Does 5th place in Premier League qualify for Champions League? How UEFA decides extra spot for 2026/27
The expansion of European competitions has afforded some of the biggest leagues in the world even more entries into the continent’s top club tournament.
Two associations each year earn an extra qualifier into the UEFA Champions League, and the Premier League has recently been a main beneficiary of this bonus.
Teams from the English top flight are enjoying a level of dominance across all three European competitions in the 2025/26 season, and that has set the league up well to remain the most represented next term.
The Sporting News explains how leagues earn the coveted fifth Champions League place, whether the Premier League is in contention, and how things look around the rest of the leagues.
MORE: Champions League top goal scorer 2025/26 season | All-time UCL goal scoring leaders
Does 5th place in Premier League qualify for Champions League?
The Premier League is overwhelmingly likely to earn a fifth Champions League place for a second consecutive season in 2026/27.
As of early February, not only does the Premier League lead the coefficient average rankings so far, they are doing so with the most participating clubs of any league in Europe, and they are doing so while still seeing all nine clubs alive across the three competitions.
Thanks to both a huge total of points already collected plus by far the highest maximum possible points remaining available to them, the Premier League will almost surely finish atop the coefficient standings.
This season-long storm is being led by the five Champions League participants, four of whom finished in the top eight of the league phase to earn a bye to the Round of 16, while Newcastle United round out the five after finishing 12th.
MORE: List of teams through to Champions League knockout phase
How is the fifth Champions League place determined?
UEFA uses its club coefficient ranking to determine who to award the additional Champions League places to each season. The system is based off each country’s performance in Europe the previous season, averaged by the number of clubs participating.
From the group stage on, a win is worth two coefficient points, while a draw earns one. If a match goes to extra-time, the result at the end of the 120 minutes is logged, regardless of the penalty shootout winner.
There are also bonus points for reaching particular rounds of competition. In addition, as of the 2024/25 season, bonus points are awarded for those clubs playing in the Champions League as opposed to the other two. There is a more detailed breakdown of this below.
Points gained by all clubs in a given association are added together, and then divided by the number of clubs participating in Europe that season to give an average.
Once the qualifying positions are awarded, the clubs to take the positions are the highest in the league table not to have qualified via other means.
UEFA club coefficients rankings 2025/26
As it stands, England would earn one extra Champions League place while Portugal would earn the other. However, that’s not likely to stand for long.
Clubs with many qualifying clubs in European play suffer what looks like a penalty, as their average score is divided amongst more participants. However, as the season plays out, those countries also have more opportunities to gain points, so the cream usually rises to the top in the end.
Projected table for UEFA Champions League extra qualifier
The table below ranks all European leagues based on UEFA coefficient score in 2025/26 competitions. The table is ranked by max possible score, showing the teams most likely to finish at the top of the rankings by the end of the season.
The current average column shows where the clubs would stand if the season ended today, but as explained above, this is not always the best identifier of the eventual finish.
Figures updated as of February 10, 2026, via UEFA. Max score via BBC.
| Rank | Country | Points | Participants (Active) | Current average | Max possible score |
| 1. | England | 20.958 | 9 (9) | 20.958 | 35.069 |
| 2. | Italy | 15.500 | 7 (6) | 15.500 | 32.571 |
| 3. | Portugal | 16.600 | 5 (4) | 16.600 | 31.100 |
| 4. | Germany | 16.214 | 7 (6) | 16.214 | 31.071 |
| 5. | Greece | 12.100 | 5 (4) | 12.100 | 29.300 |
| 6. | Spain | 15.531 | 8 (6) | 15.531 | 29.218 |
| 7. | Poland | 13.625 | 4 (3) | 13.625 | 25.375 |
| 8. | France | 13.750 | 7 (5) | 13.750 | 24.678 |
| 9. | Cyprus | 11.906 | 4 (2) | 11.906 | 20.281 |
| 10. | Denmark | 11.750 | 4 (1) | 11.750 | 17.250 |
How does the UEFA coefficient points system work?
UEFA coefficient rankings are worked out based on the performances of each association (league) in European club competitions in a particular season.
Each league is awarded points based on how well their teams do in Europe, which are all added into a final total.
Points are awarded as follows:
| Achievement | UCL | UEL | UCoL |
| Win (League Phase and on) | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Draw (League Phase and on) | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| League Phase min* | 0 | 3 | 2.5 |
| Knockout round bonus (per round reached) | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.5 |
* Every club is guaranteed to earn the minimum bonus points even if their results earn fewer. Champions League participants do not earn a minimum, as their bonus points below guarantee such award.
In addition, the following bonus points were added to the mix in the 2024/25 season based on a club’s final position in each competition’s league phase:
| Rank | Champions League | Europa League | Conference League |
| 1 | 12 | 6 | 4 |
| 2 | 11.75 | 5.75 | 3.75 |
| 3 | 11.5 | 5.5 | 3.5 |
| 4 | 11.25 | 5.25 | 3.25 |
| 5 | 11 | 5 | 3 |
| 6 | 10.75 | 4.75 | 2.75 |
| 7 | 10.5 | 4.5 | 2.5 |
| 8 | 10.25 | 4.25 | 2.25 |
| 9 | 10 | 4 | 2 |
| 10 | 9.75 | 3.75 | 1.875 |
| 11 | 9.5 | 3.5 | 1.75 |
| 12 | 9.25 | 3.25 | 1.625 |
| 13 | 9 | 3 | 1.5 |
| 14 | 8.75 | 2.75 | 1.375 |
| 15 | 8.5 | 2.5 | 1.25 |
| 16 | 8.25 | 2.25 | 1.125 |
| 17 | 8 | 2 | 1 |
| 18 | 7.75 | 1.75 | 0.875 |
| 19 | 7.5 | 1.5 | 0.75 |
| 20 | 7.25 | 1.25 | 0.625 |
| 21 | 7 | 1 | 0.5 |
| 22 | 6.75 | 0.75 | 0.375 |
| 23 | 6.5 | 0.5 | 0.25 |
| 24 | 6.25 | 0.25 | 0.125 |
| 25 | 6 | — | — |
| 26 | 6 | — | — |
| 27 | 6 | — | — |
| 28 | 6 | — | — |
| 29 | 6 | — | — |
| 30 | 6 | — | — |
| 31 | 6 | — | — |
| 32 | 6 | — | — |
| 33 | 6 | — | — |
| 34 | 6 | — | — |
| 35 | 6 | — | — |
| 36 | 6 | — | — |
Which Premier League teams will qualify for Champions League?
The top two teams chasing the Premier League title, Arsenal and Manchester City, are considered almost virtual locks at this point to qualify for the Champions League next season. Aston Villa are also given an almost nine-in-10 chance to reach Europe’s top competition.
From there, the final two positions are wide open, with no team given over a 50 percent chance to secure a place.
Table updated as of all matches on February 10. Percent chance to reach Champions League via Opta.
| Pos | Club | Games | Pts | W-D-L | GD | % chance |
| 1. | Arsenal | 25 | 56 | 17-5-3 | +17 | 99.9% |
| 2. | Man City | 25 | 50 | 15-5-5 | +24 | 98.1% |
| 3. | Aston Villa | 25 | 47 | 14-5-6 | +9 | 89.5% |
| 4. | Chelsea | 26 | 44 | 12-8-6 | +17 | 42.5% |
| 5. | Man United | 26 | 44 | 12-8-6 | +9 | 31.27% |
| 6. | Liverpool | 25 | 39 | 11-6-8 | +5 | 26.7% |
| 7. | Brentford | 25 | 39 | 12-3-10 | +5 | 8.8% |
| 8. | Everton | 26 | 37 | 10-7-9 | -1 | 0.4% |
| 9. | Bournemouth | 26 | 37 | 9-10-7 | -2 | 1.1% |
