France guaranteed to keep 5th place in the UEFA coefficient after the loss of AZ Alkmaar against West Ham

French football can breathe. The Netherlands will not pass him in the European hierarchy at the end of the season. The last Dutch representative in the running in the European Cup, AZ Alkmaar, lost against West Ham in the first leg of the Europa League conference (1-2), Thursday, May 11. If the current 4th in his national championship is not yet eliminated and can still dream of a coronation in C4, he absolutely had to win the two legs of his semi-final in addition to the final to allow the Netherlands to overtake France in the UEFA coefficient at the end of the season.

Ligue 1 will therefore retain its rank for the 2024-2025 season and will benefit from an additional direct ticket for the Champions League. The first three in the 2023-2024 championship will compete in the most prestigious European competition the following season without having to go through play-offs, which will remain a necessary step for the 4th. French clubs will also retain direct access to the group stages of the Europa League, one through the championship (5th) and one for the winner of the Coupe de France.

If the disaster scenario had materialized, the French championship would have kept its current access to the 2024-2025 Champions League, that is to say: direct tickets for the C1 for the first two in L1 and a ticket for the preliminary round of this same competition for the 3rd. The winner of the Coupe de France would have continued to qualify directly for the Europa League and the 6th would have kept his ticket for the C4 play-offs. On the other hand, the 5th would now have had to go through a preliminary round to participate in the C3.