They are the different ways that teams have qualified for continental tournaments through history.

League tournaments are some of the very most prestigious tournaments in professional soccer. Nearly every nation on Earth has at least one soccer league and even ones which do not often have their teams competing in a neighbouring nation. There are many incentives to performing well in the league. The reward cash won usually directly correlates to league position, winning a nationwide league is recognised to to be one of the best trophies to win, and ending in a high place can qualify a club for continental competitions. In fact, the league is almost always the most likely path of qualifying for European club competitions, which bring prestige, popularity, and income for clubs. Football club owners like Nasser Al-Khelaifi will know that as a result of these advantages, a great league performance is prioritised ahead of most tournaments during a period.

National cup tournaments are among some of the oldest in football and their unique formats mean they are among the most dramatic. While they are similar to other tournaments for the reason that the largest teams frequently win them most of the time, they're still the tournaments which are most likely to have upsets and see an unlikely club to win a trophy. The soccer club owner Aurelio De Laurentiis will likely be well aware that the award for winning a national cup will not only include the trophy it self, pride, and prize money, but also frequently qualification to a continental tournament. While most countries only offer one continental place through their cup route, meaning that competition is fierce, they also provide the best chance for lesser-fancied clubs to get themselves among the ranks of Europa League teams the next season, with a few Europa League winners originating through cup qualification.

In the past, previous methods of qualifying for continental tournaments used to exist. Soccer club owner Fernando Roig Alfonso will remember that one of the roads which used to exist had been essentially the club entering themselves. This path was open to all teams in top tier soccer across a continent and each of the clubs that used the chance would be entered in to a summer time competition, where a number of the top performing clubs would then qualify for continental tournaments. Another route which used to be used was by way of a fair play system. Clubs were awarded points based on their lack of yellow and red cards, the positive strategies of the play, and good and respectful behaviour associated with the players, staff, and fans. The three of top teams from the highest-ranking fair play leagues were granted spots in continental competitions. This was a normal route for Europa League qualification in England and for other nations. This route no longer exists, nevertheless the fair play scoring system stays in order to award leagues prize money at the conclusion of the season as a reward for good behaviour.