The 2023 UEFA Europa Conference League final was the final match of the 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League, the second season of Europe's tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA. The match was played at the Fortuna Arena in Prague, Czech Republic, on 7 June 2023, between Italian club Fiorentina and English club West Ham United.
West Ham United won the match 2–1 for their first UEFA Europa Conference League title. As winners, they qualified for the group stage of the 2023–24 UEFA Europa League.
Teams
Venue
The Fortuna Arena previously hosted the 2013 UEFA Super Cup, as well as four matches at the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, including the final.
Host selection
A bidding process was launched by UEFA to select the venues of the finals of the UEFA Europa Conference League for both 2022 and 2023. Associations interested in hosting one of the finals had until 20 February 2020 to submit bid dossiers.
The decision was originally scheduled to be made by the UEFA Executive Committee during their meeting on 3 December 2020. However, UEFA later decided to reopen the bidding process after appointing the host for the 2022 final only. Member associations had until 30 September 2021 to confirm their intention to submit a bid, while the bids must be submitted by 23 February 2022. Six associations expressed interest in hosting the final.
The UEFA Executive Committee appointed the Fortuna Arena as the host during their meeting in Vienna, Austria, on 10 May 2022.
Road to the final
Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).
Pre-match
Identity
The original identity of the 2023 UEFA Europa Conference League Final was unveiled at the group stage draw on 26 August 2022.
Ambassador
The ambassador for the final was former Czech international Vladimír Šmicer, who won the 2000–01 UEFA Cup and 2004–05 UEFA Champions League titles with Liverpool.
Ticketing
With a stadium capacity of 18,000 for the final, a total amount of 13,000 tickets were available to fans and the general public, with the two finalist teams receiving 5,000 tickets each, and with the other tickets being available for sale to fans worldwide via UEFA.com from 21 to 28 April 2023 in four price categories: €125, €85, €45, and €25. Accessibility tickets for disabled spectators cost €25. The remaining tickets were allocated to the local organising committee, national associations, commercial partners, and broadcasters, and to serve the corporate hospitality programme.
Violence
Police arrested more than 30 people after a group of West Ham fans were attacked by Italian Ultras dressed in black. The violence erupted in the morning of 7 June 2023 in the Old Town Square area of Prague. Police said the men were wearing face coverings and carrying chains and other weapons.
Match
Summary
First half
West Ham started quickly as Lucas Paquetá played a pass into Michail Antonio, but his shot was easily saved by Pietro Terracciano. Shortly after, Fiorentina's Rolando Mandragora unleashed a shot from distance that was well wide. Fiorentina caught a break after Declan Rice's shot was just wide of the post following a long throw that the Italians failed to clear. Fiorentina began to control the tempo from this point, and had a chance when Nikola Milenković's header went over the bar from a corner. Saïd Benrahma went down near the edge of the Fiorentina box, but instead of drawing a free kick for the Hammers, he received the first yellow card of the match for simulation.
Ten minutes before the halftime whistle, the match was halted when Fiorentina captain Cristiano Biraghi was hit by cups and other objects thrown by the West Ham fans. Biraghi was bleeding from the back of his head, but after receiving medical treatment he continued to play. Fiorentina won successive corners, but West Ham dealt with them and prevented Fiorentina from capitalizing. Tomáš Souček had a header in the box cleared by Luca Ranieri near the end of the half. Fiorentina had the best chance of the half right before the halftime whistle. Alphonse Areola pushed a header from Christian Kouamé onto the post, where it fell to Luka Jović, who got enough on his header from the rebound and Areola could not prevent it going over the line. However, Jović was in an offside position when Kouamé touched the ball, and the goal was quickly disallowed. Both teams went into halftime having created few chances, but Fiorentina had dominated possession, looked the better team, and very nearly secured the lead.