The UEFA Europa Conference League (abbreviated as UECL), colloquially referred to as the UEFA Conference League, is an annual football club competition held by UEFA for eligible European football clubs. Clubs will qualify for the competition based on their performance in their national leagues and cup competitions. It is the third tier of European club football, after the Champions League and the Europa League.
Introduced in the 2021–22 season, the league will serve as the bottom level of the existing UEFA Europa League competition, which will be reduced from 48 to 32 teams in the group stage. The competition is primarily contested by teams from lower-ranked UEFA member associations. No teams will qualify directly to the group stage, with 10 teams eliminated in the Europa League play-offs and the rest coming from the Europa Conference League qualifiers. The winners of the competition are awarded a position in the Europa League the following season, unless they qualify for the Champions League.
