The Europa League league phase opened on Wednesday with nine of its 18 first-round matches, and the night's biggest coefficient story came from Yerevan. Sparta Praha won 4-1 at Ararat-Armenia, which lifted Czechia to 45.125, exactly level with Poland. Czechia now sit 10th in the UEFA country ranking because they have the better score this season. Poland had no reply: Jagiellonia took the lead at Olympiakos and lost 2-1.
Country ranking: a tie at 45.125
Last week we asked whether Poland could hold tenth with two clubs left against four for Czechia. The first answer came on the opening night. Sparta's win was worth 0.400 to Czechia, who entered five clubs, and took their five-year total from 44.725 to 45.125. Poland stayed on 45.125 after Jagiellonia's defeat.
When two associations are level, UEFA ranks the one with the higher coefficient in the most recent season first. Czechia have 3.300 in 2026-27 and Poland 3.000, so Czechia move up to 10th and Poland drop to 11th. Greece closed in as well: Olympiakos' comeback added 0.400 and left them on 44.612, 0.513 behind the pair.
Turquie
Tchéquie
Pologne
Grèce
Norvège
Danemark
ChypreCzechia and Poland are level on points. Czechia rank higher on their 2026-27 score, 3.300 against 3.000.
Further down, Croatia moved up to 20th past Sweden. Dinamo Zagreb's goalless draw with Hapoel Be'er Sheva, played in Bucharest, added 0.250 and took Croatia to 25.906, ahead of Sweden's 25.750. Cyprus made the biggest single gain of the night: Cyprus entered only four clubs, so Omonia's win was worth 0.500.
Chypre
FranceTchéquieGrèce
Portugal
Allemagne
Croatie
Israël
Angleterre
AutrichePoints won (2 for a win, 1 for a draw) divided by the number of clubs each association entered, cut to three decimals.
Club ranking: Benfica into the top 20
In the club coefficient a league-phase win is worth two points and a draw one. Six clubs passed someone on Wednesday.
All nine results
Matchday 1, Wednesday 16 September 2026. Home side on the left.
Six things from the night
- Two goals in two minutes. Tobias Kvalvagnes Guddal scored in the 20th and 22nd minutes in Yerevan, and Sparta never looked back on the way to 4-1.
- A late winner worth half a point. Jure Balkovec scored in the 88th minute to give Omonia a 1-0 win over Celta Vigo. With four entrants, a Cypriot win is worth 0.500, more than a win for any five-club country.
- A comeback in Piraeus. Szmyt put Jagiellonia ahead after 20 minutes, González equalised before half-time and Yaremchuk won it for Olympiakos in the 84th minute.
- Benfica won 2-0 at San Siro through Lukébakio and Kamiński, and passed Real Betis into the top 20 of the club ranking.
- Lyon scored twice in the first 22 minutes at Anderlecht and held on for 2-1.
- Two goalless draws that still counted. Sturm Graz and Rennes shared the points, and Dinamo Zagreb's 0-0 against Hapoel Be'er Sheva was enough to lift Croatia past Sweden.
The player ranking has started counting
Every goal above also feeds the European Player Coefficient, the player ranking on this site. It scores each player from what he actually does on the pitch (goals, assists, shots on target, key passes, duels, tackles) and weights it by the round and by the opponent's club coefficient. The formula is printed on the ranking page.
Guddal's two goals were worth 13.530 points from a single match, and Balkovec's winner 9.871. Across the last five seasons and all three competitions, Harry Kane leads the table on 595.467, ahead of Vinícius Júnior (581.935) and Kylian Mbappé (512.096). The 2026-27 Europa League table fills in as the rest of this week's matches are scored.
Thursday: Lech, Plzeň and OFI play
The other nine matchday 1 fixtures are on Thursday 17 September, and three of them involve the countries in the race for tenth. A Lech Poznań win is worth 0.400 to Poland, exactly what a Viktoria Plzeň win would add for Czechia, and an OFI win would do the same for Greece. Türkiye's Beşiktaş host Marseille on the same night.
Four of the nine matchday 1 fixtures on Thursday 17 September.
Results and scorers from UEFA's match reports, via the 2026-27 UEFA Europa League league phase page on Wikipedia. Coefficients from kassiesa.net (updated 16 September 2026, 22:59 CET) and this site's own database, as of 17 September 2026. Player values from this site's European Player Coefficient ranking on the same date.