Europa Conference League 2022/23: Group stage fixtures announced

West Ham found out their European schedule on Saturday as the fixtures for the Europa League 2022/23 group stage were announced.

With the World Cup to take place later in 2022, all of the games will be played between September and early November this time around, with the knockout phase to get underway in February of next year.

The draw for the Europa Conference League group stage was carried out on Friday in Istanbul; the final of this season's competition will be held at the Fortuna Arena in Prague.

Group A – Istanbul Basaksehir, Fiorentina, Hearts, RFS

After finishing third in their first season back in the Scottish Premiership, Hearts are appearing in the group stage of a European competition for the first time since 2004/05.

Robbie Neilson's side begin their campaign at home to Istanbul Basaksehir on Thursday September 8; their first away match takes them to Riga to face reigning Latvian champions RFS.

Group B – West Ham, FCSB, Anderlecht, Silkeborg

Playing in the Conference League for the first time, West Ham kick off their latest continental adventure at home to Romanian giants FCSB on Thursday September 8.

The Hammers then head to Denmark to take on Silkeborg on Thursday September 15, before another away trip to Anderlecht on on Thursday October 6 – followed by the return fixture at the London stadium seven days later.

David Moyes' side host Silkeborg on Thursday October 27 and finish up with a trip to Bucharest to face FCSB the following Thursday.

Group C – Villarreal, Hapoel Be'er Sheva, Austria Wien, Lech Poznan

Villarreal ought to be strong favourites in Group C as they make their Conference League debut.

Unai Emery's team – Europa League winners in 2020/21 and Champions League semi-finalists last season – have been drawn to play Polish champions Lech Poznan, Israel's Hapoel Be'er Sheva, and Austria Wien.

Group D – Partizan Belgrade, Koln, Nice, Slovacko

Having both finished within six points of Champions League qualification in their domestic leagues last season, Koln and Nice will fancy their chances of a strong Conference League campaign.

They're joined in Group D by Partizan Belgrade – runners-up in Serbia last term – and Czech outfit Slovacko.

Group E – AZ Alkmaar, Apollon Limassol, FC Vaduz, Dnipro-1

Group E contains two teams making their debuts in a European competition proper: Liecthenstein's FC Vaduz (who play in the Swiss top flight) and Dnipro-1 of Ukraine.

They'll vie with Cypriot champions Apollon Limassol and former UEFA Cup finalists AZ Alkmaar for a place in the knockout stage. 

Group F – Gent, Molde, Shamrock Rovers, Djurgarden

Reigning League of Ireland champions Shamrock Rovers are appearing in the group stage of a European competition for the first time in a decade.

They'll hope to fare better than they did back then, when they lost all six of their Europa League matches; they commence their Conference League campaign at home Sweden's Djurgaden, before facing Gent of Belgium and Molde of Norway.

Group G – Slavia Prague, CFR Cluj, Sivasspor, FC Ballkani

With their home stadium the venue, Slavia Prague shouldn't need any more motivation to reach the final of the Conference League.

The Czech giants face the 2021/22 champions of Romania and Kosovo in CFR Cluj and FC Ballkani, with Turkey's Sivasspor completing the Group G line-up.

Group H – Basel, Slovan Bratislava, Zalgiris, Pyunik

European regulars Basel face some intriguing opponents in Group H as they look to improve on their Conference League performance from last season, when they reached the last 16.

The 2021/22 Swiss Super League runners-up are joined in the group by the current champions of Slovakia (Slovan Bratislava), Lithuania (Zalgiris) and Armenia (Pyunik).