The winner of Belgium's top football league will once again qualify automatically for the UEFA Champions League — Europe's premier football competition — from the 2024-2025 season.
The news follows Belgian clubs' strong performance in this year's European competitions: Union Saint-Gilloise reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League (European football's second-most prestigious competition), while RSC Anderlecht and KAA Gent both reached the quarter-finals of the Conference League (Europe's third competition). All three clubs were eliminated earlier this week.
The strong showing means that Belgium's UEFA country ranking has risen five places over the course of this season, from thirteenth to eighth. Only teams from England, Spain, Germany and Italy — Europe's traditional footballing giants — have performed better than Belgian clubs in European competitions this season.
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However, Belgian clubs' relatively poor performance in last year's European tournaments means that, for the first time in many years, the winner of the Belgian Pro League will not qualify automatically for the Champions League this season. Instead, the league winner will enter the competition's qualifying round.
