Czechia drops out of UEFA top 10 after Czech clubs flop

Czech football has slipped from tenth to twelfth place in the UEFA national coefficient table, according to the UEFA rankings. As recently as Tuesday the country held tenth position, but a poor week in Europe changed everything.

What happened this week

Slavia were humbled by Champions League newcomers Sabah (0:2), Plzeň lost to Ferencváros (1:2) in the Europa League, and Jablonec fell to Freiburg (2:3) in the Conference League. Sparta added only a little to the country's tally: 0.2 points for a draw with Lillestrøm.

The main rivals in the fight for tenth place, Greece and Poland, picked up points instead. Greece climbed into the top 10: Olympiacos' win over Marseille (1:0) in the Europa League and Panathinaikos' victory over Banja Luka (2:1) in the Conference League earned it 0.8 points. Poland overtook Czechia too, needing only Jagiellonia's win over Ararat-Armenia (3:1).

Who is in tenth place now

The table around the tenth spot looks like this: 9. Turkey (51.075), 10. Greece (45.812), 11. Poland (45.525), 12. Czechia (45.325). Still, Czech and Greek clubs have an edge over the Polish ones: each has four representatives in the group stages, while Poland has only two. That gives them noticeably better chances of bringing points to the national coefficient.

The coefficient is built from the results of all of a country's clubs in European competitions over the past five years, and it determines how places in European tournaments are allocated. Wins, draws and progression to later rounds count, with qualifying and main-stage points weighted differently. The total is divided by the number of representatives the country has in that particular season.

The stakes are high: whichever of the three countries, Poland, Czechia or Greece, finishes tenth after this campaign will send its champion straight into the Champions League group stage for the 2028/2029 season.

Around Prague, based on reporting by sport.cz