UEFA coefficient
In European football, the UEFA coefficients are statistics used for ranking and seeding teams in club and international competitions.
The coefficients are calculated by UEFA, who administrate football within Europe. It uses three different coefficients:
- The coefficient of the national teams;
- The coefficient of national leagues;
- The coefficient of football clubs.
The national team coefficients use three points for a win and one for a draw, while the league and club coefficients, two points are awarded for a win and one point for a draw.
The coefficients
National team coefficient
The national team coefficient is the least known UEFA coefficient, derived from the results of the national football team of a nation. It is calculated dividing the number of points scored (three points for a win, one for a draw) by the number of matches played in the last two qualification rounds of the World Cup or European Championship. Play-off match results are ignored. For some countries only one qualifying round will be taken into account, if they were hosts of one of the last two events.
This coefficient is used by UEFA to determine in which "pot" a national team will be for the qualification tournaments of the World Cup and European Championship, and the final tournament of the European Championship. Each team in a pot is drawn into a separate qualifying group, thus keeping the bigger teams apart until the later stages of the competition.
If two or more associations have the same coefficient, the following criteria will be applied:
a) coefficient from the matches played in its most recent qualifying competition,
b) average goal difference,
c) average number of goals scored,
d) average number of away goals scored,
e) drawing of lots.
Current ranking for the EC 2008 qualifying rounds
| Rank | Team | Coefficient |
| 1 | Greece* | 1.950 |
| 2 | Netherlands | 2.550 |
| 3 | Portugal | 2.500 |
| 4 | England | 2.500 |
| 5 | Czech Republic | 2.450 |
| 6 | France | 2.444 |
| 7 | Sweden | 2.278 |
| 8 | Germany | 2.250 |
| 9 | Croatia | 2.222 |
| 10 | Italy | 2.222 |
| 11 | Turkey | 2.100 |
| 12 | Poland | 2.056 |
| 13 | Spain | 2.056 |
| 14 | Romania | 1.950 |
| 15 | Serbia and Montenegro | 1.889 |
| 16 | Russia | 1.850 |
| 17 | Denmark | 1.850 |
| 18 | Norway | 1.778 |
| 19 | Bulgaria | 1.778 |
| 20 | Ukraine | 1.750 |
| 21 | Slovakia | 1.650 |
| 22 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1.611 |
| 23 | Ireland | 1.556 |
| 24 | Belgium | 1.556 |
| 25 | Latvia | 1.550 |
| 26 | Israel | 1.500 |
| 27 | Scotland | 1.500 |
| 28 | Slovenia | 1.444 |
| 29 | Hungary | 1.389 |
| 30 | Finland | 1.300 |
| 31 | Estonia | 1.250 |
| 32 | Wales | 1.167 |
| 33 | Lithuania | 1.111 |
| 34 | Albania | 1.050 |
| 35 | Iceland | 0.944 |
| 36 | Georgia | 0.850 |
| 37 | Macedonia | 0.750 |
| 38 | Belarus | 0.722 |
| 39 | Armenia | 0.700 |
| 40 | Northern Ireland | 0.667 |
| 41 | Cyprus | 0.667 |
| 42 | Moldova | 0.611 |
| 43 | Liechtenstein | 0.450 |
| 44 | Azerbaijan | 0.389 |
| 45 | Andorra | 0.250 |
| 46 | Malta | 0.222 |
| 47 | Faroe Islands | 0.111 |
| 48 | Kazakhstan | 0.083 |
| 49 | Luxembourg | 0.000 |
| 50 | San Marino | 0.000 |
Greece will be first seed, as European champion
Austria and Switzerland are already assured of places at Template:Ec2 as host nations.
League coefficient
The league coefficient is used to rank the leagues of Europe, and thus determine the number of clubs from a league that will participate in competitions such as the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Champions League.
This coefficient is determined by the results of the clubs of the leagues over the past five seasons. The number of points awarded each season (two for each win by a club from that league, one for a draw) is divided by the number of teams that participated for that nation in that season. This number will rounded down to three decimal places (e.g. 2 2/3 will be rounded to 2.666).
For the league coefficient the season's league coefficients for the last five seasons must be added up. In the preliminary rounds of both the awarded points are halved. Bonus points are allocated for:
- Qualifying for the Champions League group phase. (3 bonus points)
- Reaching the second round of the Champions league.
- Reaching the quarter, semi and final of both Champions League and UEFA cup.
The bonus points are added to the number of points scored in a season.
Current ranking
As of December 16, 2005
| Rank | League | Coeff. |
| 1 | Spain | 66.748 |
| 2 | Italy | 62.159 |
| 3 | England | 59.915 |
| 4 | France | 48.031 |
| 5 | Germany | 45.739 |
| 6 | Portugal | 43.041 |
| 7 | Netherlands | 40.498 |
| 8 | Greece | 32.081 |
| 9 | Belgium | 30.250 |
| 10 | Scotland | 29.875 |
| 11 | Russia | 29.583 |
| 12 | Ukraine | 26.350 |
| 13 | Turkey | 26.166 |
| 14 | Czech Republic | 26.075 |
| 15 | Romania | 24.790 |
| 16 | Switzerland | 23.125 |
| 17 | Bulgaria | 21.790 |
| 18 | Israel | 21.541 |
| 19 | Norway | 20.975 |
| 20 | Austria | 20.375 |
| 21 | Serbia and Montenegro | 19.999 |
| 22 | Poland | 18.500 |
| 23 | Denmark | 16.950 |
| 24 | Hungary | 14.665 |
| 25 | Croatia | 14.083 |
| 26 | Sweden | 13.249 |
| 27 | Slovakia | 12.332 |
| 28 | Cyprus | 10.165 |
| 29 | Slovenia | 10.165 |
| 30 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 8.165 |
| 31 | Finland | 7.373 |
| 32 | Latvia | 7.164 |
| 33 | Moldova | 6.832 |
| 34 | Georgia | 6.331 |
| 35 | Lithuania | 5.832 |
| 36 | Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia | 5.331 |
| 37 | Iceland | 4.832 |
| 38 | Liechtenstein | 4.500 |
| 39 | Belarus | 4.415 |
| 40 | Republic of Ireland | 4.331 |
| 41 | Albania | 3.665 |
| 42 | Armenia | 2.998 |
| 43 | Estonia | 2.665 |
| 44 | Malta | 2.665 |
| 45 | Wales | 2.332 |
| 46 | Northern Ireland | 2.332 |
| 47 | Azerbaijan | 1.999 |
| 48 | Luxembourg | 1.832 |
| 49 | Kazakhstan | 1.666 |
| 50 | Faroe Islands | 1.665 |
| 51 | San Marino | 0.000 |
| 52 | Andorra | 0.000 |
Club coefficient
The club coefficient is determined by the results of a club in European club competition in the last five seasons, and the league coefficient. The club coefficient is 0.333 multiplied the league coefficient + the number of points earned by the club in the five seasons. The points earned by this club in the preliminary rounds are not counted.
This ranking is used by the UEFA the determine which pot the club belongs to in the preliminary and first rounds of the Champions League, and the preliminary, first and second rounds of the UEFA Cup.
The top 10 clubs as of December 2005 are as follows:
| Position | Club | Country | Coefficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AC Milan | Italy Italy | 118.512 |
| 2 | Real Madrid | Spain Spain | 117.026 |
| 3 | FC Barcelona | Spain Spain | 111.026 |
| 4 | Liverpool | England England | 104.772 |
| 5 | Internazionale | Italy Italy | 104.512 |
| 6 | Juventus | Italy Italy | 101.512 |
| 7 | Manchester United | England England | 99.772 |
| 8 | Valencia | Spain Spain | 93.026 |
| 9 | Arsenal | England England | 88.772 |
| 10 | FC Porto | Portugal Portugal | 87.203 |
- A full list can be found Here