West Ham United will compete in the qualifying rounds of next season’s Europa Conference League after failing to capitalise on Manchester United ’s final day slip-up.
A seventh-placed finish was guaranteed for David Moyes’ side on the final day of the season after losing 3-1 away at Brighton and Hove Albion, despite the Hammers taking a first half lead in the game through Michail Antonio’s stunning strike.
With Man United losing 1-0 away at Crystal Palace, a win for West Ham in Sussex would have put them in the Europa League next season for a second consecutive campaign, with Arsenal taking the other spot in Europe.
While West Ham have taken the English place in Europe’s third-tier club competition for next season, they are not assured of a place in the group stages just yet. Unlike in the Champions League and Europa League, where English teams automatically qualify for the group stage, West Ham must get through a two-legged play-off match in August to be assured of a group stage place.
The Hammers are one of 44 teams who will be in the play-off round of the Europa Conference League. Of the 44, 34, including West Ham, go into the main path, with the other ten coming from the champions path. That means that West Ham will face a team from the main path in the play-off round, needing a two-legged win to be in the group stages that are running between September and November before the season breaks for the World Cup.
The 34 teams are made up of 27 sides who progress from the third qualifying round of the Europa Conference League, two teams eliminated from the main path of qualifying for the Europa League and one side from each of the big five European nations, based on league finish.
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The four teams currently guaranteed a main path play-off round spot alongside West Ham are Villarreal, Fiorentina, Koln and Nice, with the other teams to be decided in mid-August.
Moyes’ side and Hammers supporters will learn on August 1 who they will face in the Europa Conference League’s play-off round before the third qualification round ties take place. Dundee United, Anderlecht and Twente are among the teams already qualified for the third qualifying round.
The group stage of the Europa Conference League is composed of 32 teams, just like the Europa League and Champions League. They are made up of the 22 play-off round winning sides and the ten teams eliminated from the play-off round of the Europa League.
Should West Ham reach the full group stage of the Europa Conference League, they will look to emulate a run similar to their success in the 2021/22 Europa League.
In this season’s Europa League, West Ham reached the semi-finals of the competition before being knocked out by eventual German winners of the competition Eintracht Frankfurt.
West Ham got past Sevilla and Lyon in the knockout rounds, having finished top of their group which featured Dinamo Zagreb, Rapid Wien and Genk.
