Belgium - First Division A

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The Belgian First Division A, or Jupiler Pro League for sponsorship reasons, is Belgium’s top-tier football league. It was founded in 1895 and is run by the Royal Belgian Football Association.

The Belgian top-flight is played yearly by 18 teams, following a relegation-promotion system like most leagues in Europe. Only one team is relegated to the Belgian First Division B after the 30 regular-season games are played.

Each of the 18 teams competing in the Pro League hosts every other team once in the regular season. In the end, a total of 34 matches are played between August and April. Three points are awarded for a win while a draw attracts one point. No point is given for a loss.

Teams are ranked by total number points accumulated, and then by total wins and finally by goal difference. If teams are still level, the number of scored goals, number of away goals and number of away wins are used to make the split. A test-match played over two legs is the last resort if the final order in the standings cannot be determined. A championship playoff phase is then played from May.

The championship is determined by a complicated playoff system. The six top-ranked clubs enter this stage with their points being halved prior to the ten playoff games. The team that wins the most points during this playoff, added by the halved points from the regular season, wins the title.

The winner of the competition is guaranteed a spot in the Group stage of the UEFA Champions League, while the runner up gets to play the preliminary stages of the competition. There are three more spots available for the UEFA Europa League: one that will go to the third-best team in the competition, and two more that will see Belgian teams fighting for a spot in the preliminary rounds.