Turkey competes with Scotland and Czechia for a top 10 spot in UEFA country coefficient rankings
A fierce battle is underway between Turkey, Scotland, and Czechia to secure a direct spot in the UEFA Champions League.
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Countries that finish in the top 10 of the UEFA country coefficient rankings this season will earn the right to send a team directly to the Champions League in the 2025-2026 season.
As the group stages of the Champions League, Europa League, and Europa Conference League have concluded this season, Turkey currently sits in 9th place with 37.1 points, followed by Scotland in 10th with 35.85 points, and Czechia in 11th with 34.55 points.
Turkey has 2 teams, Scotland has 1, and Czechia has 3
Turkey, which started the season with 4 teams and entered the group stages with 3, will be represented by Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe in the upcoming knockout rounds.
While Galatasaray has advanced to the play-off round for the round of 16 in the Europa League, Fenerbahçe will compete directly in the round of 16 of the Europa Conference League.
In Scotland, which began its European journey this season with 5 teams, only Rangers earned the right to continue after the group stages. Rangers, who finished their group as leaders in the Europa League, will head directly to the round of 16.
In Czechia, which continues with only one team eliminated, Slavia Prague and Sparta Prague will feature in the Europa League, while Viktoria Plzen will compete in the Europa Conference League. Slavia Prague and Viktoria Plzen will head directly to the round of 16, while Sparta Prague will compete in the play-off round.
Turkey is 3 wins ahead of Scotland and 5 wins ahead of Czechia
In the competitions, 2 points are awarded for a win and 1 point for a draw, and the points earned are divided by the total number of teams representing the country in the tournaments.
Accordingly, while each win is worth 0.5 points for Turkey and Czechia, which entered the season with 4 teams each, the value is 0.4 points for Scotland, which participates in the tournaments with 5 teams.
In this context, the point difference between Turkey and Scotland in the rankings corresponds to 3 wins, while the point difference between Turkey and Czechia corresponds to 5 wins.
Turkey's best performance in the last 21 years
Turkey, which remained between 10th and 12th place in the country coefficient rankings for a long time, had dropped to 20th place in the 2021-2022 season.
In addition to Russia's exclusion from the tournaments over the last two seasons, the successful results achieved particularly by Başakşehir, Fenerbahçe, and Galatasaray have moved Turkey back up the rankings.
Turkish teams, which finished last season in 12th place, have settled into 9th place with their performance this season.
If Turkish teams maintain their 9th place position until the end of the season, they will have achieved their best performance in the last 21 years.
Turkey finished the 2001-2002 season in 8th place.
The point standings for 8th to 12th place in the UEFA country coefficient rankings following the conclusion of the group stages are as follows: