Here’s when West Ham will discover their last 16 Europa League opponents and who it could be as the Dublin carrot dangles.
In terms of incentives for West Ham to make this season’s Europa League final they don’t come much better than the fact it is being held in Dublin.
Certainly for the West Ham fans anyway.
In what would be the away day to end all away days, the Hammers are now just THREE ties from making that a reality.
And West Ham have both pedigree and experience in recent seasons when it comes to getting the job done in European knockout competition.
Dream Dublin carrot dangles
That dream final will be held on May 22nd 2024 at the 51,700 capacity Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
And that would mean thousands more West Ham supporters would be able to actually attend the game than the pathetic 6k permitted when UEFA chose a 20k seater stadium to host the Europa Conference League finale in Prague.
But how does it all work from here?
Here’s when West Ham discover last 16 opponents and who it could be as the Dublin carrot dangles.
Here’s when West Ham discover last 16 opponents
West Ham are through to the last 16 of European competition for the third consecutive season after the 2-0 win over Freiburg. That has also earned David Moyes’ side a three-month break from European games with the last 16 ties being played in March.
A two-legged round of 32 play-off will take place in February between Freiburg and the other seven Europa League teams who finished group runners-up against the eight teams dropping out of the Champions League.
That’s for the right to face West Ham and the other seven group toppers over two legs on March 7 and 14 2024.
Who could West Ham face in the last 16?
West Ham won’t be drawn against any of the other group toppers at the last 16 stage.
So they will face one of the victors from the play-offs which will pit the eight Champions League dropouts against the sides who finished second.
Teams cannot draw a club who are from the same country or a team who were in the same group as them.
That means West Ham will not face Freiburg in the last 16 should they make it through their play-off.
There are no English sides in the play-off round so that won’t be an issue for the Hammers.
Here are the 15 teams – minus Freiburg – who West Ham could face in March:
Galatasaray, Lens, Braga, Benfica, AC Milan, Feyenoord, Young Boys, Shakhtar Donetsk, Marseille, Sparta Prague, Sporting, Toulouse, Rennes, Roma or Qarabag.
When are the 2023/24 Europa League knockout round draws?
The 2023/24 UEFA Europa League knockout round play-off draw takes place on Monday 18 December.
Round of 16 draw: 23 February 2024
Quarter-finals and Semi-finals: 15 March 2024
What are the 2023/24 Europa League knockout stage dates?
Knockout round play-offs: 15 and 22 February 2024
Round of 16: 7 and 14 March 2024
Quarter-finals: 11 and 18 April 2024
Semi-finals: 2 and 9 May 2024
Final: 22 May 2024 (Dublin)
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