Albion’s European opponents mapped out

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Following play-off round draws in Nyon, Switzerland, on Monday 7 August, Albion’s potential opponents in the forthcoming group stage of the UEFA Europa League have become a little clearer.

All of the possible opponents are displayed on this map.

Albion are among twelve teams currently with a place in the group stage, which are shown in BLUE on the map. These teams qualify because of the overall performance of clubs within those nations: England (2), France (2), Germany (2), Italy (2), Portugal (1) and Spain (2); plus West Ham United who won last season’s Europa Conference League.

With eight groups of four teams, that leaves another twenty clubs to find. They will emerge from Europa League qualifying and play-off rounds, and from those falling out of Champions’ League qualification (which has been taking place since the end of June).

As of 08 August there are 43 such teams, initially shown in GREEN on the map, and coming from the following countries:

  • Austria (2)
  • Azerbaijan (1)
  • Belarus (1)
  • Belgium (3)
  • Bosnia & Herzegovina (1)
  • Bulgaria (1)
  • Croatia (1)
  • Cyprus (1)
  • Czech Republic (2)
  • Denmark (1)
  • Faroe Islands (1)
  • Finland (1)
  • France (1)
  • Greece (3)
  • Iceland (1)
  • Israel (1)
  • Kazakhstan (1)
  • Lithuania (1)
  • Moldova (1)
  • Netherlands (2)
  • Norway (1)
  • Poland (1)
  • Portugal (1)
  • Scotland (2)
  • Serbia (2)
  • Slovakia (1)
  • Slovenia (1)
  • Sweden (1)
  • Switzerland (3)
  • Turkey (1)
  • Ukraine (2) playing in Poland/Slovakia

The 43 will be playing during August. Clubs will qualify for the Europa League group stage on these dates:

  • 15 August – four teams eliminated from the third qualifying round of the Champions’ League (“league path”).
  • 29/30 August – six teams eliminated from the play-off round of the Champions’ League.
  • 31 August – ten teams advancing from the play-off round of the Europa League.

Following these dates, teams to be included in the Europa League group stage draw will be changed to BLUE on the map; while those no longer involved will be removed.

On 01 September the draw for the Europa League group stage will be held in Monaco, streamed live on Uefa.com. Note that Albion cannot be drawn to play either Liverpool or West Ham United until the quarter-finals at the earliest. The group matches are due to be played on six Thursday nights in the autumn of 2023:

  • 21 September
  • 05 October
  • 26 October
  • 09 November
  • 30 November
  • 14 December

Tim Carder