French football was in great danger. And, on Thursday night, he avoided plunging a little further into doubt. With 61,164 points - a total that will not change anymore, - the France, 5th, was under threat from the Netherlands (6th, 59,900 points). But thanks to the defeat of the Dutch club AZ Alkmaar this Thursday night in the semi-final first leg of the Conference Europa League against West Ham (2-1), the France will retain its 5th place in the UEFA index ranking.
As a reminder, Nice was the last French team engaged on the European scene. But Didier Digard's men had completely missed against Basel in the quarter-finals of the Europa League Conference. Before that, PSG had, once again, taken the door in the knockout stages of the Champions League against Bayern while Marseille had not crossed the group stage. In the play-offs, Nantes was beaten by Juventus while Monaco and Rennes lost in the 16th round of the Europa League. A sad record.
Totally different scenarios between 5th and 6th place
But concretely, what does this 5th place change for the France? Well a lot since the format of the 2024-2025 edition of the cup with big ears is evolving. 36 clubs will participate instead of 32 this year. 5th country in the UEFA index, the France will be able to send four clubs to C1 (the first three in Ligue 1) while the 4th of the Championship will have to pass the third preliminary round and then the play-offs, two qualifying rounds. A true Way of the Cross. Conversely, a 6th place in the UEFA coefficient would have forced France to send three clubs to the Champions League including one in the preliminary rounds.
For the 2024-2025 edition, seven clubs will represent the France on the continental scene: four in C1, two in the Europa League and one in the Conference Europa League. Note that the club that does not pass the preliminary round of the Champions League will be returned to the Europa League. But next season, the French clubs will have to raise the bar. Because the Netherlands will automatically pass 5th, just ahead of the France. Indeed, the results of the 2018-2019 season will no longer be taken into account while the French clubs had been brilliant, which would propel the Dutch to 5th place. It goes for this time but watch out for next season...