The playoff round draw for the 2022/23 UEFA Europa Conference League was the busiest of all the major European cup playoff draws that took place on August 2 with a total of 22 tickets to the group stage up for grabs in the playoffs.
The inaugural version of the Europa Conference League was won by Italy's AS Roma last season. The tournament provides another outlet for European clubs to compete in high-level continental competition despite missing out on Champions League and Europa League participation.
The 22 teams that emerge from the playoff round will join the 10 losers from the Europa League playoff round to make up the Conference League group stage.
Recognisable teams such as West Ham United, Villarreal, Fiorentina, and Koln will all participate in the Conference League playoff stage and all four teams were seeded.
MORE: How the UEFA Champions League playoff round works
Europa Conference League Playoff Round draw, fixtures, and schedule
The Europa Conference League playoff round is broken into two paths: the Champions Path, which features teams that won their domestic league the previous season, and the Main Path, which features all other teams that qualified for the competition.
Champions Path
| Team 1 | Team 2 | Leg 1 | Leg 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| NK Maribor (SVN) | CFR 1907 Cluj (ROU) | 0-0 | Aug 25 |
| RFS (LVA) | Linfield FC (NIR) | 2-2 | Aug 25 |
| KKS Lech Poznań (POL) | F91 Diddeleng (LUX) | 2-0 | Aug 25 |
| FC Shkupi 1927 (MKD) | Ballkani (KOS) | 1-2 | Aug 25 |
| HŠK Zrinjski (BIH) | ŠK Slovan Bratislava (SVK) | 1-0 | Aug 25 |
Team 1 plays first leg at home. Scorelines are written with home score first in both legs.
Main Path
| Team 1 | Team 2 | Leg 1 | Leg 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| PFC CSKA-Sofia (BUL) | FC Basel 1893 (SUI) | 1-0 | Aug 25 |
| FC Vaduz (LIE) | SK Rapid Wien (AUT) | 1-1 | Aug 25 |
| Raków Czestochowa (POL) | SK Slavia Praha (CZE) | 2-1 | Aug 25 |
| Djurgårdens IF (SWE) | APOEL FC (CYP) | 3-0 | Aug 25 |
| Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC (ISR) | OGC Nice (FRA) | 1-0 | Aug 25 |
| Universitatea Craiova (ROU) | Hapoel Beer-Sheva FC (ISR) | 1-1 | Aug 25 |
| İstanbul Başakşehir FK (TUR) | Royal Antwerp FC (BEL) | 1-1 | Aug 25 |
| Fotbal Club FCSB (ROU) | Viking FK (NOR) | 1-2 | Aug 25 |
| FK Partizan Belgrade (SRB) | Hamrun Spartans FC (MLT) | 4-1 | Aug 25 |
| ACF Fiorentina (ITA) | FC Twente (NED) | 2-1 | Aug 25 |
| Villarreal CF (ESP) | HNK Hajduk Split (CRO) | 4-2 | Aug 25 |
| FC Köln (GER) | Fehérvár FC (HUN) | 1-2 | Aug 25 |
| West Ham United FC (ENG) | Viborg FF (DEN) | 3-1 | Aug 25 |
| BSC Young Boys (SUI) | RSC Anderlecht (BEL) | 0-1 | Aug 25 |
| 1. FC Slovácko (CZE) | AIK (SWE) | 3-0 | Aug 25 |
| Molde FK (NOR) | Wolfsberger AC (AUT) | 0-1 | Aug 25 |
| AZ Alkmaar (NED) | Gil Vicente FC (POR) | 4-0 | Aug 25 |
Team 1 plays first leg at home. Scorelines are written with home score first in both legs.
MORE: Europa League playoff round draw, fixtures and teams
Teams in the Europa Conference League playoff round draw
Champions Path
The 10 teams in the Champions Path portion of the Europa Conference League playoff round will be pulled from two pots, one seeded and the other unseeded.
The seeded pot will include five losing teams from the Europa League third qualifying round.
| Europa League 3rd Rd losers from: |
|---|
| Linfield (N. Ireland) vs. FC Zurich (Switzerland) |
| Malmo FF (Sweden) vs. F91 Dudelange (Luxembourg) |
| Maribor (Slovenia) vs. HJK Helsinki (Finland) |
| Olympiacos (Greece) vs. Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia) |
| Shamrock Rovers (Ireland) vs. Shkupi (N. Macedonia) |
The unseeded pot will include five winning teams from the Europa Conference League third qualifying round. These matchups feature only clubs that are current reigning champions in their respective nation.
| Conference League 3rd Rd winners from: |
|---|
| Vikingur Reykjavik (Iceland) vs. Lech Poznan (Poland) |
| RFS (Latvia) vs. Hibernians (Malta) |
| Ballkani (Kosovo) vs. KI Klaksvik (Faroe Islands) |
| Zrinjski (Bosnia & Herz.) vs. Tobol (Kazakhstan) |
| Shakhtyor (Belarus) vs. CFR Cluj (Romania) |
Main Path
The 34 teams in the Main Path of the Conference League playoff round will include:
- 27 winners from the Conference League third qualifying round;
- 2 losers from Europa League third qualifying round;
- 5 clubs (below) directly entering the playoff stage of the competition after qualifying via domestic table finish.
| Team | Country | Qualified Via |
|---|---|---|
| Villarreal | Spain | 7th - La Liga |
| West Ham | England | 7th - Premier League |
| Fiorentina | Italy | 7th - Serie A |
| FC Koln | Germany | 7th - Bundesliga |
| OGC Nice | France | 5th - Ligue 1 |
All 34 teams participating in the Main Path have been previously separated by UEFA into four groups (Group 4 will have 10 teams) with seeds established per UEFA club coefficients. (For matchups that are still undecided, the highest coefficient of the two clubs in that matchup is used.)
Matchups will be drawn within each group for practical execution of the draw.
GROUP 1
| No. | Seeded / Unseeded | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Seeded | Conf 3rd Rd winner: Brondby (Denmark) vs. FC Basel (Switzerland) |
| 2. | Seeded | Conf 3rd Rd winner: Breidablik (Iceland) vs. Istanbul Basaksehir (Turkey) |
| 3. | Seeded | Conf 3rd Rd winner: APOEL (Cyprus) vs. Kyzyi-Zhar SK (Kazakhstan) |
| 4. | Seeded | Fiorentina (Italy) |
| 5. | Unseeded | Conf 3rd Rd winner: Sepsi OSK (Romania) vs. Djugarden (Sweden) |
| 6. | Unseeded | Conf 3rd Rd winner: FK Cukaricki (Serbia) vs. Twente (Netherlands) |
| 7. | Unseeded | Conf 3rd Rd winner: CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria) vs. St. Patrick's Athletic (Ireland) |
| 8. | Unseeded | Conf 3rd Rd winner: Lillestrom (Norway) vs. Antwerp (Belgium) |
GROUP 2
| No. | Seeded / Unseeded | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Seeded | Conf 3rd Rd winner: Neftci (Azerbaijan) vs. Rapid Wien (Austria) |
| 2. | Seeded | Conf 3rd Rd winner: Dunajska Streda (Slovakia) vs. FCSB (Romania) |
| 3. | Seeded | Conf 3rd Rd winner: Maccabi Tel-Aviv (Israel) vs. Aris (Greece) |
| 4. | Seeded | Villarreal (Spain) |
| 5. | Unseeded | OGC Nice (France) |
| 6. | Unseeded | Conf 3rd Rd winner: Hajduk Split (Croatia) vs. Vitoria Guimaraes (Portugal) |
| 7. | Unseeded | Conf 3rd Rd winner: FC Vaduz (Liechtenstein) vs. Konyaspor (Turkey) |
| 8. | Unseeded | Conf 3rd Rd winner: Viking (Norway) vs. Sligo Rovers (Ireland) |
GROUP 3
| No. | Seeded / Unseeded | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Seeded | Conf. 3rd Rd winner: Slavia Prague (Czech Rep.) vs. Panathinaikos (Greece) |
| 2. | Seeded | Europa 3rd Rd loser: AEK Larnaca (Cyprus) vs. Partizan Belgrade (Serbia) |
| 3. | Seeded | Conf. 3rd Rd winner: Zorya Luhansk (Ukraine) vs. Universitatea Craiova (Romania) |
| 4. | Seeded | FC Koln (Germany) |
| 5. | Unseeded | Conf. 3rd Rd winner: Lugano (Switzerland) vs. Hapoel Be'er Sheva (Israel) |
| 6. | Unseeded | Conf. 3rd Rd winner: Fehervar (Hungary) vs. FC Petrocub (Moldova) |
| 7. | Unseeded | Conf. 3rd Rd winner: Spartak Trnava (Slovakia) vs. Rakow (Poland) |
| 8. | Unseeded | Conf. 3rd Rd winner: Hamrun Spartans (Malta) vs. Levski Sofia (Bulgaria) |
GROUP 4
| No. | Seeded / Unseeded | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Seeded | Conf. 3rd Rd winner: KuPS (Finland) vs. Young Boys (Switzerland) |
| 2. | Seeded | Conf. 3rd Rd winner: Dundee United (Scotland) vs. AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands) |
| 3. | Seeded | West Ham United (England) |
| 4. | Seeded | Conf. 3rd Rd winner: Molde (Norway) vs. Kisvarda (Hungary) |
| 5. | Seeded | Europa 3rd Rd loser: Fenerbahce (Turkey) vs. Slovacko (Czech Rep.) |
| 6. | Unseeded | Conf. 3rd Rd winner: Paide (Estonia) vs. Anderlecht (Belgium) |
| 7. | Unseeded | Conf. 3rd Rd winner: Wolfsberger (Austria) vs. Gzira (Malta) |
| 8. | Unseeded | Conf. 3rd Rd winner: Riga (Latvia) vs. Gil Vicente (Portugal) |
| 9. | Unseeded | Conf. 3rd Rd winner: AIK Stockholm (Sweden) vs. KF Shkendija (N. Macedonia) |
| 10. | Unseeded | Conf. 3rd Rd winner: Viborg (Denmark) vs. B36 (Faroe Islands) |
How to watch UEFA Europa Conference League 2022/23
| Country | TV channel | Streaming |
|---|---|---|
| UK | BT Sport 1/BT Sport Ultimate | BT Sport app, BT Sport YouTube |
| USA | CBS (EN), Univision/TUDN (ESP) | fuboTV, Paramount+, ViX |
| Australia | 9Gem | Stan Sport |
| Canada | — | DAZN |
Select matches from the Europa Conference League preliminary rounds are available for broadcast, chosen by the broadcast partner for each market.
Per UEFA, other select matches are made available for streaming by the home team, often via their official YouTube page.
Europa Conference League schedule 2022, 2023
Preliminary and qualifying rounds schedule
| Round | Draw | 1st Leg | 2nd Leg |
|---|---|---|---|
| First qualifying round | June 14, 2022 | July 7, 2022 | July 14, 2022 |
| Second qualifying round | June 15, 2022 | July 21, 2022 | July 28, 2022 |
| Third qualifying round | July 18, 2022 | Aug. 4, 2022 | Aug. 11, 2022 |
| Playoff qualifying round | Aug. 2, 2022 | Aug. 18, 2022 | Aug. 25, 2022 |
Group stage schedule
The draw for the 2022/23 Europa Conference League group stage will take place on Aug. 26, 2022 in Istanbul, Turkey.
| Matchday | Dates |
|---|---|
| 1 | Sept. 8, 2022 |
| 2 | Sept. 15, 2022 |
| 3 | Oct. 6, 2022 |
| 4 | Oct. 13, 2022 |
| 5 | Oct. 27, 2022 |
| 6 | Nov. 3, 2022 |
Knockout stage schedule
The draw for the 2022/23 Europa Conference League knockout round playoffs will take place on Nov. 7, 2022, and the draw for the Round of 16 will take place on Feb. 24, 2022. The draw for the rest of the 2022-23 Europa League knockout stage will take place on March 17, 2023.
The 2023 Europa Conference League final will be in Prague, Czech Republic on June 7, 2023.
| Round | 1st Leg | 2nd Leg |
|---|---|---|
| Knockout Playoffs | Feb. 16, 2023 | Feb. 23, 2023 |
| Round of 16 | Mar. 9, 2023 | Mar. 16, 2023 |
| Quarterfinals | Apr. 13, 2023 | Apr. 20, 2023 |
| Semifinals | May 11, 2023 | May 18, 2023 |
| Final | June 7, 2023 | |
