FIFA Affiliated Confederation: Union Of European Football Associations, UEFA

FIFA Affiliated Confederation: Union of European Football Associations, UEFA

The Union of European Football Associations, UEFA, is one of the six continental confederations of world football’s governing body, Fédération Internationale de Football Association, FIFA.

It plans, organises and oversees the administration of football, futsal and beach soccer in Europe, Israel, which is geographically located in Asia, as well as in the Euroasian transcontinental countries of Russia, Turkey, Cyprus, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, and Kazakhstan.

BRIEF HISTORY

The birth of UEFA was initiated by three soccer-loving gentlemen, Dr Ottorino Brassi, Henri Delaunay, and Jose Crahay.

While Dr Ottorino Brassi was the former secretary and president of Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio, FIGC, Henri Delaunay and Jose Crahay were prominent members of football federations in their countries, France and Belgium, respectively.

The Union of European Football Associations, UEFA, was formally founded in Basel, Switzerland, on 15 June 1954, barely one month after FIFA’s 50^th anniversary, and just A day to the take-off of the 1954 World Cup held in Switzerland.

A total of 31 member associations were said to be involved in that epoch-making event.

Though UEFA was founded in Basle, Switzerland, its first headquarters was in Paris, France, from where it relocated to Bern, Switzerland in 1960.

After more than three decades in Bern, UEFA’s headquarters moved finally to Nyon, a small town in Western Switzerland, on the shores of Lake Geneva, where it is at this present moment.

Union of European Football Associations logo

MEMBERSHIP

The Union of European Football Associations, UEFA, had 25 European football associations at the beginning, but with the break-up of the Soviet Union and some other major Eastern European blocks, that number doubled.

And today, there are 55 registered football associations under UEFA.

Below is the list of the 55 member-associations of the Union of European Football Associations, UEFA, with their country code:

ALB Albania

AND Andorra

ARM Armenia

AUT Austria

AZE Azerbaijan

BLR Belarus

BEL Belgium

BIH Bosnia and Herzegovina

BUL Bulgaria

CRO Croatia

CYP Cyprus

CZE Czech Republic

DEN Denmark

ENG England

EST Estonia

FRO Faroe Islands

FIN Finland

FRA France

GEO Georgia

GER Germany

GIB Gibraltar

GRE Greece

HUN Hungary

ISL Iceland

ISR Israel

ITA Italy

KAZ Kazakhstan

KOS Kosovo

LVA Latvia

LIE Liechtenstein

LTU Lithuania

LUX Luxembourg

MLT Malta

MDA Moldova

MNE Montenegro

MKD North Macedonia

NIR Northern Ireland

NOR Norway

POL Poland

POR Portugal

IRL Republic of Ireland

ROU Romania

RUS Russia *

SMR San Marino

SCO Scotland

SRB Serbia

SVK Slovakia

SVN Slovenia

ESP Spain

SWE Sweden

SUI Switzerland

TUR Turkey

UKR Ukraine

WAL Wales

NB: Because of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, FIFA and UEFA suspended all Russian national representative teams and club teams from any FIFA and UEFA competitions, hence the name ‘Russia’ is asterisked above.

COMPETITIONS

List of some of the association football competitions organized by UEFA.

UEFA European Championship

UEFA Nations League

UEFA European Under-21 Championship

UEFA European Under-19 Championship

UEFA European Under-17 Championship

UEFA Futsal Championship

UEFA Under-19 Futsal Championship

UEFA Champions League

UEFA Europa League

UEFA Europa Conference League