How did the European Cup play off places come into being? Official interpretation of the details and changes of the new competition system by UEFA

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, and a total of 24 teams will participate in the competition.

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, and a total of 24 teams will participate in the competition. Among them, 21 teams will be qualified through the European qualifiers, and the other three teams will be decided through the play offs. So, what is the play off? What are its rules and schedule? The official website of UEFA 1 explains this in detail.

The play off is a supplementary selection method, which is used to determine the quota of the last three European Cup finals. Its teams and match time will be determined according to the results of the European qualifiers and the European League of Nations. The European qualifiers will end on November 22, 2023, and the draw for the play offs will be conducted after the qualifiers. The play off is scheduled to be held in March 2024, and it will be divided into two rounds, the semi-final and the final. Each round will be eliminated in a single round. The semi-final will be held on March 21, 2024, and the final will be held on March 26, 2024. The winner of the final will be eligible for the European Cup.

The teams participating in the play off will be selected from all levels of the League of European Nations, with a total of 12 teams. First of all, priority will be given to the group champions of A, B and C level leagues. If these teams have already qualified for the European Cup through the preliminary contest, the quota will be extended to the team ranking second in each group of the league. Then, four play offs will be allocated to each league from level C to level A in reverse alphabetical order. If there are less than four teams in the first three level leagues that have entered the play off, Estonia, the group champion with the best ranking in the D-level leagues, will get a available place. Finally, the remaining places will be allocated to the teams that have not yet been promoted but are ranked top according to the overall ranking of the European Union.

The grouping of the play offs will be based on the results of the European Union. The four teams in each group will be divided into seed 1, seed 2, seed 3 and seed 4 according to their rankings. The first seed will play against the fourth seed in the semi-final, and the second seed will play against the third seed in the semi-final. The winner of the semi-final will enter the final, and the sponsor of the final will be determined in advance by drawing lots. In the process of grouping, the group champions of ABC three level leagues will not meet with higher level teams to ensure fairness.

According to the current rankings of the European Union and the European preliminary round, the teams participating in the play off and possible matches 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 system and schedule of the play offs are completely new, which is quite different from the European Cup in the past. This has also given some teams that did not qualify for the European Cup a new opportunity to realize their dreams and step onto the stage of the European Cup. The play off match will be full of suspense and competition, which deserves the fans' expectation and attention.

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