West Ham face trips to Romania, Belgium and Denmark when representing the Premier League in this season’s Europa Conference League.
The Hammers eased into the Conference League group stages with a 6-1 win over Viborg, with the flurry of goals across both legs a far cry from their Premier League exploits so far this season.
David Moyes’ side are yet to score a goal in their defeats to Manchester City, Nottingham Forest and Brighton, and prop up the league table heading into the fourth weekend of action.
The Hammers will have six Conference League matches to navigate between 8 September and 3 November as they look to reverse their domestic fortunes, while matches against Romanian side FCSB, Anderlecht and Silkeborg are a world away from the “what could have been” Champions League group stages.
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West Ham harboured Champions League hopes until May last season, but a Europa League semi-final defeat to eventual winners Frankfurt ended that dream abruptly.
Meanwhile, Hearts face difficult meetings with Istanbul Basaksehir and Fiorentina in Group A, which is completed by Latvian outfit RFS, who knocked out Northern Ireland’s Linfield in dramatic circumstances.
Lowdown on West Ham and Hearts’ opponents
West Ham’s Group B opponents
FCSB – Second in Romanian league in 2021-22, the artists formerly known as Steaua Bucharest who won the European Cup in 1986 – although that is disputed after a controversial ruling.
Anderlecht – Third in Belgian First Division A in 2021-22, lost the Belgian Cup final to Gent. Uefa Cup winners in 1983.
Silkeborg – Third in the Danish Superliga last season, into their first European group-stage proper not counting the Intertoto Cup.
Hearts’ Group A opponents
Istanbul Basaksehir – Turkish champions in 2020, fourth last season. Beat Man Utd 2-1 in Champions League group stages in 2020-21 but lost other give group games.
Fiorentina – Seventh in Serie A in 2021-22, last played Champions League in 2010 and most recent Europa League campaign was run to round of 32 in 2016-17.
RFS – Latvian side who beat Linfield on penalties to reach group stages. Currently third in the Latvian league.
Hearts were a round away from the Europa League group stages, but FC Zurich – who join Arsenal in Group A in that competition – secured a 3-1 aggregate win over the Scottish side with a 1-0 victory at Tynecastle on Thursday night.
The tie was on a knife-edge until late in the second half, with Fabian Rohner scoring Zurich’s winner on the night in the 80th minute after Jorge Grant saw red for Hearts.
The Conference League at least offers Hearts an opportunity to traverse Europe, and after several Europa League near-misses the continent’s third-tier competition hands them their first group-stage campaign since the Uefa Cup in 2004-05.
Key dates
- Matchday 1: 8 September
- Matchday 2: 15 September
- Matchday 3: 6 October
- Matchday 4: 13 October
- Matchday 5: 27 October
- Matchday 6: 3 November
Individual match dates are TBC
Group stage draw in full
Group A
- Istanbul Basaksehir
- Fiorentina
- Hearts
- RFS
Group B
- West Ham
- FCSB
- Anderlecht
- Silkeborg
Group C
- Villarreal
- Napoli
- Austria Vienna
- Lech Poznan
Group D
- AZ Alkmaar
- Koln
- Nice
- Slovacko
Group E
- KAA Gent
- Hapoel Beer-Sheva
- Vaduz
- Dnipro
Group F
- FK Partizan
- Molde
- Shamrock Rovers
- Djurgardens
Group G
- Slavia Prague
- FC Cluj
- Sivasspor
- Ballkani
Group H
- FC Basel
- Slovan Bratislava
- Zalgiris Vilnius
- Pyunik
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