European week 2, 2026/27: England’s eight from eight is a record
England won all three of its Europa League matches on 16 and 17 September and has now won its first eight group stage matches of 2026/27, more than any association has opened a season with since group play began in 1992/93. Spain, third in the ranking, lost both of its matches and took nothing, and Germany closed to within 1.698 of it. The second of a series, one after every European week.
The Europa League group stage opened on 16 and 17 September with 18 matches, and England won all three its clubs played: Sunderland 1:0 against AZ Alkmaar, Crystal Palace 4:0 against Lech Poznań and Bournemouth 2:1 at Real Sociedad. Six points took England’s total from 103.130 to 103.796 and its lead at the top to 15.207. Two places changed hands in the week: Czechia is now 10th and Poland 11th, level on 45.125, and Croatia is 20th ahead of Sweden.
Eight wins from eight
England has won its first eight group stage matches of the season: five in the Champions League on 8, 9 and 10 September, three in the Europa League this week. No association had opened a season with more than six since the group stage began in 1992/93. Italy in 2003/04 won the first six with four clubs and drew the next two on 1 October, and Poland in 2024/25 won the first six through Jagiellonia Białystok and Legia Warsaw. The other three are associations whose single entrant won every group match it played all season: AC Milan in 1992/93, Paris Saint-Germain in 1994/95 and Spartak Moscow in 1995/96, six each.
England entered nine clubs this season, so a win is worth 0.222 to its season coefficient and the eight have been worth 1.777. Nine clubs is also why the run is this long this early: England has had eight matches in ten days, where Milan’s six took from November to April.
Spain takes nothing, Germany closes to 1.698
Spain is the only association in the top eight that played and earned nothing. Celta Vigo lost 0:1 at Omonia and Real Sociedad lost at home to Bournemouth, so Spain stayed on 83.243. Germany took two points, Bayer Leverkusen beating Celje 2:0 and Hoffenheim losing 0:2 at OFI Crete, and the gap between third and fourth closed from 1.984 to 1.698.
Portugal won both of its matches, Benfica 2:0 at AC Milan and Torreense 2:1 at Lillestrøm: 0.800 on five clubs entered, the biggest gain of the week alongside Greece’s, for a total of 65.750, 3.403 behind France. Italy split its two, Juventus beating NEC Nijmegen 5:0 and Milan losing to Benfica. France took three points from three matches: Lyon won 2:1 at Anderlecht, Rennes drew 0:0 at Sturm Graz, and Marseille lost 1:4 at Beşiktaş, whose club coefficient of 15.500 is less than a third of Marseille’s 54.000, the widest ratio any winner overturned in the round.
Results, 16 September 2026 to 17 September 2026
points by association| Country | Rank | Played | Points | Season coeff. | Five-season total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 England | 1 | 3 | 6.000 | 7.055 | 105.574 |
 Greece | 10 | 2 | 4.000 | 5.400 | 45.812 |
 Portugal | 6 | 2 | 4.000 | 6.300 | 66.550 |
 France | 5 | 3 | 3.000 | 5.500 | 70.582 |
 Austria | 18 | 2 | 3.000 | 4.800 | 28.250 |
 Belgium | 7 | 2 | 2.000 | 5.200 | 60.850 |
 Czechia | 11 | 2 | 2.000 | 3.700 | 45.525 |
 Germany | 4 | 2 | 2.000 | 6.571 | 83.259 |
 Italy | 2 | 2 | 2.000 | 5.785 | 90.017 |
 Cyprus | 15 | 1 | 2.000 | 3.625 | 35.193 |
 Hungary | 17 | 1 | 2.000 | 3.875 | 28.312 |
 Türkiye | 9 | 1 | 2.000 | 6.100 | 51.275 |
 Croatia | 19 | 1 | 1.000 | 4.750 | 26.906 |
 Israel | 25 | 1 | 1.000 | 3.375 | 24.125 |
 Netherlands | 8 | 2 | 0.000 | 5.333 | 54.062 |
 Poland | 12 | 2 | 0.000 | 3.400 | 45.525 |
 Spain | 3 | 2 | 0.000 | 6.250 | 84.868 |
 Armenia | 33 | 1 | 0.000 | 2.625 | 15.812 |
 Bulgaria | 28 | 1 | 0.000 | 3.125 | 20.812 |
 Norway | 13 | 1 | 0.000 | 6.200 | 39.812 |
 Scotland | 20 | 1 | 0.000 | 2.300 | 26.450 |
 Slovenia | 26 | 1 | 0.000 | 1.375 | 22.843 |
Eight associations with nothing
Twenty-two associations had a club on the pitch and eight of them earned nothing. Spain and Poland lost both their matches, Poland’s Jagiellonia Białystok 1:2 at Olympiacos and Lech Poznań 0:4 at Crystal Palace. So did the Netherlands, AZ Alkmaar 0:1 at Sunderland and NEC Nijmegen 0:5 at Juventus. Celtic lost 1:3 at home to Ferencváros, Levski Sofia 0:1 to Red Bull Salzburg, Ararat-Armenia 1:4 to Sparta Prague, Celje 0:2 at Bayer Leverkusen and Lillestrøm 1:2 at home to Torreense.
The two draws gave a point to each side, and both mattered further down: Rennes and Sturm Graz 0:0, and Hapoel Be’er Sheva and Dinamo Zagreb 0:0. Croatia’s point, worth 0.250 on four clubs, took it to 25.906 and past Sweden on 25.750; Israel’s took it to 24.125, 0.212 behind Ukraine. Austria’s draw and Salzburg’s win in Sofia were worth 0.600 together, taking it to 28.250.
The places within reach
Czechia and Poland are level on 45.125 and Greece is 0.113 behind them on 45.012, after Olympiacos beat Jagiellonia 2:1 and OFI Crete beat Hoffenheim 2:0. All three entered five clubs, so a win is worth 0.400 to each, but they are not equally placed to take one: Poland has two clubs still playing, both in the Europa League, while Czechia has four and Greece four, each with one in the Champions League, two in the Europa League and one in the Conference League.
Below them the margins are smaller still. Croatia leads Sweden by 0.156 with two clubs left against Sweden’s one. Ukraine, Israel and Azerbaijan hold 23rd, 24th and 25th within 0.650 of each other, and each has exactly one club left, so one match decides each of those places.
Coefficients 2026/27
top 25 of 55| # | Country | Five-season total | Season |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | England | 105.574 | 7.055 |
| 2 | Italy | 90.017 | 5.785 |
| 3 | Spain | 84.868 | 6.250 |
| 4 | Germany | 83.259 | 6.571 |
| 5 | France | 70.582 | 5.500 |
| 6 | Portugal | 66.550 | 6.300 |
| 7 | Belgium | 60.850 | 5.200 |
| 8 | Netherlands | 54.062 | 5.333 |
| 9 | Türkiye | 51.275 | 6.100 |
| 10 ▲2 | Greece | 45.812 | 5.400 |
| 11 | Czechia | 45.525 | 3.700 |
| 12 ▼2 | Poland | 45.525 | 3.400 |
| 13 ▲1 | Norway | 39.812 | 6.200 |
| 14 ▼1 |  Denmark | 39.306 | 5.000 |
| 15 | Cyprus | 35.193 | 3.625 |
| 16 |  Switzerland | 30.700 | 3.750 |
| 17 ▲1 | Hungary | 28.312 | 3.875 |
| 18 ▲2 | Austria | 28.250 | 4.800 |
| 19 ▲3 | Croatia | 26.906 | 4.750 |
| 20 ▼1 | Scotland | 26.450 | 2.300 |
| 21 ▼4 |  Sweden | 26.250 | 1.750 |
| 22 ▼1 |  Romania | 25.125 | 2.125 |
| 23 |  Ukraine | 24.837 | 3.125 |
| 24 ▲2 |  Azerbaijan | 24.187 | 5.625 |
| 25 | Israel | 24.125 | 3.375 |
The next round, in October
There is no European football next week. The group stage resumes on 13 October with the second Champions League matchday, played on 13 and 14 October, and on 15 October the Europa League plays its second and the Conference League its first. Manchester United go to Atlético Madrid, Manchester City host Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid go to Roma, Lech Poznań host Bayer Leverkusen, Olympiacos go to Marseille, and Brighton & Hove Albion, the ninth English club and the only one yet to play a group match, open against Kauno Žalgiris. The next of these articles follows that round. The first is here.
Reading the numbers
Everything here is as the table stood on 17 September 2026, after the first matchday of the Champions League and of the Europa League and before the Conference League had begun; the ranking is provisional until May. A group stage win is worth two points to the association and a draw one, divided by the number of clubs it entered, which is why the same win is worth 0.222 to England, 0.400 to Greece and 0.500 to Cyprus. The record above counts matches and not clubs: it compares the opening run of an association’s group stage matches, in date order, across every season since 1992/93. The 2026/27 table and the club pages linked above carry the full figures.