Table 1 – Europe Club Cups
| Continent (governing body) |
Cup |
Qualification criteria |
| Europe (UEFA) |
UEFA Champions League (36 teams) |
- Previous season UEFA Champions League winner
- Previous season UEFA Europa League winner
- 10 League champions (associations 1-10)
- 6 League runners-up (Associations 1-6)
- 5 League 3rd place teams (Associations 1-5)
- 4 League 4th place teams (Associations 1-4)
- 2 teams with highest association coefficient1
- 5 winners from Champions path Qualifying/Playoff2
- 2 winners from League Path Qualifying/Playoff3
|
| Europe (UEFA) |
UEFA Europa League (48 teams) |
A second-tier tournament with qualification primarily through league play and domestic cup competition for teams that do not qualify for Champions League |
| Europe (UEFA) |
UEFA Conference League |
A third-tier tournament with qualification primarily through league play and domestic cup competition for teams that do not qualify for Europa League |
| Europe (UEFA) |
UEFA Super Cup |
Single-match championship between Champions League winner and Europa League Winner |
1 The "UEFA Coefficient", computed mathematically, is basically a Power Ranking as seen in the NFL. However, coefficients are assigned to club teams (Club Coefficient) and League associations (Association Coefficient). Two additional teams from leagues with the highest association coefficient that did not qualify by means of the direct qualification measures will earn berths to the Champions League.
2 5 league champions from Associations 11-55 will be selected through 4 rounds of playoffs to enter the Champions League (Champions Path).
3 2 teams will be selected through 3 rounds of playoffs comprising teams that finished in 2nd place from Associations 7-15, 3rd place from Association 6, and 4th place from Association 5 (League Path).
The European associations are ranked 1-55.The higher associations are allocated more teams into the Champions League. Thetop 4, in order, are England, Italy, Spain and Germany. The more familiarcomponent of the Champions League starts in September with the League Phasefollowed by the Knockout Playoffs starting in February (two leg series).However, there are qualifying rounds in July-August for the lower rankedassociations (11-55) plus teams that finish lower in the table of the Top 10associations. 55 teams compete for 7spots (Champions path or League path).
For simplicity, only the UEFA ChampionsLeague qualification is listed (partially!). The other UEFA cups along with therest of the world (below) are noted, but will not go into too much detail. Theyare more complicated because teams that qualify for two Cups will only play inthe ‘higher’ cup, thereby opening a position in the lower tier cup that willneed to be filled.
Table 2 – South America, Asia, Oceania, and North America Club Cups
| Continent (governing body) |
Cup |
Qualification criteria |
| South America (CONMEBOL) |
Copa Libertadores |
Top Tier tournament similar to UEFA Champions League |
| South America (CONMEBOL) |
Copa Sudamericana |
Second-tier tournament similar to UEFA Europa League |
| South America (CONMEBOL) |
Recopa Sudamericana |
Libertadores winner vs. Sudamericana winner |
| Asia (AFC) |
AFC Champions League Elite |
Top-tier tournament |
| Asia (AFC) |
AFC Champions League 2 |
Second-tier tournament |
| Asia (AFC) |
AFC Challenge League |
Third-tier tournament |
| Oceania (OFC) |
OFC Men's Champions League |
Top-tier tournament |
| Africa (CAF) |
CAF Champions League |
Top-tier tournament: League winners and runners-up from top-ranked leagues |
| Africa (CAF) |
CAF Confederation Cup |
Second-tier tournament: Domestic cup winners and high league finishers |
| Africa (CAF) |
CAF Super Cup |
CAF Champions League winner vs CAF Confederation Cup winner |
| North America (CONCACAF) |
CONCACAF Champions Cup |
League performance, domestic cup performance, and regional cup performance |
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