Which teams have qualified for UEFA Champions League group stage for the 2023/24 season?

The 2022/23 Champions League hasn’t even reached its climax yet but we already have a fairly clear picture about which clubs will be in the group stages of the 2023/24 Champions League.

The European club season has almost come to an end and, if we’re being brutally honest, it’s been a bit of a let-down in terms of title races in the so-called ‘top’ leagues, hasn’t it? Barcelona and Napoli had LaLiga and Serie A respectively wrapped up months ago, Manchester City winning the Premier League felt inevitable as soon as Arsenal slipped up once and, for all their considerable issues, Paris Saint-Germain never really looked like surrendering their lead in Ligue 1. Thank goodness for the Bundesliga.

Sevilla join the Champions League party

Of course, the identity of this season’s Champions League winners is still unknown, although City are overwhelming favourites to see off Inter to win the trophy for the first time in their history. Sevilla did what Sevilla do and won the Europa League for a quite frankly ridiculous seventh time against Roma, ending José Mourinho’s own perfect record in European finals. Oh, and we mustn’t forget about the Europa Conference League final, which will see West Ham take on Fiorentina.

But we will forget about the Europa Conference League for now, as, unlike the Champions League and Europa League finals, it will have no bearing on which teams will feature in the 2023/24 Champions League, which will be the last edition of the competition until a new format is introduced in 2024/25.

Which of the 32 spots are still to be decided?

You know the drill. 32 teams will take part in the group stages, with 26 spots already taken. The winners of this season’s Champions League automatically qualify for next year’s but City and Inter have already qualified anyway. Europa League winners Sevilla have taken the final automatic place, with the six remaining teams decided by the qualifying rounds, which will take place from June to August.

2023/24 Champions League group stage qualifiers by country

2023/24 Champions League group stage qualifiers by pot

Champions League pots explained

The 32 teams will be divided into eight groups of four, which will be composed of one team from each of the four pots, ensuring that all groups are roughly of the same standard. Clubs from the same country cannot be drawn to play against each other in the group stage.

Several teams don’t yet know which pot they are in because we don’t know the winner of this year’s Champions League or which teams will progress from qualification. The full pot list won’t be confirmed until the qualifying rounds finish in August.

Notable ins and outs

While most of the names above are the usual runners and riders, there are one or two that stand out, such as Newcastle United, who last qualified for the Champions League group stage in 2002/03, the same year French side Lens last featured. German side Union Berlin will be playing in the competition for the first time in their history after finishing fourth in the Bundesliga.

Among the biggest names to have missed out are six-time winners Liverpool, who reached three finals in five years from 2018 to 2022, and Juventus, who suffered a 10-point deduction in Serie A and lost at home to Milan in the penultimate league game of the season, which ended their challenge.