we explain to you why a demotion of France to the UEFA index would be (very) problematic

France, the first supporter of England. After Nice’s elimination in the quarter-finals of the Europa League conference on Thursday April 20, Ligue 1 clubs have no choice but to encourage West Ham, who will face AZ Alkmaar in the semi-finals. of C4. The Dutch club, the last representative of the Netherlands in European competitions, represents a great threat to French football. Explanations.

AZ Alkmaar could allow the country of tulips to glean 5th place from France in the UEFA index. This coefficient notably determines the allocation of the number of qualifying places per country for the various European competitions. In view of the 2024-2025 season, the first to be played under the new Champions League format, 5th place grants a third direct ticket for the C1 (in addition to a fourth ticket valid for the preliminary rounds). 6th place only allows two clubs to be sent directly to the Champions League, and another to the preliminary rounds.

In addition, if France were to lose its 5th place, no Ligue 1 club would be directly qualified for the group stages of the Europa League and the Europa League conference via the championship. Only the winner of the Coupe de France would have this privilege and thus escape three often perilous preliminary rounds.

“Oranje” alert

While France was 10.781 points ahead of the Netherlands at the start of the season, it only has a small margin of 1.264 points. The classification is established on simple bases. A success gives two points, a draw one point and passing a round at this stage of the competition in C4 gives an additional bonus point. The total points won by each country is then divided by the number of teams entered on the European stage at the start of the season. France had six, the Netherlands five.

In short, AZ Alkmaar will have to win plenty of victories in their double confrontation against West Ham, then will have to win in the final of the Europa League conference, either against FC Basel or against Fiorentina. But if the Dutch formation concedes the slightest draw against the Hammers, even in the event of a final victory in the competition, France would retain its 5th place in the UEFA index for … 0.064 points.