azerbaijan (L, C)	0.666	1.500	2.000	1.375	3.000	8.541	0/4
33	30	−3	Finland (L, C, LC)	1.833	1.375	1.800	1.500	2.000	8.508	0/5
34	32	−2	Bosnia and Herzegovina (L, C)	1.833	1.750	1.875	1.125	1.250	7.833	0/4
35	36	+1	Moldova (L, C)	0.666	2.125	2.125	0.500	2.250	7.666	0/4
36	33	−3	Republic of Ireland (L, C)	2.500	1.375	1.000	1.500	1.000	7.375	0/4
37	35	−2	Lithuania (L, C)	2.500	1.250	0.625	1.000	1.125	6.500	0/4
38	40	+2	Kazakhstan (L, C)	0.833	1.250	0.875	1.625	1.375	5.958	0/4
39	38	−1	Latvia (L, C)	1.166	2.250	0.500	0.625	1.250	5.791	0/4
40	41	+1	Iceland (L, C)	1.166	1.250	0.375	1.375	1.250	5.416	0/4
41	39	−2	Macedonia (L, C)	0.500	0.500	1.375	1.625	1.250	5.250	0/4
41	42	+1	Montenegro (L, C)	0.500	1.125	1.750	0.500	1.375	5.250	0/4
43	44	+1	Albania (L, C)	0.666	1.000	0.875	0.875	0.750	4.166	0/4
44	45	+1	Malta (L, C)	0.000	0.750	1.500	0.833	0.875	3.958	0/4
45	43	−2	Liechtenstein (C)1	0.000	1.000	0.500	2.000	0.000	3.500	0/1	0	1	1
46	49	+3	Luxembourg (L, C)	0.000	0.250	0.625	1.125	1.375	3.375	0/4	1	3	4
47	48	+1	Northern Ireland (L, C)	0.333	0.125	1.125	0.500	1.000	3.083	0/4
48	46	−2	Wales (L, C, LC)	0.333	0.250	0.875	0.625	0.500	2.583	0/4
49	47	−2	Estonia (L, C)	0.333	0.875	0.250	0.375	0.375	2.208	0/4
50	50	—	Armenia (L, C)	0.000	0.500	0.250	0.125	0.875	1.750	0/4
51	51	—	Faroe Islands (L, C)	0.333	0.000	0.250	0.500	0.500	1.583	0/4
52	53	+1	San Marino (L, C)	0.000	0.500	0.166	0.000	0.000	0.666	0/3		2	3
53	52	−1	Andorra (L, C)	0.000	0.500	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.500	0/3

¹The Liechtenstein Football Association does not organize a national league competition as it does not have the necessary amount of national clubs. As a result, the only competitor from Liechtenstein in European competitions is the Liechtenstein Cup winners, who qualify for the UEFA Europa League.

The league champions from the top twelve associations automatically qualify for the group stage of the Champions League, whereas teams from the lower ranked associations must compete in the qualifying and play-off rounds first.

Further information on the 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 the neighbouring Switzerland's league competitions. Note: prior the introduction of the Welsh Premier League in 1992 Wales also had a single participant, the winner (or best placed Welsh team as several English teams also competed) of the Welsh Cup, in the European competitions.

History [edit]

Ranking has been published by UEFA since 1979 to identify the number of participants for each country in the UEFA Cup after the re-organization of the Inter-cities Fairs Cup in 1971. No calculation of coefficients took place prior to that. Later, for statistical purposes, various rankings were introduced to portray the history of competitions. Because the Inter-cities Fairs Cup was limited only to certain clubs and/or by invitation no coefficient calculation was necessary. According to the prorated (extended) calculation system only four leagues have succeeded in being the top European league.^[12] English teams were banned from UEFA competitions in 1985 until 1990 and didn't gain any coefficient points during that period.^[13]

The table at the right shows the history of first placed teams in UEFA League Coefficients.

The next table shows the ranking of nations with respect to the total number of years leading in Europe:

As of 11 April 2013

Rank	League	Total
1	La Liga	16
2	First Division/Premier League	15
3	Serie A	12
4	Bundesliga	10

Club coefficient [edit]

The club coefficient rankings are determined by the results of clubs in the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League over the previous five seasons, as well as by the coefficient of the clubs' association. The club coefficient is the sum of the points earned by the club over the five seasons plus 20% of the club's association coefficient.^[14][15]

The clubs receive two points for a win, one point for a draw, and no points for a defeat in games of the main stage of the Champions League and the Europa League (group stage). Qualifying round results are only taken into account if the team is eliminated in one of the rounds (see table below). Otherwise, the qualifying round results are taken into account only for the calculation of the association's coefficient and are halved.^[14] The clubs do not receive any points for elimination in the Champions League third qualifying round or the play-off because those teams move to the Europa League and receive points from participation in that competition. In addition, results of penalty shoot-outs do not affect club coefficients.^[15]

This ranking is used by UEFA to determine a club's seeding in club competition draws, including the preliminary and first rounds of the Champions League, and the preliminary, first and second rounds of the Europa League.

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

UEFA Team Ranking [edit]

The top 25 clubs currently as of 15 May 2013 are as follows:^[15]

Rank 2013	Rank 2012	Mvmt	Club	Country	2008–09	2009–10	2010–11	2011–12	2012–13	Coeff.
1	1	—	Barcelona	Spain	28.662	30.586	36.643	34.171	27.542	157.605
2	4	+2	Bayern Munich	Germany	22.537	30.617	24.133	33.050	34.528	144.865
3	3	—	Chelsea	England	25.000	22.586	26.671	33.050	30.285	137.592
4	5	+1	Real Madrid	Spain	14.662	22.586	33.643	36.171	29.542	136.605
5	2	−3	Manchester United	England	28.000	28.586	36.671	16.050	21.285	130.592
6	6	—	Arsenal	England	22.000	25.586	22.671	22.050	21.285	113.592
7	7	—	Internazionale	Italy	13.275	34.086	21.314	20.271	16.883	105.829
8	9	+1	Porto	Portugal	17.357	21.000	31.760	12.367	22.350	104.833
9	14	+5	Benfica	Portugal	4.357	21.000	25.760	23.366	28.350	102.833
10	13	+3	Valencia	Spain	13.662	19.586	21.643	25.171	22.542	102.605
11	8	−3	Atlético Madrid	Spain	17.662	24.586	9.643	34.171	13.542	99.605
12	10	−2	Lyon	France	15.200	28.000	19.150	19.100	14.350	95.800
13	16	+3	Shakhtar Donetsk	Ukraine	29.325	11.160	26.017	9.550	18.900	94.951
14	12	−2	Milan	Italy	14.275	19.085	18.314	22.271	19.883	93.829
15	21	+6	Schalke 04	Germany	8.537	3.616	30.133	20.050	22.528	84.865
16	15	−1	Marseille	France	14.200	17.000	20.150	21.100	6.350	78.800
17	11	−6	Liverpool	England	23.000	24.585	15.671	3.050	12.285	78.529
18	18	—	CSKA Moscow	Russia	18.950	21.233	16.183	17.950	3.450	77.766
19	48	+29	Paris Saint-Germain	France	18.200	3.000	14.150	9.100	27.350	71.800
20	43	+23	Juventus	Italy	16.275	18.085	8.314	2.271	25.883	70.829
21	20	−1	Zenit St. Petersburg	Russia	14.950	2.733	18.183	19.950	14.950	70.766
22	28	+6	Manchester City	England	20.000	3.586	16.671	20.050	10.285	70.529
23	17	−6	Sporting CP	Portugal	13.357	14.000	13.760	22.366	6.350	69.833
24	27	+3	Tottenham	England	12.000	3.585	24.671	10.050	19.285	69.592
25	31	+6	Dynamo Kyiv	Ukraine	22.325	9.160	19.017	7.550	10.900	68.951

Top club by period [edit]

Top-ranked clubs in each 5-year period listed by year:^[16]

Years Club Ranking 1956–1960 Real Madrid 9.856 1957–1961 Real Madrid 8.499 1958–1962 Real Madrid 8.356 1959–1963 Real Madrid 6.856 1960–1964 Barcelona 7.382 1961–1965 Benfica 8.455 1962–1966 Benfica 7.788 1963–1967 Real Zaragoza 7.691 1964–1968 Real Madrid 7.345 1965–1969 Benfica 7.415 1966–1970 Leeds United 8.033 1967–1971 Leeds United 8.183 1968–1972 Leeds United 7.583 1969–1973 Ajax 8.985 1970–1974 Ajax 8.430 1971–1975 Borussia Mönchengladbach 8.500 1972–1976 Bayern Munich 8.609 1973–1977 Borussia Mönchengladbach 8.694

Years Club Ranking 1974–1978 Borussia Mönchengladbach 8.319 1975–1979 Borussia Mönchengladbach 8.402 1976–1980 Borussia Mönchengladbach 7.985 1977–1981 Barcelona 7.652 1978–1982 Barcelona 7.832 1979–1983 Barcelona 7.998 1980–1984 Liverpool 8.277 1981–1985 Liverpool 9.054 1982–1986 Anderlecht 7.915 Juventus 7.915 1983–1987 Juventus 8.665 1984–1988 Juventus 8.388 1985–1989 Bayern Munich 7.846 1986–1990 Bayern Munich 8.096 1987–1991 Juventus 8.291 1988–1992 Real Madrid 7.975 1989–1993 Real Madrid 7.850 1990–1994 Real Madrid 7.600

Years Club Ranking 1991–1995 Real Madrid 7.266 1992–1996 Ajax 9.124 1993–1997 Juventus 8.719 1994–1998 Paris Saint-Germain 8.716 1995–1999 Juventus 121.606 1996–2000 Juventus 109.963 1997–2001 Real Madrid 114.605 1998–2002 Real Madrid 147.233 1999–2003 Real Madrid 151.769 2000–2004 Real Madrid 146.350 2001–2005 Real Madrid 131.326 2002–2006 Milan 129.020 2003–2007 Milan 133.808 2004–2008 Chelsea 124.996 2005–2009 Barcelona 121.853 2006–2010 Barcelona 136.951 2007–2011 Manchester United 151.157 2008–2012 Barcelona 157.837

Top-rated clubs listed by number of periods of five years as top-ranked club:

Rank	Club	Total
1	Real Madrid	14
2	Barcelona	7
	Juventus	7
4	Borussia Mönchengladbach	5
5	Bayern Munich	3
	Benfica	3
	Leeds United	3
	Ajax	3
9	Liverpool	2
	Milan	2
11	Real Zaragoza	1
	Anderlecht	1
	Paris Saint-Germain	1
	Chelsea	1
	Manchester United	1

See also [edit]

• FIFA World Rankings

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Official UEFA rankings
• UEFA rankings - uefaranking.org
• League and club coefficients at xs4all.nl
• UEFA Access List
• Euro 2016 coefficient according to football-rankings.info
• Euro 2016 coefficient according to world-results.net