West Ham United will play FCSB and Anderlecht in the Europa Conference League this season
(Image credit: Getty)
West Ham United have learned their fate for the 2022/23 Europa Conference League.
The Irons are the only club without a point in the Premier League so far this season but are hoping that Thursday nights can kickstart their campaign and provide some much-needed distraction. This week, they qualified for the competition by beating Danish outfit Viborg 6-1 on aggregate to seal their place in the group stage.
And for their first appearance in the Europa Conference League, the Hammers have been handed a baptism of fire, drawing two of the most established names in the competition.
West Ham were dropped into Group B as one of the top seeds from Pot 1 before being joined by Romanian side, FCSB. The Ros-albastrii finished second in the league last season and won the European Cup back in 1991.
Joining them in Group B are Anderlecht, who Vincent Kompany managed last season. The Belgian side currently boast wonderkids such as Yari Verschaeren, Marco Kana and on loan pair, Sebastiano Esposito and Fabio Silva, the latter of whom will be familiar to West Ham fans from his time in the Premier League with parent employers, Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Danish side Silkeborg make up the four-team pool, following their third-placed finish in the Superliga last season. They are managed by former Aston Villa centre-back Kent Nielsen.
Despite the relative strength of the sides that David Moyes' team have been drawn against, the east Londoners will still feel confident that they will be able to fly through the group stage. Last season, West Ham made the Europa League semi-finals and will be hoping to go one better and lift a European trophy this time around.
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Scottish side Hearts also got a tricky task, with Mesut Ozil-aided Istanbul Basaksehir and Fiorentina in their group alongside Latvian side RFS.
You can see the entirety of the draw as it happened with our live blog.
(Image credit: Future)
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Mark White has been at on FourFourTwo since joining in January 2020, first as a staff writer before becoming content editor in 2023. An encyclopedia of football shirts and boots knowledge – both past and present – Mark has also represented FFT at both FA Cup and League Cup finals (though didn't receive a winners' medal on either occasion) and has written pieces for the mag ranging on subjects from Bobby Robson's season at Barcelona to Robinho's career. He has written cover features for the mag on Mikel Arteta and Martin Odegaard, and is assisted by his cat, Rosie, who has interned for the brand since lockdown.
