Real Betis 1-4 Chelsea: Every previous Conference League winner following 2025 final

UEFA's newest brainchild, the Conference League offers some 'lesser' European teams - at least the ones who cannot compete with the Champions League or Europa League outfits - the chance to hoist a continental trophy aloft.

There have now been four editions of Europe's third-tier tournament since the inaugural competition in the 2021-22 campaign, and while many unrecognisable teams are often in the pot for the draw, household names have come up trumps in each year.

Here, Sports Mole looks at every previous Conference League winner and what teams receive for triumphing in the tournament.

Who won the 2025 Conference League final?

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The 2024-25 Conference League final was won by Premier League giants Chelsea, who fought back from a goal down to ruthlessly dispatch Spanish outfit Real Betis in Wroclaw.

The showpiece event pitted Betis boss Manuel Pellegrini against his former protege Enzo Maresca, and the master momentarily outwitted the student when Abde Ezzalzouli drew first blood for the Verdiblancos.

However, Maresca and co would have the last laugh, as strikes from Enzo Fernandez, Nicolas Jackson, Moises Caicedo and Jadon Sancho saw Chelsea live up to their pre-tournament favourites tag and conquer the competition.

Who won the 2024 Conference League?

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Greek giants Olympiacos were the defending champions heading into the 2024-25 edition of the Conference League, having subjected Fiorentina to their second straight final defeat in the 2023-24 edition.

Thrylos had laid down a marker by thrashing Aston Villa 6-2 in the semis, although there was nothing doing between Olympiacos and Fiorentina in the first 90 minutes of their final in the former's native Athens.

However, with four minutes to go before a dreaded penalty shootout, the tournament's top scorer Ayoub El Kaabi headed in his 11th goal of the competition to propel Olympiacos to a historic 1-0 victory.

The Red-Whites became the first-ever Greek club to win a European trophy that night and qualified for the 2024-25 Europa League as a result, but they were beaten by Bodo/Glimt in the last 16 of the secondary tournament.

Who has won the Conference League most often?

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As the 2024-25 edition was only the fourth season of the Conference League, there is unsurprisingly yet to be a side that has won the title more than once, although there is already a team that has lost the most finals.

Prior to the 2023-24 final against Olympiacos, Fiorentina hearts were also broken in the 2022-23 showpiece match, where West Ham United's 2-1 victory represented the most famous night in the Irons' memory.

After Said Benrahma and Giacomo Bonaventura struck for their respective sides, Jarrod Bowen held his nerve in the 90th minute when one-on-one with Fiorentina goalkeeper Pietro Terracciano, as West Ham snapped a 43-year sequence without a major honour.

One year beforehand, the inaugural Conference League trophy went to Jose Mourinho's Roma, as a solitary Nicolo Zaniolo strike was enough for a 1-0 success over Arne Slot's Feyenoord.

What do you get if you win the Conference League?

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Just like the Europa League winners earning direct entry into the Champions League, the winners of the Conference League qualify for the league phase of Europe's secondary competition.

However, that was irrelevant in 2024-25, as Chelsea made it into the Champions League thanks to a fourth-placed finish in the Premier League, while Betis wound up in sixth in La Liga and will compete in the Europa League regardless.

Victory also brings obvious financial benefits, as the winners of the Conference League pocket a total of €7m (£5.8m) in prize money alone; also taking into account total match wins, league phase placements and the participation fee, Chelsea's total prize pot from the 2024-25 tournament stood at just over £20m when all was said and done.

List of all previous Conference League winners

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2025: Chelsea
2024: Olympiacos
2023: West Ham United
2022: Roma

Written by
Ben Knapton