UEFA official website:

Classification of european national teams on FIFA ranking:

International football results:

TV schedules:

Team colours:

• format, results and standings of main competitions organized in Europe by UEFA (Champions League, UEFA Cup, European Championship for national teams, European qualifying groups for FIFA World Cup);

• explanation and calculation of UEFA coefficients, with ranking lists available and downloadable.

• links to UEFA site and other Football concerning sites.

• links to the official UEFA rules.

REGULATIONS OF COMPETITIONS AND COEFFICIENTS:

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FORMAT:

The current UEFA Champions League format came into being in 1999/2000. Three qualifying rounds are required to find 16 qualifiers to join the 16 automatic qualifiers, who then contest the first group stage comprising eight groups of four clubs. The winners and runners-up from these eight groups then advance to the second phase whith 16 teams playing over two legs. The quarter-finals and the semi-finals are also played over two legs. From the two semi-final ties, the two clubs to play in the final - which is staged in May as a single match - are decided.

For the quarter-final and semi-final stage, the clubs play two matches against each other on a home and away basis, with the team scoring the greater aggregate of goals qualifying for the next round. In the event of both teams scoring the same number of goals, the team which scores more goals away qualifies. If this proves inconclusive, extra-time of two periods of 15 minutes is played after the second match. If during extra-time both teams score the same number of goals, the away goals count double (ie. the visiting team advances). If no goals are scored during extra-time, the winner is decided by penalty kicks.

The final is decided by a single match. If the scores are level at the end of normal time, the 'golden goal' comes into operation with the period of extra-time played again not exceeding two periods of 15 minutes. If extra-time proves inconclusive, the winning team is decided by penalty kicks.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE NEW FORMAT FROM2009/2010 SEASON:

• No changes to the main competition, involving 32 teams, split into 8 groups of 4 teams in
the group stage, followed by the knockout phase. The 8 teams that finish the groups in third
place cross over into the knockout phase of the UEFA Cup.
• Access list changed according to the following principles: 22 teams qualify directly for the
group phase instead of 16 (N3 of associations 1 to 3 in the ranking and champions of
countries 10 to 12 are added); 10 teams qualify through a double qualification path: one
reserved for the champions of the associations ranked 13 to 53 - except Liechtenstein - (5
teams qualify) and one reserved for non-champions of associations ranked 1 to 15 (5 teams
qualify).

UEFA CUP FORMAT FOR 2003/2004 SEASON:
Since the 1999/2000 season, the UEFA Cup comprises eight rounds from the qualifying round to the final. In matches up and until the semi-finals, clubs play two matches against each other on a home and away basis, with the club scoring the greater aggregate of goals qualifying for the next round. In the event of both teams scoring the same number of goals, the team which scores more goals away qualifies. If this proves inconclusive, extra-time of two periods of 15 minutes is played after the second match. If during extra-time both teams score the same number of goals, away goals count double (ie. the visiting team advances). If no goals are scored during extra-time, the winner is decided by penalty kicks.

The one format change occurs for the final which since 1997/98 is decided by a single match. If the scores are level at the end of normal time, the 'golden goal' comes into operation with the period of extra-time played again not exceeding two periods of 15 minutes. If extra-time proves inconclusive, the winning team is decided by penalty kicks

UEFA CUP NEW FORMAT FROM 2004/2005:

From 2004/05, the UEFA Cup format is based on a first round knockout phase of 80 teams, followed by a group phase involving 40 teams in eight groups of five, whith each team playing with other only a single match. The 24 teams who negotiate this stage (the top three from each group) will then be joined by eight teams from the UEFA Champions League for the final knockout phase, which will consist of 32 teams. They are 2 qualifying rounds, with 72 teams in the first and 64 on the second (11 from Intertoto Cup).

UEFA CUP NEW FORMAT FROM2009/2010 SEASON:

• Main competition changed according to the following principles: first round (knockout)
becomes part of the qualifying phase; the group phase consists of 48 teams, split into 12
groups of 4 teams; the top two in each group qualify for the knockout phase and are joined
by the 8 teams that finish the group stage of the UEFA Champions League in third place.
The knockout phase, with 32 teams and 4 rounds, will lead to the final, played in a single
match at a neutral venue.

• Access list changed according to the following principles: only the titleholders qualify
directly for the group phase; all other clubs have to qualify; UEFA Cup qualifying phase
consists of 4 rounds, according to the access list; 37 slots added to the qualifying phase to
accommodate clubs that currently qualify for the UEFA Intertoto Cup (associations ranked 9
to 15 and 22 to 51, except Liechtenstein); the losers of the UEFA Champions League second
qualifying round (Q2) and third qualifying round (Q3) cross over into to the UEFA Cup, Q4
and group phase respectively.

WORLD CUP 2010 EUROPEAN QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT FORMAT:

The qualification format for the World Cup will see 13 European teams qualifying from 53 participating nations. The 53 teams will be drawn into eight groups of six teams and one group of five teams with the nine group winners qualifying automatically. The best eight runners-up will contest home-and-away play-offs to decide the other four teams to qualify. Pots for the preliminary draw are determined from FIFA ranking published on november 2007.

UEFA NATIONAL ASSOCIATION COEFFICIENT RANKING:

The allocation of places per association for both the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup will be made in accordance with a table of performance covering five UEFA club competition seasons (results obtained in the UEFA Intertoto Cup do not count).This table (UEFA association coefficient rankings) is compiled annually, with the oldest season dropped each time for the purpose of the calculation.

On march 2004 the UEFA Executive Committee changed the calculation of the coefficients. The new system begin in 2004/2005 season. See here the new rules:

The table is compiled as follows:

Until 2003/2004 season (Old coefficient system)

- a win to be worth 2 points (1 point for qualifying-round matches)

- a draw 1 point (½ point for qualifying-round matches)

- a defeat 0 points

Clubs which reach the quarter-finals, semi-finals or final of any of the UEFA club competition are awarded an extra point for each such round. In addition, one point is awarded for participation in the Champions League.

From 2004/2005 season (New coefficient system)

- a win to be worth 2 points (1 point for qualifying-round matches)

- a draw 1 point (½ point for qualifying-round matches)

- a defeat 0 points

clubs which reach the first knock-out round, quarter-finals, semi-
finals or final of the UEFA Champions League or the quarter-finals,
semi-finals or final of the UEFA Cup are awarded an extra point for
each such round.

In addition, three points are awarded for participation in the UEFA
Champions League.

Results obtained in the UEFA Intertoto Cup do not count for the coefficient rankings.

The points obtained each season by the clubs representing a national association are added, then divided by the combined number of clubs from the said association having taken part in the UEFA competitions, to produce the coefficient value of the national association concerned.

Coefficients are calculated to the thousandth, and not rounded up.

In the case of equal coefficients, the UEFA administration will take a final decision, taking into consideration the individual coefficient of the most recent season.

Points are awarde only for matches which have actually been played, in accordance with the results ratified by UEFA. Kicks from the penalty mark to determine which club qualifies, or the winners, do not affect the actual result of the match.

Member associations are informed of the general classification after each UEFA club competition season, and this classification determines the number of participants from each association for the following season of CL and UC

UEFA CLUB COEFFICIENT RANKING:

This ranking is drawn up on the basis of a combination of 33% of the value of the respective national association‘s coefficient for the period of last five seasons and the club’s individual points in the UEFA competitions in the same period. Each club retains the cumulative number of points obtained during this period (2 points for a win, 1 for a draw, 0 for a defeat plus bonus points in accordance with both (old and new) systems used for the country ranking). Qualifying round matches will not be taken into account as far as individual club performance are concerned.

Method of calculation for club coefficients (used by UEFA):

• Every year is calculated on it's own. The ranking coefficient is not rounded down (or up), (for example: 5 points divided by 3 teams is a coefficient of 1.6666666666666.…)
• This coefficient is multiplied with 33%
• All numbers are rounded down to the ten thousandth to either a 5 or a 0. (For Example 3.771428 becomes 3.7710 and 4.45574 becomes 4.4555)
• The five years are counted together and the total is rounded down to the thousandth.

UEFA NATIONAL TEAM COEFFICIENT RANKING:

The national team ranking is used for the composition of qualifying tournaments groups of World Cup and European Championships.

On may 2008 the UEFA Executive Committee approved a new coefficient system. The new system will start from 2012 European Chapionship qualifying round draw.

NEW SYSTEM:

Match points
Points are awarded for each match played in the qualifying competition and final
tournament. For each match, points are awarded as follows:
- Each national team match is worth 10,000 points. These points are awarded to
each team irrespective of the result (this mechanism ensures that the coefficient
of any team is always positive, i.e. higher than zero).
- A win is worth 30,000 points and a draw 10,000 points.
- For each goal scored, 501 points are added, and for each goal conceded, 500
points are deducted.
- If a match ends with a penalty shoot-out, both teams are awarded 10,000 points
(as for a draw). In addition, the winning team is awarded an extra 10,000 points.
The goals scored in the penalty shoot-out do not count.

Bonus points
To acknowledge the different levels of difficulty encountered in different stages of a
competition and to give it a weighting in the calculation, bonus points are awarded to
teams for any match in the qualifying competition play-offs and in the final tournaments.
Bonuses are guaranteed and do not depend on the result of the respective match. The
bonus points proposed in the table below are calculated on a statistical basis to reflect
the actual average increased strength of opponents in the various rounds.

Cycle calculation
For each individual national association, the points obtained in all official matches
during a given cycle (qualifying competition + final tournament) are added together and
divided by the number of matches played during the cycle.

Weighting factor
More recent results are given greater consideration. This principle ensures that a
team’s most recent successes have a greater influence than earlier matches, and the
rankings tend therefore to reflect the current strength of teams. Results in Cycle 3
count double (40% of total weighting), results in Cycle 2 also count double (40% of total
weighting) and results in Cycle 1 count once (20% of total weighting).

Method
For each individual national association, the points obtained in all official matches
according to the principles described above during a cycle (qualifying competition + final
tournament) are added together and divided by the number of matches played during
the cycle. The result is the coefficient of the cycle (see Example 2). The coefficients of
the three relevant cycles are weighted, added up and divided by 5 (see Example 3). The
result is the overall coefficient of the national association, which is used to compile the
rankings.

Particular cases
New association
For associations that have not participated in certain competitions in the relevant
period, only competitions in which they were involved are taken into account. The final
result is divided by the weighting of these competitions.

Associations not qualifying for a final tournament
For associations that do not qualify for final tournaments in the relevant period, only
results of matches played in the qualifying competitions are taken into account.

Host association – Case 1
In the case of an association that hosted a UEFA EURO or FIFA World Cup final
tournament and therefore has no points from the tournament qualifying competition, the
points earned in the qualifying competition in the previous cycle are used to avoid a
distorted calculation based on results in the final tournament only, supplemented by
bonus points.

Host association – Case 2
In the case of an association hosting the next final tournament (either UEFA EURO or
FIFA World Cup), which will therefore not have participated in the last qualifying
competition (i.e. the qualifying competition preceding the draw for which the rankings
are used), the coefficient will be based solely on the last two full cycles. This is to avoid
the coefficient being doubly distorted by the use of an artificial coefficient, not corrected
with the results of the final tournament, and by the weighting.

For further information and samples, see official documentation here (UEFA.com website)

OLD SYSTEM:

For the world cup 2006 (qualifying groups draw) the teams will be classified on the basis of results achieved in the qualifying competition of the 2002/04 UEFA European Football Championship, as well as their results in the qualifying competition of the 2000/2002 World Cup. The total number of points obtained in the qualifying competitions of both of the aforementioned competitions will then be divided by the number of matches played. The resulting quotient is used to determine the rankings. In the case of the association that qualified automatically for the final tournaments of the competition in question, the coefficient is calculated on the basis of its results in its most recent qualifying competition.

For further explanations about competitions and coefficients, see the UEFA rules section.