How did the European Cup play off places come into being? UEFA announces the new competition system and drawing rules, and the group champions at A, B and C levels will have priority

The European Cup is a grand event of European football, which is held every four years and attracts hundreds of millions of fans around the world. The 2024 European Cup will be held in Germany, with 24 teams participating. Among them, 20 teams will be qualified through the European qualifiers, and the other three teams will compete for the remaining places through the play offs. So, how did the number of play offs come into being? How does UEFA arrange the match system and draw rules for the play offs?

The European Cup is a grand event of European football, which is held every four years and attracts hundreds of millions of fans around the world. The 2024 European Cup will be held in Germany, with 24 teams participating. Among them, 20 teams will be qualified through the European qualifiers, and the other three teams will compete for the remaining places through the play offs. So, how did the number of play offs come into being? How does UEFA arrange the match system and draw rules for the play offs?

The official website of UEFA published an article on October 9, explaining the details of the play offs ¹。 According to the article, the teams participating in the play off will be selected according to the results of the UEFA 2022/23 season. UEFA is a new event launched by UEFA in 2018, which aims to improve the competitiveness and enjoyment of national teams. The League of European Nations is divided into four levels: A, B, C and D. Each level is divided into four groups with three to four teams. Group champions at each level will have the opportunity to participate in the play off if they do not qualify for the European Cup.

The allocation of the number of places in the play offs is as follows: First, the group champions of A, B and C level leagues will have priority to obtain the number of places. If these teams have been promoted through the qualifying match, the number of places will be postponed to the team ranking second in each group of the league. Secondly, the four play offs will be allocated to each league from the C-level league to the A-level league in reverse alphabetical order. Finally, if there are less than four teams in the first three level leagues entering the play off, Estonia, the group champion with the best ranking in the D level leagues, will get a available quota. The remaining places will be allocated to the teams that have not been promoted but are ranked the highest according to the overall ranking of the 2022/23 European League of Nations.

The schedule of the play offs will be drawn after the European qualifiers, and is expected to be held at the end of November or early December 2023. The play off will be divided into three groups, each with four teams. The four teams in each group will be ranked according to the results of the UEFA. The team ranking first among the four teams will play against the team ranking fourth in the first semi-final, and the team ranking second will play against the team ranking third in the second semi-final. The winner of each semi-final will enter the final, and the sponsor will be determined in advance by drawing lots. The play offs are scheduled to take place on March 21 and 26, 2024. Both the semi-final and the final are single round. The winner of the final will be eligible for the European Cup.

According to the results of the current UEFA group match, the teams and matches in the play off are as follows:

-Semifinals – Group C: Georgia (1) vs Luxembourg (4), Greece (2) vs Kazakhstan (3)

-Semifinals – Group B: Israel (1) vs Finland/Ukraine/Iceland (4), Bosnia and Herzegovina (2) vs Finland/Ukraine/Iceland (3)

-Semifinals – Group A: Poland (1) vs Estonia (4), Wales (2) vs Finland/Ukraine/Iceland (3)

-Final – Group C: Georgia/Luxembourg vs Greece/Kazakhstan (host to be determined)

-Final – Group B: Israel/Finland/Ukraine/Iceland vs Bosnia Herzegovina/Finland/Ukraine/Iceland (host to be determined)

-Final – Group A: Poland/Estonia vs Wales/Finland/Ukraine/Iceland (host to be determined)

The official website of UEFA will update the list after each round of competition. The European preliminaries are currently in the sixth round of group matches, and all competitions will end on November 22, 2023 local time. At that time, we will know which teams will compete for the last three tickets of the European Cup through the play offs.

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