UEFA
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{{Infobox Organization
|name = Union of European Football Associations
|image = UEFA logo.svg
|caption =
|type = Sports organisation
|membership = [[List of men's national football (soccer) teams#UEFA .28Europe.29|53 national associations]]
|formation = [[15 June]], [[1954]]
|map = UEFA-Map.png
|mcaption = UEFA member associations are in green
|headquarters = [[Nyon]], [[Switzerland]]
|leader_title = [[President]]
|leader_name = [[Michel Platini]]
|website = http://www.uefa.com/
|language = [[English language|English]], [[German language|German]], [[French language|French]]
}}
The '''Union of European Football Associations''' ({{lang-fr|Union des associations européennes de football}}) is the administrative and controlling body for European [[football (soccer)|football]]. It is almost always referred to by its acronym '''UEFA''' (usually {{pronEng|juˈeɪ̪fə}}).
UEFA represents the national football associations of Europe, runs Europewide national and club competitions, and controls the prize money, regulations and media rights to those competitions. Several national football associations which are geographically in [[Asia]] or [[transcontinental country|mostly in Asia]] belong to UEFA rather than the [[Asian Football Confederation]] (AFC). These nations are [[Armenia]], [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], [[Kazakhstan]], [[Turkey]], [[Israel]], [[Cyprus]], [[Russia]] and [[Azerbaijan]] (Israel and Kazakhstan are former AFC members). [[Cyprus]] chose to be classed as a European football nation — it had the choice of Europe, Asia or Africa.
UEFA is one of the biggest of six continental confederations of [[FIFA]]. Of all the confederations, it is by far the strongest in terms of wealth and influence over the global game. Virtually all of the world's top players play in European leagues in part due to the salaries available from the world's wealthiest football clubs, particularly in [[Premier League|England]], [[Fußball-Bundesliga|Germany]], [[Serie A|Italy]] and [[La Liga|Spain]]. Many of the world's strongest national sides are in UEFA. Of the 32 available spots in the [[2006 FIFA World Cup]], 14 were allocated to UEFA national teams, and currently 14 of the top 20 teams in the [[FIFA World Rankings]] are UEFA members.
UEFA was founded on [[June 15]] [[1954]] in [[Basel]], [[Switzerland]] following discussions between the [[French Football Federation|French]], [[Italian Football Federation|Italian]] and [[Belgian Football Association|Belgian FA]]s. The headquarters was in Paris until 1959 when the organization moved to [[Bern]]. [[Henri Delaunay]] was the first General Secretary and [[Ebbe Schwartz]] the [[List of Presidents of UEFA|president]]. Its administrative center since 1995 is in [[Nyon]], [[Switzerland]]. It was initially made up of 25 national associations. Currently there are 53 associations (see the bottom of this page or ''[[List of national football teams#UEFA .28Europe.29|List of UEFA national football teams]]'').
UEFA, as a representative of the national associations, has had a number of bruising clashes with the [[European Commission]]. In the 1990s the issues of television rights and especially international transfers (the [[Bosman ruling]]) have had to undergo some major changes to remain in line with European law.
The current [[List of Presidents of UEFA|UEFA President]] is [[Michel Platini]].
== Competitions ==
=== Continental ===
The main competition for men's national teams is the [[UEFA European Football Championship]], started in 1958, with the first finals in 1960, and known as the European Nations Cup until 1964. UEFA also runs national competitions at [[European Under-21 Football Championship|Under-21]], [[European Under-19 Football Championship|Under-19]] and [[UEFA U-17 Championship|Under-17]] levels. For women's national teams, UEFA operates the [[UEFA Women's Championship]] for senior national sides and the [[UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship]] at under-19 level.
UEFA also organizes the [[UEFA/CAF Meridian Cup]] with [[Confederation of African Football|CAF]] for youth teams.
In [[futsal]] there is the [[UEFA Futsal Championship]].
=== Club ===
[[Image:UEFA members.svg|thumb|UEFA member countries by club competition entry entitlements, 2007/8]]
UEFA also runs the two main club competitions in Europe: the [[UEFA Champions League]] was first held in 1955, and was known as the European Champion Clubs Cup (or just European Cup) until 1991; and the [[UEFA Cup]], for national knockout cup winners and high-placed league teams, was launched by UEFA in 1971 as a successor to the [[Inter-Cities Fairs Cup]] (also begun in 1955 but not recognized by UEFA <ref name="official">{{cite web | url=http://www.uefa.com/competitions/supercup/news/kind=32/newsid=447085.html | title=List of European official clubs' cups and tournaments | work=uefa.com | accessdate=21 August| accessyear=2006}}</ref>). A third competition, the [[UEFA Cup Winners' Cup|Cup Winners' Cup]], started in 1960 and was absorbed into the UEFA Cup in 1999.
Only three teams <ref name="official"/> ([[Juventus F.C.|Juventus FC]], [[AFC Ajax]] and [[FC Bayern Munich]]) have [[UEFA_competition_records#List_of_teams_to_have_won_the_three_main_European_club_competitions|won each of the three competitions]] <ref name="official"/>, a feat that is no longer possible for any team that did not win the Cup Winners' Cup. There are currently ten teams throughout Europe that have won two of the three trophies; all have won the Cup Winners Cup, six require a win in the Champions League and four require a UEFA Cup win.
[[Juventus F.C.|Juventus]] is the only team in [[Europe]] to win all [[UEFA competition records|UEFA's official championships and cups]] <ref name="official"/>.
The [[European Super Cup|UEFA Super Cup]], which pits the winners of the Champions League against the winners of the UEFA Cup (previously the winners of the Cup Winners' Cup), came into being in 1973 <ref name="official"/>.
The [[UEFA Intertoto Cup]] is a summer competition, previously operated by several [[Central European]] football associations, which was relaunched and recognized as [[UEFA competition records|European official competition]] by UEFA in 1995 <ref name="official"/> as a qualifying competition for the UEFA Cup. Recently, UEFA launched the [[UEFA Regions Cup]], for semi-professional teams. UEFA also conducts the [[UEFA Women's Cup]] for women's club teams.
In futsal there is the [[UEFA Futsal Cup]].
The [[European/South American Cup]] was jointly organised with [[CONMEBOL]] between the [[UEFA Champions League|Champions League]] and the [[Copa Libertadores]] winners.
==UEFA World Cup Participation and Results==
The following UEFA members have competed in the following [[Football World Cup|FIFA World Cups]]. Teams are sorted by number of appearances.
;Legend
*<span style="background:gold">1st</span> – Champions
*<span style="background:silver">2nd</span> – Runners-up
*<span style="background:#CFAA88">3rd</span> – Third place
*4th – Fourth place
*SF – Semifinals (only in 1930, when no third-place match was held)<ref name="wc1930">There was no official World Cup Third Place match in 1930; The USA and Yugoslavia lost in the semi-finals. Currently, FIFA recognizes [http://www.fifa.com/associations/association=usa/countryInfo.html USA] as the third-placed team and [http://www.fifa.com/associations/association=srb/countryInfo.html Yugoslavia] as the fourth-placed team, using the overall records of the teams in the [http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=1/index.html 1930 FIFA World Cup].</ref>
*QF – Quarterfinals (1934–1938, 1954–1970, and since 1986: knockout round of 8; 1974–1978, second group stage, final 8)
*R2 – Round 2 (1982: second group stage, final 12; since 1986: knockout round of 16)
*R1 – Round 1
<br clear="all">
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! Team !! {{flagicon|Uruguay}}<br/>[[1930 FIFA World Cup|1930]] !! {{flagicon|Italy|1861}}<br/>[[1934 FIFA World Cup|1934]] !! {{flagicon|France}}<br/>[[1938 FIFA World Cup|1938]] !! {{flagicon|Brazil}}<br/>[[1950 FIFA World Cup|1950]] !! {{flagicon|Switzerland}}<br/>[[1954 FIFA World Cup|1954]] !! {{flagicon|Sweden}}<br/>[[1958 FIFA World Cup|1958]] !! {{flagicon|Chile}}<br/>[[1962 FIFA World Cup|1962]] !! {{flagicon|England}}<br/>[[1966 FIFA World Cup|1966]] !! {{flagicon|Mexico}}<br/>[[1970 FIFA World Cup|1970]] !! {{flagicon|West Germany}}<br/>[[1974 FIFA World Cup|1974]] !! {{flagicon|Argentina}}<br/>[[1978 FIFA World Cup|1978]] !! {{flagicon|Spain}}<br/>[[1982 FIFA World Cup|1982]] !! {{flagicon|Mexico}}<br/>[[1986 FIFA World Cup|1986]] !! {{flagicon|Italy}}<br/>[[1990 FIFA World Cup|1990]] !! {{flagicon|United States}}<br/>[[1994 FIFA World Cup|1994]] !! {{flagicon|France}}<br/>[[1998 FIFA World Cup|1998]] !! {{flagicon|South Korea}}{{flagicon|Japan}}<br/>[[2002 FIFA World Cup|2002]] !! {{flagicon|Germany}}<br/>[[2006 FIFA World Cup|2006]] !! Total
|-
|align=left| {{fb|Italy}} || || bgcolor="gold"|'''1st''' || bgcolor="gold"|'''1st''' || '''R1''' || '''R1''' || || '''R1''' || '''R1''' || bgcolor="silver"|'''2nd''' || '''R1''' || '''4th''' || bgcolor="gold"|'''1st''' || '''R2''' || bgcolor="#CFAA88"|'''3rd''' || bgcolor="silver"|'''2nd''' || '''QF''' || '''R2''' || bgcolor="gold"|'''1st''' || '''16'''
|-
|align=left| {{fb|Germany}}<small><sup>1</sup></small> || || bgcolor="#CFAA88"|'''3rd''' || '''R1''' || || bgcolor="gold"|'''1st''' || '''4th''' || '''QF''' || bgcolor="silver"|'''2nd''' || bgcolor="#CFAA88"|'''3rd''' || bgcolor="gold"|'''1st''' || '''QF''' || bgcolor="silver"|'''2nd''' || bgcolor="silver"|'''2nd''' || bgcolor="gold"|'''1st''' || '''QF''' || '''QF''' || bgcolor="silver"|'''2nd''' || bgcolor="#CFAA88"|'''3rd''' || '''16'''
|-
|align=left| {{fb|France}} || '''R1''' || '''R1''' || '''QF''' || || '''R1''' || bgcolor="#CFAA88"|'''3rd''' || || '''QF''' || || || '''R1''' || '''4th''' || bgcolor="#CFAA88"|'''3rd''' || || || bgcolor="gold"|'''1st''' || '''R1''' || bgcolor="silver"|'''2nd''' || '''12'''
|-
|align=left| {{fb|England}} || || || || '''R1''' || '''QF''' || '''R1''' || '''QF''' || bgcolor="gold"|'''1st''' || '''QF''' || || || '''R2''' || '''QF''' || '''4th''' || || '''R2''' || '''QF''' || '''QF''' || '''12'''
|-
|align=left| {{fb|Spain}} || || '''QF''' || || '''4th''' || || || '''R1''' || '''R1''' || || || '''R1''' || '''R2''' || '''QF''' || '''R2''' || '''QF''' || '''R1''' || '''QF''' || '''R2''' || '''12'''
|-
|align=left| {{fb|Sweden}} || || '''QF''' || '''4th''' || bgcolor="#CFAA88"|'''3rd''' || || bgcolor="silver"|'''2nd''' || || || '''R1''' || '''QF''' || '''R1''' || || || '''R1''' || bgcolor="#CFAA88"|'''3rd''' || || '''R2''' || '''R2''' || '''11'''
|-
|align=left| {{fb|Belgium}} || '''R1''' || '''R1''' || '''R1''' || || '''R1'''|| || || || '''R1''' || || || '''R2''' || '''4th''' || '''R2''' || '''R2''' || '''R1''' || '''R2''' || || '''11'''
|-
|align=left| {{fb|Serbia}}<small><sup>2</sup></small> || '''SF''' || || || '''R1''' || '''QF''' || '''QF''' || '''4th''' || || || '''QF''' || || '''R1''' || || '''QF''' || || '''R2''' || || '''R1''' || '''10'''
|-
|align=left| {{fb|Czech Republic}}<small><sup>3</sup></small> || || bgcolor="silver"|'''2nd''' || '''QF''' || || '''R1''' || '''R1''' || bgcolor="silver"|'''2nd''' || || '''R1''' || || || '''R1''' || || '''QF''' || || || || '''R1''' || '''9'''
|-
|align=left| {{fb|Hungary}} || || '''QF''' || bgcolor="silver"|'''2nd''' || || bgcolor="silver"|'''2nd''' || '''R1''' || '''QF''' || '''QF''' || || || '''R1''' || '''R1''' || '''R1''' || || || || || || '''9'''
|-
|align=left| {{fb|Russia}}<small><sup>4</sup></small> || || || || || || '''QF''' || '''QF''' || '''4th''' || '''QF''' || || || '''R2''' || '''R2''' || '''R1''' || '''R1''' || || '''R1''' || || '''9'''
|-
|align=left| {{fb|Netherlands}} || || '''R1''' || '''R1''' || || || || || || || bgcolor="silver"|'''2nd'''|| bgcolor="silver"|'''2nd''' || || || '''R2''' || '''QF''' || '''4th''' || || '''R2''' || '''8'''
|-
|align=left| {{fb|Switzerland}} || || '''QF''' || '''QF''' || '''R1''' || '''QF''' || || '''R1''' || '''R1''' || || || || || || || '''R2''' || || || '''R2''' || '''8'''
|-
|align=left| {{fb|Scotland}} || || || || || '''R1''' || '''R1''' || || || || '''R1''' || '''R1''' || '''R1''' || '''R1''' || '''R1''' || || '''R1''' || || || '''8'''
|-
|align=left| {{fb|Poland}} || || || '''R1''' || || || || || || || bgcolor="#CFAA88"|'''3rd''' || '''QF''' || bgcolor="#CFAA88"|'''3rd''' || '''R2''' || || || || '''R1''' || '''R1''' || '''7'''
|-
|align=left| {{fb|Bulgaria}} || || || || || || || '''R1''' || '''R1''' || '''R1''' || '''R1''' || || || '''R2''' || || '''4th''' || '''R1''' || || || '''7'''
|-
|align=left| {{fb|Romania}} || '''R1''' || '''R1''' || '''R1''' || || || || || || '''R1''' || || || || || '''R2''' || '''QF''' || '''R2''' || || || '''7'''
|-
|align=left| {{fb|Austria}} || || '''4th''' || || || bgcolor="#CFAA88"|'''3rd''' || '''R1''' || || || || || '''QF''' || '''R2''' || || '''R1''' || || '''R1''' || || || '''7'''
|-
|align=left| {{fb|Portugal}} || || || || || || || || bgcolor="#CFAA88"|'''3rd''' || || || || || '''R1''' || || || || '''R1''' || '''4th''' || '''4'''
|-
|align=left| {{fb|Croatia}}<small><sup>†</sup></small> || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || bgcolor="#CFAA88"|'''3rd''' || '''R1''' || '''R1''' || '''3'''
|-
|align=left| {{fb|Denmark}} || || || || || || || || || || || || || '''R2''' || || || '''QF''' || '''R2''' || || '''3'''
|-
|align=left| {{fb|Republic of Ireland}} || || || || || || || || || || || || || || '''QF''' || '''R2''' || || '''R2''' || || '''3'''
|-
|align=left| {{fb|Norway}} || || || '''R1''' || || || || || || || || || || || || '''R1''' || '''R2''' || || || '''3'''
|-
|align=left| {{fb|Northern Ireland}} || || || || || || '''QF''' || || || || || || '''R2''' || '''R1''' || || || || || || '''3'''
|-
|align=left| {{fb|Turkey}} || || || || || '''R1''' || || || || || || || || || || || || bgcolor="#CFAA88"|'''3rd''' || || '''2'''
|-
|align=left| {{fb|Ukraine}}<small><sup>‡</sup></small> || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || '''QF''' || '''1'''
|-
|align=left| {{fb|Slovenia}}<small><sup>†</sup></small> || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || '''R1''' || || '''1'''
|-
|align=left| {{fb|Greece}} || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || '''R1''' || || || || '''1'''
|-
|align=left| {{fb|East Germany}}<small><sup>+</sup> || || || || || || || || || || '''QF''' || || || || || || || || || '''1'''
|-
|align=left| {{fb|Wales}} || || || || || || '''QF''' || || || || || || || || || || || || || '''1'''
|-
|align=left| {{fb|Israel}}* || || || || || || || || || '''R1''' || || || || || || || || || || '''1'''
|-
! Total !! 4 !! 12 !! 12 !! 6 !! 12 !! 12 !! 10 !! 10 !! 9* !! 9 !! 10 !! 14 !! 14 !! 14 !! 13 !! 15 !! 15 !! 14 !! 32
|}
<small><sup>1</sup> '' Made 10 appearances as {{flagicon|FRG}}[[West Germany national football team|West Germany]]<sup>+</sup> from 1950 to 1990</small>''<br>
<small><sup>2</sup> '' Made 8 appearances as {{fb|SFR Yugoslavia}}<sup>+</sup> from 1930 to 1990, 1 as {{flagicon|SCG}} [[FR Yugoslavia national football team|Yugoslavia FR]]<sup>+</sup> from 1994 to 2002, and 1 as {{flagicon|SCG}} [[Serbia and Montenegro national football team|Serbia & Montenegro]]<sup>+</sup> in 2006</small>''<br>
<small><sup>3</sup> '' Made 8 appearances as {{fb|TCH}}<sup>+</sup> from 1930 to 1994</small>''<br>
<small><sup>4</sup> '' Made 7 appearances as {{fb|URS}}<sup>+</sup> from 1930 to 1990</small>''<br>
<small><sup>†</sup> '' Was part of {{fb|SFR Yugoslavia}}<sup>+</sup> from 1930 to 1990</small>''<br>
<small><sup>‡</sup> '' Was part of {{fb|URS}}<sup>+</sup> from 1930 to 1990</small>''<br>
''* <small> Israel qualified as a member of [[Asian Football Confederation|AFC]]</small>''<br>
<small><sup>+</sup> '' team and national federation no longer exist</small>''
*NOTE: FIFA considers Germany to carry West Germany's record; Serbia to carry Serbia and Montenegro, Yugoslavia FR, and Yugoslavia's records; Czech Republic to carry Czechoslovakia's record; and Russia to carry USSR's record.<ref>{{PDFlink|[http://www.fifa.com/infoplus/IP-201_08A_FWC-alltimeranking.pdf alltime ranking of worldcup participants]}} www.fifa.com, February, 5th, 2007</ref>
*[[Football Association of Montenegro|Montenegro]] applied for membership in UEFA and FIFA on [[30 June]] 2006, was admitted to UEFA on [[26 January]] [[2007]], and was admitted to FIFA on [[31 May]] 2007.
Women's Qualifiers [http://www.uefa.com/competitions/wowc/Standings/index.html]
== See also ==
*[[UEFA Club Football Awards]]
*[[UEFA coefficients]]
*[[UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll]]
*[[UEFA Jubilee Awards]]
*[[UEFA Stadia List]]
*[[UEFA competition records]]
*[[UEFA Celebration Match]]
*[[UEFA Champions League]]
*[[UEFA Cup]]
*[[UEFA Super Cup]]
*[[UEFA Cup Winners' Cup]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
== External links ==
{{commonscat}}
*[http://www.uefa.com/ UEFA homepage]
{{fb start}}
{{International football}}
{{UEFA associations}}
{{UEFA teams}}
{{International women's football}}
{{UEFA women's teams}}
{{International club football}}
{{UEFA leagues}}
{{International futsal}}
{{International Beach Soccer}}
{{fb end}}
[[Category:UEFA| ]]
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