West Ham United v SC Freiburg
UEFA Europa League Group A Matchday Six, London Stadium, Thursday 14 December 2023, 8pm GMT
West Ham United take on SC Freiburg in their UEFA Europa League Group A finale on Thursday with top spot on the line.
Both sides are assured of their place in the knockout rounds, but a point or better would ensure the Irons finish a third consecutive European campaign top of the pile and avoid February's knockout play-off round.
So there is plenty to play for in east London as the Hammers go in search of a repeat of the victory they achieved in south west Germany two months ago.
Tickets…
You can be there at London Stadium on Thursday, with tickets still on General Sale!
Tickets start at just £10 for Under-18s and £30 Adults for Season Ticket Holders, so you can make it a magical European night under the London Stadium lights for all the family!
Click here to purchase your tickets now and you can find full pricing details here.
Travel…
There is no planned disruption to Transport for London Underground, Overground and Docklands Light Railway services serving Stratford on Thursday.
The same is true for Greater Anglia railway services and Southeastern High Speed trains calling at Stratford International.
How To Follow…
West Ham United’s home UEFA Europa League match with SC Freiburg will be broadcast live in the UK on TNT Sports.
If you are outside the UK click here to find out how you can watch in your territory.
You can follow the action via our live blog on whufc.com and our app and across our social media channels. We will also have highlights and exclusive reaction for you after the final whistle on our website and social media.
Live audio commentary will be available in the UK on BBC Radio London and worldwide on our official website and app.
Official Programme…
West Ham United's 2023/24 Official Programme for Thursday's UEFA Europa League Group A decider with SC Freiburg is available online now!
The 116-page publication is the largest in English football and, at just £4 per issue, represents superb value for money for supporters wanting exclusive interviews, attention-grabbing opinions and eye-catching photographs, plus the regular news, columns and statistics and insightful content from across all areas of the Club
Thursday's issue for our UEFA Europa League tie with our German opponents features an in-depth interview and analysis of Ben Johnson at the end of a year when he was crowned a double European champion, features with Łukasz Fabiański and Divin Mubama and interviews with European Cup Winners' Cup finalists of yesteryear Pat Holland and Joe Kirkup.
We also have an interview with first-team assistant coach Henry Newman on his unique career path from university to the Premier League, plus the latest state of play in the Europa League.
With interviews with Academy youngster Levi Laing, the latest from our women's team, plus history, puzzles, statistics and the lowdown on our opponents from the Bundesliga, the Official Programme is packed full of content for you!
Team News
Michail Antonio is continuing his progression from an injury sustained on international duty with Jamaica in mid-November.
Edson Álvarez missed Sunday's game at Fulham, while Emerson and Pablo Fornals were among several Hammers feeling the effects of a virus.
The boss will hope to have a clean bill of health for Thursday's game and we expect more team news to be revealed in his press conference on Wednesday.
Opposition
In some ways, SC Freiburg are bucking the trends of modern football.
The club from the far south west of Germany have had just four head coaches in the last 32 years, with the current incumbent Christian Streich having been in post since December 2011.
Prior to that, Volker Finke became the longest-serving head coach in the history of German professional football when he served 16 years in charge between 1991-2007.
A former Freiburg player and long-serving youth-team coach, Streich was retained following the club’s relegation from the Bundesliga in 2015, and rewarded that loyalty by leading the Breisgau Brazilians – the city’s full name is Freiburg im Breisgau – back to the top-flight the following year.
Since then, Freiburg have secured four top-eight finishes in the Bundesliga, reached the German Cup final in 2022 and competed in the UEFA Europa League on three occasions.
While those achievements might not match those of German football’s traditional top clubs, Freiburg are not one of them, so their recent rise has been hugely impressive.
Tonight’s visitors did not play in the top-flight Bundesliga until 1993 and have been relegated and promoted on four occasions each since then.
In the midst of that, Freiburg have had some superb seasons, finishing third in 1994/95, just three points behind champions Borussia Dortmund, and fifth in both 2012/13 and again last season.
While winning the title might be beyond Freiburg’s realistic ambitions, they did reach the German Cup final in 2022, losing to RB Leipzig, and topped their UEFA Europa League group a year ago before giving Italian club Juventus a good test in the round of 16.
A victory in east London on Thursday would see the Breisgau Brazilians – a nickname they were given for their attractive playing style under Finke – samba into the last 16 for a second successive season.
Previous Meetings
The Hammers' only previous meeting with SC Freiburg came in October this year, when headers by Lucas Paquetá and Nayef Aguerd secured a 2-1 victory at the Stadion am Wolfswinkel.
However, we did face a team from the city, Freiburger, in a post-season tour match nearly 100 years ago.
The Irons were on the receiving end of a 5-2 loss in May 1924, which came at the end of West Ham’s first season as a Football League First Division team. Vic Watson and John Campbell were the goalscorers for West Ham that day in what was the Club’s first-ever defeat by continental European opposition.
Match Officials
Referee: João Pinheiro (POR)
Assistant Referees: Bruno Jesus (POR) & Luciano Maia (POR)
Fourth Official: João António Ferreira Gonçalves (POR)
VAR: Tiago Martins (POR)
Assistant VAR: Nejc Kajtazovic (SVN)
Thursday’s referee and match officials for the UEFA Europa League Group A decider with SC Freiburg are from Portugal, bar the assistant VAR Nejc Kajtazovic, who hails from Slovenia.
The officiating crew will be led by FIFA referee João Pinheiro.
The 35-year-old was born in the town of Vila Nova de Famalicão, midway between Porto and Braga, and kicked-off his senior refereeing career in Portuguese football at the start of the 2014/15 season.
Since then, he has refereed over 325 matches at senior and age-group levels, including 24 in UEFA competitons and nine men’s internationals.
Pinheiro has refereed a number of high-profile domestic matches, including the 2023 Portuguese Cup final, in which FC Porto beat SC Braga 2-0, the 2021 Portuguese Super Cup between Sporting Lisbon and Braga and two Portuguese League Cup finals in 2019 and 2023, which were won by Sporting Lisbon and FC Porto respectively.
Read more about Thursday's match officials here.
