When is the 2024/25 Conference League draw?
The Conference League is back with a shortened name and a radical format change for 2024/25.
This is the fourth iteration of UEFA’s newest club competition and it will follow the Champions League and Europa League in having a Swiss model format.
The competition’s introduction has doubtlessly been a net positive, even if UEFA’s primary motivation for its establishment was monetary, with more member associations getting the chance to shine on grander stages. Olympiacos joined Roma and West Ham as lifters of the Conference League trophy last season, with their success depicting the great benefits of the competition.
The format change for the 2024/25 Conference League requires an alteration on the draw front, so here’s everything you need to know about the upcoming league phase draw.
The league phase for the 2024/25 Conference League draw will take place on Friday 30 August, with UEFA’s draws this summer being held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. UEFA have recently held their draws at their headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, so this represents another change.
The Conference League draw is scheduled to get underway at 14:30 CET (13:30 GMT), after the league phase draw for the Europa League. All draws will be streamed on UEFA.com.
The 36 competing teams in the 2024/25 Conference League won’t be decided until the conclusion of the play-offs. 24 will join the league phase via the play-offs and will be accompanied in the competition by 12 losers from the Europa League play-offs.
Premier League side Chelsea and Fiorentina, finalists in back-to-back years, are among the teams poised to qualify for the 2024/25 Conference League, although La Viola have some work to do in the second leg of their play-off tie against Puskas Akademia.
Real Betis, Lens, Copenhagen and Heidenheim are all well-placed to progress, too.
UEFA’s switch to a Swiss model format means the familiar group stages have been ditched in favour of a league phase.
Thus, the 36 teams involved in Thursday’s Conference League draw will not be put into groups. Instead, the draw will decide every club’s six opponents. The competing teams will be divided into six pots of six, with each side, starting with Pot 1, being manually drawn out of the hat. An AI software will then randomly generate every team’s six opponents – one from each pot.
Clubs from the same association will not play each other and no team can face more than two opponents from one other country.
Every team will play three games at home and three away to make up the league phase.
|
Matchday |
Date |
|---|---|
|
1 |
3 October 2024 |
|
2 |
24 October 2024 |
|
3 |
7 November 2024 |
|
4 |
28 November 2024 |
|
5 |
12 December 2024 |
|
6 |
19 December 2024 |