Sporting win in Norway could be key for Portugal in UEFA rankings | OneFootball

Portugal is very close to securing the sixth place in the UEFA ranking, a position that would allow the country to have three clubs in the Champions League in 2027/28 - two with direct entry into the league phase and a third in the preliminary rounds. Something for which Sporting will be key.

The explanation lies in how ranking points are awarded. Each victory in a European competition is worth two points for the country's coefficient. Since Portugal started the season with five clubs in UEFA competitions, those two points are divided by five, which would represent an increase of 0.400 in the national coefficient.

On the other hand, the Netherlands have only one club still in competition: AZ Alkmaar, which is competing in the Europa Conference League. Even in the most favorable scenario - winning all remaining games and adding qualification bonuses - the maximum they could add to the Dutch coefficient would be 2.583 points.

These points would be divided by the six Dutch teams that started the European season, which limits the growth of the country's coefficient. Thus, if Sporting wins in Norway, Portugal increases the lead and becomes mathematically unreachable by the Netherlands this season.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.