West Ham United will face Dutch side AZ Alkmaar in the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League next month.
On Thursday night, a 4-1 quarter-final second leg win over Belgian outfit Gent saw West Ham book their place into a second consecutive European semi-final at the London Stadium, with David Moyes’ side winning 5-2 on aggregate.
Eyeing a place in June’s final against either Basel or Fiorentina, West Ham first must beat AZ Alkmaar over two legs and for a number of reasons, clubs in the French top flight of Ligue 1, such as Paris Saint-Germain, Marseille, Monaco and Olympique Lyonnais will also be hoping for a West Ham victory in the semi-finals.
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Currently, in UEFA’s rankings for UEFA coefficient points, France are the fifth highest ranked nation, with England, Spain, Germany and Italy the four countries ranked above them.
As reported by RMC (published by Get French Football News ), West Ham’s game with AZ has a big role to play in France’s ranking, with sixth-placed Netherlands narrowly behind them on the rankings.
Of the 12 sides in the European semi-finals, none are from France, with Nice exiting the Europa Conference League on Thursday night with a two-legged defeat to Swiss side Basel.
With France unable to pick up more ranking points in UEFA’s three club competitions this season, they are in danger of being overtaken by the Netherlands ranked in sixth.
France are currently on 61.164 ranking points, with the Netherlands closely behind on 59.900 points.
For the Dutch to overtake France, Alkmaar must win both legs against West Ham and then beat Fiorentina or Basel in the final, which would give them 1.400 points, enough for Netherlands to overtake France. If Alkmaar win the competition but do not win all three games, they would only get 1.200 points, not enough for the Dutch to overtake France.
This potential drop in rankings comes at a crucial time for France ahead of the new format for the UEFA Champions League, starting in the 2024/25 season. For that, the fifth-ranked nation gets four places in the competitions, including one in the preliminary rounds. However, sixth-placed only gets three spots, two of which are direct, meaning the game will have a big role.
Those at French clubs and connected to French domestic football will be hoping that West Ham beat AZ Alkmaar or at least do enough to stop them winning both legs next month.
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