UEFA coefficient

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See also: UEFA European Football Championship, UEFA Champions League, and UEFA Cup

In European football, the UEFA coefficients are statistics used for ranking and seeding teams in club and international competitions.

The coefficients are calculated by UEFA, who administer football within Europe. It uses three different coefficients:

The coefficient of the national teams;
The coefficient of national leagues;
The coefficient of football clubs.

1 National team coefficient
- 1.1 Ranking for Euro 2008 qualifying rounds
- 1.2 Ranking for Euro 2008 final tournament
2 League coefficient
- 2.1 Current ranking (2009-10 UEFA competitions)
- 2.2 History
3 Club coefficient
4 References
5 External links

[edit] National team coefficient

The national team coefficient is derived from the results of the national football team of a nation. It is calculated by dividing the number of points scored (three points for a win, one for a draw) by the number of matches played in the last two qualification rounds of the World Cup or European Championship. Play-off match results are ignored. For some countries only one qualifying round will be taken into account, if they were hosts of one of the last two events.

This coefficient is used by UEFA to determine in which "pot" a national team will be for the qualification tournaments of the European Championship, and the final tournament of the European Championship. Its usage as seeding criteria for the World Cup preliminaries ended when the UEFA executive committee decided to follow FIFA directives and used the FIFA rankings instead for the 2010 World Cup qualifying round draw. Each team in a pot is drawn into a separate qualifying group, thus keeping the bigger teams apart until the later stages of the competition.

If two or more associations have the same coefficient, the following criteria will be applied:

coefficient from the matches played in its most recent qualifying competition,
average goal difference,
average number of goals scored,
average number of away goals scored,
drawing of lots.

[edit] Ranking for Euro 2008 qualifying rounds

Rank	Team	Coefficient
1	Sweden	2.278
2	Netherlands	2.550
3	Portugal	2.500
4	England	2.500
5	Czech Republic	2.450
6	France	2.444
8	Germany	2.250
9	Croatia	2.222
10	Italy	2.222
11	Turkey	2.100
12	Poland	2.056
13	Spain	2.056
14	Romania	1.950
15	Serbia	1.889
16	Russia	1.850
17	Denmark	1.850
18	Norway	1.778
19	Bulgaria	1.778
20	Ukraine	1.750
21	Slovakia	1.650
22	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1.611
23	Republic of Ireland	1.556
24	Belgium	1.556
25	Latvia	1.550
26	Israel	1.500
27	Scotland	1.500
28	Slovenia	1.444
29	Hungary	1.389
30	Finland	1.300
31	Estonia	1.250
32	Wales	1.167
33	Lithuania	1.111
34	Albania	1.050
35	Iceland	0.944
36	Georgia	0.850
37	FYR Macedonia	0.750
38	Belarus	0.722
39	Armenia	0.700
40	Northern Ireland	0.667
41	Cyprus	0.667
42	Moldova	0.611
43	Liechtenstein	0.450
44	Azerbaijan	0.389
45	Andorra	0.250
46	Malta	0.222
47	Faroe Islands	0.111
48	Kazakhstan	0.083
49	Luxembourg	0.000
50	San Marino	0.000

¹ Greece will be first seeded, as European champion

Austria (1.333) and Switzerland (1.833) are already assured of places at Euro 2008 as host nations.

[edit] Ranking for Euro 2008 final tournament

Rank	Team	Coefficient	Recent matches	Average goal difference
1	Switzerland¹	1.800	1.800	+ 1.100
2	Austria¹	1.500	1.500	+ 0.300
3	Greece²	2.167	2.583	+ 0.875
4	Netherlands	2.417	2.167	+ 1.417
5	Croatia	2.409	2.417	+ 1.636
6	Italy	2.364	2.417	+ 1.000
7	Czech Republic	2.333	2.417	+ 1.875
8	Sweden	2.273	2.167	+ 1.818
9	Romania	2.250	2.417	+ 1.208
10	Germany	2.250	2.250	+ 2.333
11	Portugal	2.192	1.929	+ 1.692
12	Spain	2.182	2.333	+ 1.409
13	Poland	2.167	2.000	+ 1.250
14	France	2.091	2.167	+ 1.455
15	Turkey	1.958	2.000	+ 1.167
16	Russia	1.958	2.000	+ 0.917

¹ Co-hosts
² Defending Champions

UEFA came under heavy criticism from Raymond Domenech, manager of France, who was not satisfied with his team position in the draw ^[1] and also saw fit to have as top seeds Italy, the 2006 FIFA World Cup winners ^[2]. On November 22, 2007, Giorgio Marchetti, UEFA's professional football director announced a review of the coefficient ranking system is under way for future EURO competitions ^[3].

On 20 May 2008, UEFA announced the change of the coefficient ranking system.^[4]^[5]

[edit] League coefficient

The league coefficient is used to rank the leagues of Europe, and thus determine the number of clubs from a league that will participate in competitions such as the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Champions League.

The UEFA ranking determines the number of teams competing in the season after the next, not in the first season after the publication of the ranking. Thus, the 2007 ranking determines the proportion in 2008–09, not 2007–08.

This coefficient is determined by the results of the clubs of the leagues over the past five seasons. The number of points awarded each season (two for each win by a club from that league, one for a draw) is divided by the number of teams that participated for that nation in that season. This number is then rounded to three decimal places (e.g. 2 2/3 will be rounded to 2.667).

For the league coefficient the season's league coefficients for the last five seasons must be added up. In the preliminary rounds of both the Champions League and UEFA Cup the awarded points are halved. Bonus points are allocated for:

Qualifying for the Champions League group phase. (3 bonus points)
Reaching the second round of the Champions League.
Reaching the quarter, semi and final of both Champions League and UEFA cup.

The bonus points are added to the number of points scored in a season.

[edit] Current ranking (2009-10 UEFA competitions)

Correct as of May 21, 2008

Rank 09/10	Rank 08/09	League	2003/2004	2004/2005	2005/2006	2006/2007	2007/2008	Coeff.	CL places	UC places
1	2	England	11.250	15.571	14.428	16.625	17.875	75.749	4	3
2	1	Spain	14.312	12.437	15.642	19.000	13.875	75.266
3	3	Italy	8.875	14.000	15.357	11.928	10.250	60.410
4	4	France	13.500	11.428	10.812	10.000	6.928	52.668	3
5	5	Germany	4.714	10.571	10.437	9.500	13.500	48.722
6	9	Russia	5.875	10.000	10.000	6.625	11.250	43.750
7	7	Romania	4.333	5.500	16.833	11.333	2.600	40.599	2	4
8	6	Portugal	10.250	8.166	5.500	8.083	7.928	39.927
9	8	Netherlands	5.416	12.000	7.583	8.214	5.000	38.213
10	10	Scotland	7.375	4.750	4.250	6.750	10.250	33.375		3
11	14	Turkey	6.500	5.375	4.000	6.100	9.750	31.725
12	11	Ukraine	4.875	8.100	5.750	6.500	4.875	30.100
13	12	Belgium	5.875	6.125	5.500	4.700	4.500	26.700
14	15	Greece	4.166	6.166	3.333	4.666	7.500	25.831
15	13	Czech Republic	7.375	2.875	4.625	5.750	5.125	25.750
16	17	Switzerland	1.875	2.625	9.375	4.100	6.250	24.225	1	3
17	16	Bulgaria	4.166	2.375	8.750	5.125	2.750	23.166
18	18	Norway	6.125	3.500	5.400	2.000	5.400	22.425
19	21	Denmark	4.200	1.500	3.500	6.125	5.125	20.450
20	22	Austria	2.125	7.625	3.250	1.500	3.200	17.700
21	20	Serbia	4.500	4.250	3.250	2.125	2.625	16.750
22	19	Israel	2.250	3.625	1.500	6.000	2.375	15.750
23	28	Sweden	1.500	3.000	2.666	1.125	5.400	13.691
24	25	Slovakia	2.500	1.333	4.333	2.000	2.166	12.332
25	23	Poland	4.125	2.500	1.125	2.625	1.666	12.041
26	24	Hungary	4.833	4.166	1.000	1.000	1.000	11.999
27	26	Croatia	3.625	3.000	0.333	1.000	3.666	11.624
28	27	Cyprus	1.333	1.333	3.000	1.750	2.666	10.082
29	29	Slovenia	2.166	3.500	2.333	1.250	0.666	9.915
30	33	Finland	1.666	1.666	2.333	1.333	2.625	9.623
31	31	Latvia	0.833	3.166	1.333	2.166	1.333	8.831
32	30	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1.666	1.666	1.500	1.833	1.833	8.498
33	32	Lithuania	0.833	2.500	1.333	1.833	1.500	7.999
34	34	Moldova	1.500	1.500	1.666	1.500	1.333	7.499
35	35	Republic of Ireland	0.333	1.333	1.833	2.833	1.000	7.332
36	38	FYR Macedonia	1.666	0.333	1.500	1.166	1.666	6.331
37	39	Iceland	0.500	2.500	0.833	1.000	1.166	5.999
38	36	Georgia	0.333	2.666	0.666	1.166	1.000	5.831
39	37	Liechtenstein¹	0.000	2.000	1.000	2.000	0.500	5.500	0	1
40	40	Belarus	0.666	0.500	1.333	1.000	1.833	5.332	1	3
41	42	Estonia	0.333	0.833	0.833	1.500	0.833	4.332
42	44	Azerbaijan	0.000	0.500	1.333	1.333	0.666	3.832
43	41	Albania	0.333	1.000	1.000	0.833	0.500	3.666
44	43	Armenia	0.666	0.500	0.666	0.500	1.333	3.665
45	45	Kazakhstan	0.166	0.000	1.000	0.666	0.750	2.582
46	46	Northern Ireland	0.500	0.666	0.500	0.166	0.500	2.332
47	47	Wales	0.333	0.000	0.666	0.666	0.666	2.331
48	48	Faroe Islands	0.000	0.333	0.666	0.500	0.333	1.832
49	49	Luxembourg	0.166	0.333	0.500	0.166	0.333	1.498
50	50	Malta	0.333	0.333	0.000	0.166	0.000	0.832
51	-	Montenegro	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.500	0.500
51	51	Andorra	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.500	0.500	1	1
53	52	San Marino	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.250	0.250	1	1

¹ The Liechtenstein Football Association does not organise a national league competition. The only competitor from Liechtenstein in international competitions are the Liechtenstein cup winners, who qualify for the UEFA Cup. All Liechtenstein teams play in neighbouring Switzerland's league competitions.

[edit] History

Since 1960, when the first 5-year based coefficients were released, only 4 leagues have succeeded in being the top European league.

The table at the right shows the history of first placed teams in UEFA League Coefficients.

The next table shows the ranking of nations with respect to total number of years leading in Europe:

Rank	League	Total
1	La Liga	15
2	Serie A	13
3	Football League Premier League	11
4	Bundesliga	10

[edit] Club coefficient

The club coefficient is determined by the results of a club in European club competition in the last five seasons, and the league coefficient. The club coefficient is 33% of the league coefficient plus the number of points earned by the club in the five seasons. Before 2004 the contribution of the country coefficient was 50%. The points earned by a club in the preliminary rounds are not counted.[1]

This ranking is used by UEFA to determine which pot the club belongs to in the preliminary and first rounds of the Champions League, and the preliminary, first and second rounds of the UEFA Cup.

Before 1999 a number of strong teams in the UEFA Cup were seeded such that those teams do not meet in the first two rounds. To determine these teams, the sum of the ratio of the number of points achieved, divided by the number of games played by each team, was calculated for the past five years.

The top 20 clubs as of 2007-08 UEFA competitions are as follows:

Rank	Club	Country	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	Coefficient
1	Chelsea	England	22.7125	25.1385	17.7610	28.4860	30.8985	124.996
2	Milan	Italy	16.9285	31.6200	26.0675	27.9360	17.3825	119.934
3	Liverpool	England	14.7125	30.1385	17.7610	29.4860	26.8985	118.996
4	Barcelona	Spain	16.7230	17.1040	34.1620	20.2700	29.5785	117.837
5	Arsenal	England	17.7125	19.1385	31.7610	18.4860	23.8985	110.996
6	Manchester United	England	15.7125	17.1385	12.7610	27.4860	34.8985	107.996
7	Sevilla	Spain	4.7230	16.1040	30.1620	31.2700	20.5785	102.837
8	Lyon	France	18.4550	23.7710	24.5680	18.3000	14.2860	99.380
9	Internazionale	Italy	15.9285	22.6200	24.0675	16.9360	17.3825	96.934
10	Real Madrid	Spain	21.7230	18.1040	17.1620	20.2700	16.5785	93.837
11	Bayern Munich	Germany	10.5555	19.4885	17.4440	20.1350	24.4550	92.078
12	PSV Eindhoven	Netherlands	17.7875	24.9600	13.5025	17.7105	17.6500	91.610
13	Villarreal	Spain	20.7230	22.1040	24.1620	6.2700	17.5785	90.837
14	Newcastle United	England	24.7125	27.1385	4.7610	22.4860	5.8985	84.996
15	Valencia	Spain	29.7230	14.1040	5.1620	23.2700	11.5785	83.837
16	Roma	Italy	12.9285	8.6200	19.0675	20.9360	20.3825	81.934
17	Porto	Portugal	26.3825	13.6950	8.8150	15.6675	16.6160	81.176
18	Benfica	Portugal	13.3825	13.6950	17.8150	18.6675	13.6160	77.176
19	Werder Bremen	Germany	1.5555	16.4885	14.4440	24.1350	17.4550	74.078
20	AZ	Netherlands	1.7875	27.9600	13.5025	18.7105	7.6500	69.610