UEFA Europa League group-stage draw – All You Need To Know

We’re in Europe for a third consecutive season, then?

That’s right! By winning the UEFA Europa Conference League in June, West Ham United secured a third consecutive European campaign for the first time in the Club’s history.

The Hammers’ 2-1 victory over Fiorentina in Prague guaranteed David Moyes’ squad a place in the UEFA Europa League group stage for the second time in three seasons. In 2021/22, the Irons won their opening three ties on the way to winning their group and reaching the semi-finals.

Having played 27 matches in Europe over the previous two seasons, West Ham have gathered plenty of experience in continental competition, culminating, of course, in the aforementioned Conference League triumph.

With another European campaign to plan for alongside the Premier League, EFL Cup (West Ham enter at the third round) and FA Cup, the Irons could be looking at playing over 50 first-team matches again in 2023/24, having played 113 over the previous two seasons combined!

What can you tell us about the 2023/24 UEFA Europa League?

Following the introduction of the UEFA Europa Conference League in 2021/22, the Europa League has become a more streamlined competition, with the group stage being contested by 32 clubs, rather than 48.

Eight clubs will drop into the Europa League from the UEFA Champions League in the knockout play-off round that follows the group stage, having finished third in their Champions League groups. They will take on the eight runners-up from the Europa League group stage for a place in the round of 16.

The initial 32 group-stage teams will be comprised of West Ham as Conference League champions, plus eleven other automatic qualifiers from England (Brighton & Hove Albion and Liverpool), Spain, France, Germany, Italy and Portugal.

They will be joined by ten winners from the Europa League Play-Off round, six teams eliminated from the UEFA Champions League Play-Off round and four eliminated from the Champions League third qualifying round.

They will be drawn into eight groups of four, with the eight group winners qualifying directly for the round of 16.

As mentioned, the eight group-stage runners-up will contest a preliminary knockout round in ties against the eight clubs who finish third in their UEFA Champions League groups for the right to join them.

The 16 remaining teams will then be gradually whittled down to two, who will contest the final at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, on Wednesday 22 May 2024.

When will the group-stage draw take place?

The draw for the UEFA Europa League group stage will be held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on Friday 1 September 2023 from 12noon BST (1pm in Monaco).

Fixtures will be confirmed after the draw, following discussions between competing clubs, UEFA, and other stakeholders taking into account any city clashes or other external factors which may affect the dates on which matches can take place.

The draw will be streamed live on UEFA.com, and you can watch a live Iron Cast watch-along with Chris Scull, James Collins and a special guest on our official website, app and YouTube channel.

Where are we seeded in our group?

As UEFA Europa Conference League winners, we will be seeded in Pot 1 alongside the seven clubs with the highest club coefficients (CC).

Teams from the same associations cannot be drawn into the same group, which means we will definitely not face Brighton nor Liverpool in the group-stage. However, Liverpool’s CC of 123.000 means they are certain to be in Pot 1, too.

For the record, West Ham’s CC is 50.000 following our recent Conference League triumph.

Clubs who have competed in Europe regularly in recent seasons have higher CCs and will therefore receive a higher seeding in the draw. For example, Italian clubs Roma (97.000) and Atalanta (55.500), Spanish side Villarreal (82.000) and German outfit Bayer Leverkusen (72.000) are all guaranteed to be in Pot 1, too.

So, who could we play against?

OK, so we have established we will not have to face Liverpool, Roma, Atalanta, Villarreal or Bayer Leverkusen. Brighton aside, then, we can be drawn against any of the 23 other teams in Pots 2, 3 and 4.

With ten UEFA Europa League play-off round ties to be played on Thursday 31 August, it is still too early to confirm which clubs will be in which pots, but we can make an educated guess!

Aside from the 12 automatic qualifiers, the following clubs have qualified for the group stage after being knocked out of the UEFA Champions League.

Marseille of France, Sturm Graz of Austria, TSC of Serbia and Servette of Switzerland were eliminated at the third qualifying round stage, while Panathinaikos and AEK Athens of Greece, Molde of Norway, Maccabi Haifa of Israel, Raków Częstochowa of Poland and Rangers of Scotland lost in the play-off round. All nine are potential group-stage opponents for the Hammers.

Among the 20 clubs competing in the Europa League play-off round are Edson Álvarez and Mohammed Kudus’s former club Ajax, but they will be in Pot 1 should they complete an aggregate win over Ludogorets of Bulgaria on Thursday. The Dutch side lead 4-1 from the first leg thanks in large part to Kudus’s hat-trick!

Of clubs we have faced previously in Europe, Greek side Olympiacos, Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb and Czech team Slavia Prague, whose stadium hosted our Conference League final success, are all in a strong position after their first-leg ties.

When will our group-stage matches take place?

Our six group-stage fixtures will be held on Thursday evenings throughout the autumn as follows:

Group stage

21 September 2023: Matchday 1
5 October 2023: Matchday 2
26 October 2023: Matchday 3
9 November 2023: Matchday 4
30 November 2023: Matchday 5
14 December 2023: Matchday 6

Should we progress as group winners, we will not play again until 7 and 14 March 2024 in the round of 16. Should we progress as group runners-up, we will take on a UEFA Champions League third-place opponent on 15 and 22 February 2024. Should we finish third in the group, we would then be transferred to the knock-out stages of the UEFA Europa Conference League. The remainder of the Europa League competition schedule is detailed below:

Knockout stages

15 & 22 February 2022: Knockout round play-offs
7 & 14 March 2022: Round of 16
11 & 18 April 2022: Quarter-finals
2 May & 9 May 2022: Semi-finals
22 May 2022: Final, Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Republic of Ireland