How Rangers' fearless Europa League run effects Scottish coefficient - UEFA rankings paint a bleak picture
Scotland’s chances of finishing in the top 12 of UEFA’s ranking are over after results elsewhere in Europe
Rangers’ Europa League heroics this season will NOT be enough to prevent Scotland’s slide down the coefficient table - with results elsewhere across ending the nations chances of finishing in the top 12 of UEFA’s rankings.
The Ibrox club stunned Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce side in Istanbul, running out 3-1 winners in the first leg of their last-16 tie to leave them in pole position to reach the quarter-finals.
Despite that victory, Molde’s 3-2 win over Legia Warsaw proved the nail in the coffin, meaning Scotland can no longer mathematically catch Norway in 12th position. And the impact of dropping from 11th to outside the top 12 is hugely significant for almost every club in Scotland, barring Celtic and Rangers.
That is because it means the third entrant – initially the Scottish Cup winners – will no longer have the guaranteed prize of at least Conference League league phase football from next year onwards and for entry into European qualifiers in August 2026. There’s NO change for this season’s Scottish Cup winners, ensuring they will still enter into the Europa League playoff round in August; and if they lose it, will drop straight into the Conference League league phase without having to face a qualifier.
The entry spot only goes to the team in third place if Celtic win the Scottish Cup. As things stand, Dundee United currently occupy that position in the Premiership table and will be hoping Brendan Rodgers’ side retain the trophy in May. For Scotland to have a club outside the top two qualifying for the League phase in 2026/27, that team must win at least one qualifying round.
Rangers’ shock victory in Istanbul added 0.4 coefficient points to Scotland’s overall total, but no prize money. The Light Blues will only receive the €2.5m payment if they advance to the quarter-final stage next week. Remarkably, it’s only the fifth time in history that a Scottish team has won three or more European games abroad in a single season (excluding qualifiers), with the Govan outfit winning away at Malmö and Nice in the league phase.
Two of the other five occasions were in the continents’ second tier competition; Rangers in the 2020/21 Europa League under Steven Gerrard and Celtic’s memorable run to the UEFA Cup final in 2003.
Interim Gers boss Barry Ferguson will have fixture rescheduling to contend with should his players finish the job against the Turkish giants at Ibrox next week. If successful, they will face either Roma or Athletic Bilbao, with the home leg at home first on Thursday April 10 - unless Rangers, Roma and Lazio all progress.
In that situation, Roma’s games would be reversed (as they finished lower in the Europa League table than Lazio) - meaning Rangers would benefit by instead playing the away fixture first and the second leg at home, to avoid the clash in Rome.