UEFA coefficient
In European football, the UEFA coefficients are statistics based in weighted arithmetic means used for ranking and seeding teams in club and international competitions. Introduced in 1979 for men's football tournaments, and after applied in women's football and futsal, the coefficients are calculated by UEFA, who administer football within Europe, as well as Armenia, Israel and the Asian parts of some transcontinental countries. For men's competitions (discussed in this article), three sets of coefficients are calculated: Men's National team coefficient. The UEFA national team coefficient is derived from the results of each European national  football team, and is only calculated by UEFA every second year in November; defined as being the point of time when all UEFA nations have completed the qualification stage of the upcoming World Cup or European Championship tournament. The purpose of calculating the coefficients is to compile an official UEFA rank, to be used as seeding criteria for the European nations, when drawing up qualification groups and the final tournament groups of the European Championship. Previously, up until 2006, the UEFA national team coefficient was also used for the seeded draw of World Cup qualification groups in Europe, while the  draw for final tournament groups of the World Cup was always seeded on the basis of the official FIFA World Rankings. UEFA stopped using UEFA national team coefficients for the seeding of World Cup qualification groups at the request of FIFA to only use the official FIFA ranking for all seeded draws related to the World Cup tournament. Old ranking and calculation method. It was first introduced in 2003 and used for seeding the 2004 European Final tournament and 2006 World Cup qualification. Until the end of the Euro 2008 tournament, the UEFA national team coefficient was calculated by dividing  the number of all points scored (three points for the win, one for the draw) by the number of all matches played, in the last two qualification rounds of the World Cup or European Championship. Results from the final tournaments, Play-off matches and friendly games were all ignored. In those cases where a nation did not take part at one of the two latest qualifying rounds, due to being directly qualified as a host, only one qualifying round would be taken into account. If two or more nations ended up with exactly the same coefficient, the following ranking criteria  were applied: The last three times UEFA used this calculation method was for the final UEFA coefficients in 2003, 2005 and 2007. Current ranking and calculation method. On 20 May 2008, UEFA announced changes to the coefficient ranking system. The ranking will continue to be calculated every second year in November, but under the new system, teams now gain ranking points for each game played in the most recently completed full cycle (defined as all qualifying games and final tournament games) of both the World Cup and European Championship, with addition of ranking points for each game played at the  latest completed half cycle (defined as all games played in the latest qualifying round). Ranking points for all games played inside those two and a half cycles, will be awarded according to the rules listed below. 2017 ranking. The coefficients from 2017 used for the seeding and pot placements in the draw for 2018–19 UEFA Nations League, were calculated for each country by averaging: The seeding and pot placements of the teams in the draw for the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League were based on the UEFA coefficients, determined on 11 October 2017, which were as follows: History. After the recalculation  of the coefficient rankings for the 2007 cycle, Italy were ranked top following their FIFA World Cup victory in 2006. Runners-up France lay behind them in second place, followed by the Czech Republic. Spain overtook Italy to gain first place following their UEFA Euro 2008 win, with beaten finalists Germany moving into second; the Netherlands were third. Spain consolidated their top spot by winning the 2010 FIFA World Cup, with the Netherlands jumping above Germany by finishing second in the tournament. In the 2013 rankings, Spain maintained top spot by winning their third major competition in a row - UEFA  Euro 2012. Germany regained second, with the Dutch falling back to third place after failing to make it out of their group. Germany climbed to the top of the 2015 rankings as a result of their 2014 FIFA World Cup success; Spain dropped behind them. England reached their highest position in the rankings - placed third. Germany held on to top spot in 2017, with new European champions Portugal in second; Belgium were third. Women's National team coefficient. Old ranking and calculation method. See same category in men's. Current ranking and calculation method. See same category in men's . Men's Association coefficient. The association coefficient is used to rank the football associations of Europe, and thus determine the number of clubs from an association that will participate in the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Europa Conference 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 rankings at the end of the 2021–22 season determine the team allocation by association in the 2023–24 (not 2022–23) UEFA season. This is unrelated to the selection of  teams which will fill each allocation through the individual association leagues and national cups (which is decided in the preceding season). This coefficient is determined by the results of the clubs of the associations in the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Europa Conference League games over the past five seasons. Two points are awarded for each win by a club, and one for a draw (points are halved in the qualifying rounds). Results determined by extra time do count in determining the allocation of points, but results determined by penalty-shootouts do not affect the allocation  of points, other than for bonus points given for qualification into the latter rounds. The number of points awarded each season is divided by the number of teams that participated for that association in that season. This number is then rounded down to three decimal places (e.g. would be rounded to 2.666). To determine an association's coefficient for a particular season, the coefficients for the last five seasons are added. Bonus points are added to the number of points scored in a season. Bonus points are allocated for: UEFA uses this coefficient system to decide which teams gain automatic  entry to the group stage and which teams must go through qualifying. For instance, the teams who occupy the top four league places in the associations ranked 1 to 4 in UEFA competition, the top two teams of the association ranked 5 and 6, and the champions in the associations ranked 7 to 10 gain automatic entry into the group stages for the following season's Champions League competition. According to the UEFA regulations a National League needs to consist of at least eight clubs to be considered valid, otherwise no participants of such a league will be allowed to  enter European competitions. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, two-legged ties in the knockout stages of the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League and 2019–20 UEFA Europa League, and in the qualifying stages of the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League and 2020–21 UEFA Europa League, were changed to single-leg matches. In those cases where there is such format change, the following points will be awarded instead: This translates to the original system (2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss) by considering the "unplayed leg" as a draw. Current ranking. The ranking below takes into  account of each association's performance in European competitions from 2017–18 to 2021–22, with the 2021–22 season currently taking place. The final ranking at the end of the 2021–22 season will be used to determine the number of places for each association in the 2023–24 UEFA club competitions. As of 28 April 2022 the coefficients are as follows: Distribution of team competition quotas. The following is the default access list. Rankings in table exlude Liechtenstein. History. Following the introduction of the UEFA Cup in 1971, the competition began to grow in complexity having more clubs than the European Champions Cup  and the Cup Winners' Cup, reaching up to four from a single country. UEFA began to publish rankings in 1979, to identify the number of participants for each association in the UEFA Cup. Subsequently, for statistical purposes, various rankings were introduced to portray the history of competitions. According to the prorated (extended) calculation system, only four leagues have succeeded in being ranked as the top European league. Following the Heysel Stadium disaster, all English teams were banned from UEFA competitions in 1985. The ban was only lifted after five seasons, with the knock-on effects continuing to impact on the  First Division and then the Premier League for a total of nine years from 1986 to 1994. Having been top in 1985, England were un-ranked in 1990 and would not regain the top position until 2008. Top leagues by period. The following data indicates the three top-ranked leagues in each five-year period. Data prior to 1975–1979 period has been calculated, but precedes the first published by the Confederation and has merely informative value. Women's Association coefficient. Current ranking. The ranking below takes into account of each association's performance in European competitions from 2017–18 to 2021–22 , with the 2021–22 season currently taking place. The final ranking at the end of the 2021–22 season will be used to determine the number of places for each association in the 2023–24 UEFA Women's Champions League. As of 30 April 2022 the coefficients are as follows: History. Top leagues by period. The following data indicates the three top-ranked women's leagues in each five-year period. Men's Club coefficient. The club coefficient is either the sum of the points earned by the club in the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League over  the previous five seasons or 20% of the club's association coefficient over the same period, whichever coefficient is higher. This ranking is used by UEFA to determine a club's seeding in club competition draws, including the qualifying and group stages of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Europa Conference League. The clubs receive two points for a win, one point for a draw, and no points for a defeat in games of the main stages of the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League. Results determined after extra-time are included in this  method, however results determined after penalty shoot-outs are not (the result is considered a draw). Bonus points for entering the Europa League group stage or Europa Conference League group stage are not additional to win/draw points; they provide a minimum points allowance for participating clubs, whereas bonus points for entering the Champions League group stage (and those for qualifying to the knockout stage) are additional to win/draw points. Qualifying round results are only taken into account if the team is eliminated in one of the rounds (see table below). Otherwise, the qualifying round results are taken into  account only for the calculation of the association's coefficient and are halved. The clubs do not receive any points for elimination in the Champions League or Europa League qualifying because those teams move to the Europa League and/or Europa Conference League and receive points from participation in that competition. 2021–22 and future seasons Prior to 2021–22 season Prior to the 2018 club rankings, teams received the sum of their points earned over the last five seasons "plus" 20% of the club's association coefficient. Before 1999 a number of strong teams in the UEFA Cup were seeded such that  those teams did not meet in the first two rounds. To determine these teams, the sum of the ratio of the number of points achieved to the number of games played by each team, was calculated for the past five seasons. Current team ranking. The ranking below takes into account of each team's performance in European competitions from 2017–18 to 2021–22, with the 2021–22 season currently taking place. The top 25 clubs as of 28 April 2022 are as follows. Top club by period. The following data indicate the top-ranked clubs in each 5-year period. Data prior  to 1975–1979 period has been calculated, but precedes the first published by the Confederation and has merely informative value. Top-rated clubs listed by number of times they were top-ranked over a 5-year period since the first period officially analysed (1975–1979): Women's Club coefficient. The season coefficient of a club is calculated by adding the total number of points it obtains in a given season and 20% of its association's coefficient for that same season. A club's five-season coefficient is the cumulative total of its five season coefficients from the reference period and 20 % of its association's five-season association's coefficient. This ranking is used by UEFA to determine a club's seeding in club competition draws, including the qualifying and group stages of the UEFA Women's Champions League. The distribution of points is symmetrical to the distribution of points in association ranking. 2021–22 and future seasons Current team ranking. The ranking below takes into account of each team's performance in European competitions from 2017–18 to 2021–22, with the 2021–22 season currently taking place. The top 25 clubs as of 30 April 2022 are as follows: Top club by period . The following data indicate the top-ranked women's clubs in each 5-year period. Criticisms. The UEFA coefficient system has been criticised for being likely to preserve the status quo for rankings and seedings, as well as for favouring teams from stronger leagues.