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 are 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. Matches will be played at either 5.45pm or 8pm UK time each week, with each club playing at home three times in each kick-off slot, in principle.

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 in the UK (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 from 11.45am in the UK.

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 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 nor Bayer Leverkusen. The same can be said for Edson Álvarez and Mohammed Kudus’s former club Ajax of the Netherlands, who are also in Pot 1.

Brighton aside, then, we can be drawn against any of the 23 other teams in Pots 2, 3 and 4. Of the clubs we have faced previously in Europe, Greek side Olympiacos and Czech team Slavia Prague are in the draw, too.

Clubs from the same country are also 'paired' so their kick-off times do not clash, and West Ham are paired with Liverpool.

Should we draw a team from a Nordic country - Molde of Norway or BK Häcken of Sweden - they will not host a home game on Matchday 1 due to the threat of extreme weather.

Got all that?

Our 23 potential opponents are as follows:

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 2024: Knockout round play-offs
7 & 14 March 2024: Round of 16
11 & 18 April 2024: Quarter-finals
2 May & 9 May 2024: Semi-finals
22 May 2024: Final, Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Republic of Ireland