A total of 145 teams from 51 of 52
UEFA member associations participated in the 2003–04 UEFA Cup (the exception being Azerbaijan which was suspended). The association ranking based on the
UEFA country coefficients was used to determine the number of participating teams for each association: Apart from the allocation based on the country coefficients, associations could have additional teams participating in the UEFA Cup, as noted below: • – Additional teams transferred from the UEFA Champions League • – Additional teams transferred from the UEFA Intertoto Cup • – Additional berth via Fair Play ranking
Distribution The following was the access list for this season. Due to the UEFA Cup title holder (
Porto) qualifying for the Champions League via their domestic league, the following changes to the access list were made: • The cup winners of association 15 and 16 (Austria and Switzerland) entered the UEFA Cup first round instead of the qualifying round. Due to the suspension of Azerbaijan, the following changes to the access list were made: • The cup winners of association 17 and 18 (Norway and Israel) entered the UEFA Cup first round instead of the qualifying round.
Teams The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round: • CW: Cup winners • CR: Cup runners-up • LC: League Cup winners • Nth: League position • PO: End-of-season European competition play-offs (winners or position) • IC: Intertoto Cup • FP: Fair play • CL: Relegated from the Champions League • GS: Third-placed teams from the group stage • Q3: Losers from the third qualifying round ;Notes ==Round and draw dates==