Tut tut! Football France can say thank you to its Thursday clubs, authors of a hell of a season in the Europa League and Europa Conference League. Yesterday’s superb evening, with the victories of Toulouse, Marseille, Rennes and the draw of Lille, allowed France to catch up with the Netherlands in 5th place in the UEFA index (0.003 points difference now ), which gives the right to three direct qualifiers plus a play-off place for the new formula of the Champions League.
If Ligue 1 snatched this famous 5th place at the end of last season and will therefore be present in force for the inauguration of the new version of the C1 next year, it was until now in an uncomfortable position for the following season , 2025-2026. Very late at the start of this exercise in the Netherlands, it can now look to the future with confidence.
Ajax and AZ Alkmaar, who lost again on Thursday evening, are last in their respective groups and could well see their European season end in the fall, when the four French clubs are on track to qualify. The situation is more balanced in C1, where PSV (2nd in group B with 5 points) and Feyenoord (3rd in group E with 6 points) are in a position equivalent to PSG (2nd in group F with 6 points) and Lens ( 3rd in group B with 5 points).
The outlook is therefore once again favorable and France, if it confirms these results, will be able to have seven representatives in Europe in 2025-2026: four in the Champions League (including one play-off), two in the Europa League (including one play-off) and one in the Europa Conference League.