The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

. It governs football,

futsal Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...

and beach football in Europe and the transcontinental countries of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kazakhstan, as well as the

West Asia West Asia (also called Western Asia or Southwest Asia) is the westernmost region of Asia. As defined by most academics, UN bodies and other institutions, the subregion consists of Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Mesopotamia, the Armenian ...

n countries of Cyprus, Armenia and Israel. UEFA consists of 55 national association

members Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

. Since 2022, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine,

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

and UEFA suspended all Russian national teams and clubs from any FIFA and UEFA competitions. UEFA consists of the national football associations of Europe, and runs national and club competitions including the European Championship, Nations League, Champions League, Europa League, Conference League, and Super Cup, and also controls the prize money, regulations, as well as media rights to those competitions.

Henri Delaunay Henri Delaunay (15 June 1883 – 9 November 1955) was a French football administrator. Biography After playing for the Paris team Étoile des Deux Lacs, Delaunay became a referee. He retired following an incident during a match between ...

acted as the first general secretary and

Ebbe Schwartz Ebbe Schwartz (3 May 1901 – 19 October 1964) was a Danish football administrator. Career * From 1950 until 1964 he was president of the Danish Football Association (DBU). * He served as the first UEFA president (1954–1962). * From ...

as the first president. The current president is Aleksander Čeferin, a former Football Association of Slovenia president, who was elected as UEFA's seventh president at the 12th Extraordinary UEFA Congress in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

in September 2016, and automatically became a vice-president of the world body FIFA. = History and membership = UEFA was officially inaugurated on 15 June 1954 in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

, Switzerland, after consultation between the Italian, French, and Belgian associations. At the founding meeting, 25 members were present. However, six other associations which were not present were still recognised as founding members, bringing the total of founding associations to 31. UEFA grew to more than 50 members by the mid-1990s, as new associations were born out of the fragmentation of the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia into their constituent states. UEFA's main headquarters after its foundation were located in Paris, but moved to

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

in 1960. Finally, they moved to Nyon, Switzerland, in 1995, opening the organisation's current headquarters in 1999. Current members UEFA membership coincides for the most part with recognition as a sovereign country in Europe (48 out of 55 members are sovereign UN member states), although there are some exceptions. One UN member state (Monaco) and one UN General Assembly non-member observer state (Vatican City) are not members. Some UEFA members are not sovereign states, but form part of a larger recognised sovereign state in the context of international law. These include England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales ( UK constituent countries), Gibraltar ( UK overseas territory), Faroe Islands ( Danish Realm), and Kosovo ( state with limited recognition), however, in the context of these countries, government functions concerning sport tend to be carried at the territorial level coterminous with the UEFA member entity. UEFA have previously declined membership to those deemed as non-sovereign countries like

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

. Some UEFA members are transcontinental states (Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Turkey) and others are considered part of Europe both culturally and politically (Turkey, Cyprus and Armenia). Countries which had been members of the

Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in most countries and territories in Asia. The AFC was formed in 1954. It has 47 members. The Asian Ladies Football Confederation ( ...

(AFC) were also admitted to the European football association, such as Israel (because it had been banned from the AFC group in 1974) and Kazakhstan. Involving clubs, some UEFA member associations allow teams from outside their association's main territory to take part in their "domestic" competition, for example, AS Monaco in the French League, Welsh clubs Cardiff City or Swansea City in the English League, or Derry City, situated in Northern Ireland, plays in the Republic of Ireland-based League of Ireland. On 28 February 2022, due to the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

and in accordance with a recommendation by the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

(IOC), the UEFA suspended the participation of Russia. The

Russian Football Union The Russian Football Union (, ''Rossiyskiy Futbolnyy Soyuz'' or RFS) is the official governing body of association football in the Russian Federation. With headquarters in Moscow, it organizes Russian amateur and professional football, includi ...

unsuccessfully appealed the UEFA ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which upheld the ban. On 26 September 2023 the ban was lifted for the Russia U-17 team enabling them to complete in the 2024 Euro U-17 with UEFA saying "by banning children from our competitions, we not only fail to recognise and uphold a fundamental right for their holistic development but we directly discriminate against them". The lifting of the ban also applied to all teams, men and women, of underage players. This was rejected by the FA of Ukraine, England, and Sweden, with all three threatening to boycott matches against Russia. ;Europe's Big Five Five of the UEFA national teams,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, have won 12 out of 22

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

s for Europe. These five nations also make up the so-called « Europe's Big Five», consisting of Spain's

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

, England's

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

, Germany's

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

, Italy's

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

and France's

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

Executive committee

UEFA executive committee is composed of; President * Aleksander Čeferin Vice-presidents * Karl-Erik Nilsson – First Vice-president * Armand Duka * Hans-Joachim Watzke * Jesper Møller * Gabriele Gravina * Laura McAllister Members * Petr Fousek * Philippe Diallo * Levan Kobiashvili * Karl-Heinz Rummenigge *

Lise Klaveness Lise Klaveness (born 19 April 1981) is a Norwegian lawyer and former Association football, footballer who played 73 matches for Norway women's national football team, Norway's national team between 2002 and 2011. She is currently the president o ...

* Marijan Kustić * Ari Lahti * Rafael Louzán Abal * Armen Melikbekyan * Frank Paauw * Moshe Zuares * Aivar Pohlak * Claudius Schäfer * Miguel Ángel Gil Marín * Nasser Al-Khelaifi General secretary * Theodore Theodoridis Deputy general secretary * Giorgio Marchetti Treasurer * Sándor Csányi Head of club competitions and calendar * Tobias Hedtstück Head of national competitions * Lance Kelly

List of UEFA office holders

;List of presidents of UEFA ;List of secretaries general of UEFA

Members

Former members

Competitions

UEFA continental competitions

National teams: ;Men * UEFA European Championship * UEFA Nations League * UEFA European Under-21 Championship * UEFA European Under-19 Championship * UEFA European Under-17 Championship * UEFA Futsal Championship * UEFA Under-19 Futsal Championship ;Women * UEFA Women's Championship * UEFA Women's Nations League * UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship * UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship * UEFA Women's Futsal Championship Clubs: ;Men *

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

UEFA Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual football competition organised since 2021 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It is the thir ...

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offic ...

* UEFA Youth League * UEFA Futsal Champions League ;Women * UEFA Women's Champions League * UEFA Women's Europa Cup Amateur: * UEFA Regions' Cup Defunct National teams: ;Men * UEFA Under-21 Futsal Tournament Clubs: ;Men * UEFA Cup Winners' Cup *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

Amateur: ;Men * UEFA Amateur Cup UEFA runs official international competitions in Europe and some countries of Northern, Southwestern and Central Asia for national teams and professional clubs, known as '' UEFA competitions'', some of which are regarded as the world's most prestigious tournaments. UEFA is the organiser of two of the most prestigious competitions in international football: The UEFA European Championship and the UEFA Nations League. The main competition for men's national teams is the UEFA European Championship (also known as the Euro), which started in 1958, with the first finals in 1960, and was known as the European Nations Cup until 1964. The UEFA Nations League is the second tournament of UEFA and was introduced in 2018. The tournament largely replaced the international friendly matches previously played on the FIFA International Match Calendar. It will be played every two years. UEFA also runs national competitions at Under-21, Under-19 and Under-17 levels. For women's national teams, UEFA operates the UEFA Women's Championship for senior national sides as well as Women's Under-19 and Women's Under-17 Championships.

World, Olympic and intercontinental competitions

Intercontinental national teams: * CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions * Women's Finalissima * Futsal Finalissima ''Defunct'' * UEFA–CAF Meridian Cup Intercontinental clubs: * UEFA–CONMEBOL Club Challenge * Under-20 Intercontinental Cup ''Defunct'' * Intercontinental Champions' Supercup * Intercontinental Cup Beside continental European competitions for national and their junior teams, the UEFA organizes various qualification male and female tournaments among European national and their junior teams for World Cups (organized by FIFA) and Olympics (organized by IOC). UEFA also organised the UEFA–CAF Meridian Cup with CAF for youth teams in an effort to boost youth football. UEFA launched the UEFA Regions' Cup, for semi-professional teams representing their local region, in 1999. In

there is the UEFA Futsal Championship and UEFA Under-19 Futsal Championship. Despite the existence of UEFA's Futsal ''and'' Beach soccer committee, UEFA does not organise any beach soccer competitions. International and club beach soccer competitions for UEFA members are organised externally by Beach Soccer Worldwide. The Italian, German, Spanish, French and Russian men's national teams are the only teams to have won the European football championship in all categories.

Club

The top-ranked UEFA competition is the

, which started in 1955 as the European Champion Clubs' Cup (or simply the European Cup) and initially only gathered the top team of each country; this competition has since been expanded to gather the top 1–4 teams of each country's league (the number of teams depend on that country's ranking and can be upgraded or downgraded). A second, lower-ranked competition is the

. This competition, for national knockout cup winners and high-placed league teams, was launched by UEFA in 1971 as a successor of both the former UEFA Cup and the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (also began in 1955). A third competition, the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, which started in 1960, was absorbed into the UEFA Cup (now UEFA Europa League) in 1999. In December 2018, UEFA announced the creation of a third club competition, later named the

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...

. The competition features 32 teams in 8 groups of 4, with a knockout round between the second placed teams in Europa Conference League and the third placed teams in the Europa League, leading to a final 16 knockout stage featuring the eight group winners. The first edition of the competition was played in 2021–2022. In women's football UEFA also conducts the UEFA Women's Champions League for club teams. The competition was first held in 2001, and was known as the UEFA Women's Cup until 2009. The

pits the winners of the Champions League against the winners of the Europa League (previously the winners of the Cup Winners' Cup), and came into being in 1973. The

was a summer competition, previously operated by several Central European football associations, which was relaunched and recognised as official UEFA club competition by UEFA in 1995. The last Intertoto Cup took place in 2008. The European/South American Cup was jointly organised with

CONMEBOL CONMEBOL ( ) or CSF (; ; ), is the continental governing body of football in South America and it is one of FIFA's six continental confederations. The oldest continental confederation in the world, its headquarters are located in Luque, Parag ...

between the Champions League and the Copa Libertadores winners. Only five teams ( Juventus, Ajax,

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

, Bayern Munich and Chelsea) have won each of the three main competitions (European Cup/UEFA Champions League, European Cup Winners' Cup/UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League), a feat that is no longer possible for any team that did not win the Cup Winners' Cup. There are currently eight teams throughout Europe that have won two of the three trophies; all but one have won the Cup Winners' Cup, four require a win in the Champions League and four require a UEFA Europa League win. Until the first staging of the

in 2022, Juventus of Italy was the only team in Europe to win all UEFA's official championships and cups and, in commemoration of achieving that feat, have received '' The UEFA Plaque'' by the Union of European Football Associations on 12 July 1988. UEFA's premier

competition is the UEFA Futsal Cup, a tournament started in 2001 which replaced the former Futsal European Clubs Championship. This event, despite enjoying a long and well-established tradition in the European futsal community, dating back to 1984, was never recognised as official by UEFA. There was an attempt to create a Europa League-style second tier women's club competition, which had been in discussion since 2021. In December 2023, the attempt came into a fruition, with the first edition of the competition to be played in 2025–26. In December 2024, the name of the competition, "UEFA Women's Europa Cup", was announced.

Current title holders

Titles by nation

FIFA World Rankings

Overview

Team of the Year

Major tournament records

Legend * – Champions * – Runners-up * – Third place * – Fourth place *QF – Quarter-finals (1934–1938, 1954–1970, and 1986–present: knockout round of 8) *R3 – Round 3 (2026–present: knockout round of 16) *R2 – Round 2 (1974–1978: second group stage, top 8; 1982: second group stage, top 12; 1986–2022: knockout round of 16; 2026–present: knockout round of 32) *R1 – Round 1 (1930, 1950–1970 and 1986–present: group stage; 1934–1938: knockout round of 16; 1974–1982: first group stage) *''Q'' — Qualified for upcoming tournament * – Qualified but withdrew * – Did not qualify * – Did not enter / Withdrew / Banned * – Hosts For each tournament, the flag of the host country and the number of teams in each finals tournament (in brackets) are shown.

FIFA World Cup

FIFA Women's World Cup

Olympic Games

Men's tournament

Women's tournament

UEFA European Championship

UEFA Women's Championship

FIFA U-20 World Cup

FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup

FIFA U-17 World Cup

FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup

FIFA Futsal World Cup

FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup

Former tournaments

FIFA Confederations Cup

Sanctions

Against associations

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, in 1990 sanctions were imposed due to the secession of the Lithuanian Football Federation from the Football Federation of the Soviet Union *

FR Yugoslavia The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

, in 1992–1998 sanctions were imposed due to the Bosnian War (as part of the

Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place from 1991 to 2001 in what had been the Socialist Federal Republic of ...

) *

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, in 2022 sanctions were imposed due to the

. *

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

, in 2022 sanctions were imposed due to supporting Russia in its invasion of Ukraine.

Against clubs

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

, in 1967 special sanctions were imposed against 1966–67 Albanian Superliga due to its political background *

, in 1985–1991 sanctions were imposed against English association football clubs due to the Heysel Stadium disaster by suspending their participation in continental competitions for five years *

, in 1974–1975 sanctions were imposed against SS Lazio due to its fans, Italy was restricted from the European Cup to which Lazio qualified *

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, in 1990–1991 sanctions were imposed against

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or commonly Ajax, is a Dutch professional Association football, football Football team, club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. ...

due to its fans, the Netherlands were restricted from the European Cup to which Ajax qualified

Corruption and controversy

Dissatisfied fans across Europe have referred to the organisation as ''UEFA mafia'', including in Russia's top league, in Bulgaria's top league, and in a Champions League group stage match held in Sweden. The term has also been covered for its use outside of stadiums, for example during a protest in Kosovo outside an EU building following the Serbia v Albania (UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying) match. F.C. Copenhagen supporters displayed banners around the city, with slogans such as "UEFA MAFIA – THE PANDEMIC OF FOOTBALL", when UEFA ordered their 2019–20 Europa League round of 16 return leg be played behind closed doors, despite reduced capacity being allowed by the Danish government. Following the 2015 FIFA corruption case, the then-president of UEFA, Michel Platini, was also involved in the case. Swiss prosecutors accused FIFA president Sepp Blatter of making a "disloyal payment" of $2m (£1.6m) to Mr Platini. Swiss attorney general, , stated: "We didn't interview Mr Platini as a witness, that's not true. We investigated against him in between as a witness and an accused person". Both Platini and

Sepp Blatter Joseph Sepp Blatter (born Josef Blatter; 10 March 1936) is a Swiss former association football, football administrator who served as the list of Presidents of FIFA, eighth president of FIFA from 1998 to 2015. He has been banned from participatin ...

were banned from football-related activity. Platini appealed to Court of Arbitration for Sports, which lowered the six-year ban to four years. He further appealed to Swiss courts and the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

but the courts rejected his appeals. In 2019 UEFA's decision to host Europa League Cup final in Baku, Azerbaijan left one of the finalists, Arsenal, with a decision to withdraw their Armenian player Henrikh Mkhitaryan out of the competition due to safety concerns, and there has been long-standing debates about the extent to which the elite clubs or UEFA itself should exert the most influence on the game. UEFA's decision to partner with blockchain company Chiliz in February 2022 was criticised and described as 'incomprehensible' by fan groups across Europe.

Awards: * The UEFA Plaque * UEFA Club Football Awards * UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award * UEFA Women's Player of the Year Award * UEFA President's Award * UEFA Team of the Year * UEFA Jubilee Awards * UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll * UEFA Euro Teams of the Tournament * UEFA EqualGame Award Qualifications: * UEFA coefficient * UEFA Fair Play ranking * UEFA stadium categories Match: * UEFA competitions * UEFA Celebration Match

UEFA congress

* UEFA Congress

Financial fair play

* UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations

UEFA coefficient

* UEFA coefficient

UEFA presidents

List of presidents of UEFA The following is a list of presidents of UEFA, the European association football sport governing body, governing body. Presidents of UEFA ;Notes * Jacques Georges served as interim president before being elected on 26 June 1984. * The title of H ...

Planned competitions

* Proposals for a European Super League in association football – A project for a sole pan-European Football League which UEFA executives have been involved in

Notes

References

External links

* * * * * * * * {{Portal bar, Sports, Association football, Women's association football, Europe 1954 establishments in Switzerland Association football governing bodies in Europe FIFA confederations International sports organisations based in Switzerland Sports organizations established in 1954 International sports governing bodies in Europe