Gent vs West Ham facts

Gent's bid to go further than ever before in a major UEFA competition faces a stiff test as their UEFA Europa Conference League quarter-final brings them up against West Ham United, who have won all ten of their matches in the competition.

The Belgian Cup winners took second place in UEFA Europa Conference League Group F behind runaway section winners Djurgården, then overcame Qarabağ 5-3 on penalties in the knockout play-offs after two 1-0 home wins. New signing Gift Orban made his mark with the second-leg winner in that tie before scoring four of Gent's five goals in the round of 16 as they knocked out İstanbul Başakşehir (1-0 h, 4-1 a), including a remarkable second-leg hat-trick timed at three minutes and 25 seconds – the fastest ever recorded in UEFA club competition.

West Ham became the first team to gain maximum points in a UEFA Europa Conference League group when they won all six matches against FCSB, Silkeborg and Anderlecht during the autumn to top Group B, having also previously won both qualifying play-off matches against Viborg. The London side prolonged that perfect sequence by beating AEK Larnaca 2-0 away and 4-0 at home in the round of 16.

Previous meetings

The clubs' one previous tie was 59 years ago, in the first round of the 1964/65 European Cup Winners' Cup. It was not only West Ham's maiden European engagement, but also a first in UEFA competition for Gent, and it was the English side that prevailed, winning the first leg in Belgium 1-0 with a 51st-minute Ronnie Boyce header and securing further progress with a 1-1 home draw, Johnny Byrne scoring the decisive equaliser ten minutes after a 33rd-minute Martin Peters own goal. Ron Greenwood's side would go on to lift the trophy, beating 1860 München 2-0 in the final.

Gent's only other pairing with English opposition proved memorable as they beat West Ham's local rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the 2016/17 UEFA Europa League round of 32, winning the first home leg 1-0 before drawing the return 2-2 at Wembley Stadium with French striker Jérémy Perbet scoring the decisive goal in both games. Gent's head coach then, as now, was Hein Vanhaezebrouck.

West Ham have already faced Belgian opponents this season, beating Anderlecht on successive matchdays in the group stage (1-0 a, 2-1 h). They also took four points off Genk in their UEFA Europa League group last season (3-0 h, 2-2 a) and have an all-time record against Belgian opposition of W3 D3 L1, the sole defeat having come against Anderlecht in the final of the 1975/76 European Cup Winners' Cup, which they lost 4-2 in Brussels. Their record in Belgium is therefore W2 D1 L1.

Form guide

Gent

Gent won the Belgian Cup in 2021/22, beating Anderlecht 4-3 on penalties in the final after a goalless draw to lift the trophy for the fourth time and first since 2009/10. Vanhaezebrouck's side also finished fifth in the league and played 14 matches in the UEFA Europa Conference League, lasting from the second qualifying round to the round of 16, where they were eliminated by PAOK (0-1 a, 1-2 h).

Gent's first port of call in this European campaign – their club record-extending eighth in succession – was the UEFA Europa League qualifying play-offs, but they lost that tie to Omonoia, which meant a quick return to the UEFA Europa Conference League – their seventh season in European group stage football and fourth in a row. Despite losing twice to Djurgården (0-1 h, 2-4 a), they took four points off both Shamrock Rovers (3-0 h, 1-1 a) and Molde (0-0 a, 4-0 h) to edge into the runners-up spot by a point. Progress has since been maintained with those Orban-inspired wins against Qarabağ and İstanbul Başakşehir.

The Belgian club have reached only one previous major European quarter-final, in the 1991/92 UEFA Cup, where they were eliminated by Ajax (0-0 h, 0-3 a).

The second-leg win against Qarabağ was one of just two in Gent's eight springtime European home fixtures (D3 L3), the other that 1-0 victory against Tottenham six years ago. Their home record in all rounds of the UEFA Conference League is W7 D3 L2.

West Ham

Seventh in the 2021/22 Premier League, West Ham therefore ensured a second successive European campaign after going all the way to the semi-finals of last season's UEFA Europa League, a journey that took David Moyes' side past Sevilla and Lyon in the knockout phase before they were eliminated by eventual winners Eintracht Frankfurt (1-2 h, 0-1 a).

The Hammers had never played in a European group stage until last season, but they made it two in a row this term with that UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying play-off win against Viborg (3-1 h, 3-0 a) before again cruising through their section as they twice overcame FCSB (3-1 h, 3-0 a), Silkeborg (3-2 a, 1-0 h) and Anderlecht to end up ten points clear of the Belgian side. Cypriot side AEK Larnaca then provided further easy pickings in the round of 16.

Last season West Ham beat Lyon in the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals (1-1 h, 3-0 a), making their all-time record in the last eight of major UEFA competitions W4 L1. The sole aggregate defeat came against Dinamo Tbilisi in the 1980/81 European Cup Winners' Cup (1-4 h, 1-0 a).

West Ham have won all ten UEFA Europa Conference League fixtures and have been defeated just twice in their last 12 European away matches (W8 D2) – both in last season's UEFA Europa League knockout phase, against Sevilla (0-1) and Frankfurt.

Links and trivia 

Gent striker Laurent Depoitre spent two seasons in the English Premier League with Huddersfield Town (2017–19), scoring six goals in 56 appearances.

The Belgian club's captain Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe was a Norwich City player from 2014 to 2016, also playing on loan at Rotherham, while his team-mate Julien De Sart had brief spells in England with Middlesbrough (2015/16) and Derby County (2016/17 loan).

Kamil Piątkowski (Gent) and Łukasz Fabiański (West Ham) have played together for Poland, while Gent's Tarik Tissoudali and West Ham's Nayef Aguerd are Morocco team-mates.

Gent are one of three clubs, along with AZ Alkmaar and Basel, who were eliminated in last season's UEFA Europa Conference League round of 16 but have made it through to the quarter-finals this term. None of the 2021/22 quarter-finalists are involved again this season.

Gent are the only one of the eight UEFA Europa Conference League quarter-finalists whose 2022/23 European campaign began in the UEFA Europa League. All eight of the clubs that joined this competition after finishing third in their UEFA Europa League group have been eliminated.

West Ham are one of three UEFA Europa Conference League group winners to have reached the last eight, together with AZ and Nice.

Belgium is the only country with more than one club in the UEFA Europa Conference League quarter-finals, Anderlecht featuring alongside Gent.

Gent are undefeated in seven matches across all competitions, winning five of them, although they were held 1-1 at home in the Belgian First Division A by Union Saint-Gilloise at the weekend. That draw ended a four-game winning streak in which they scored 18 goals, nine of them from Orban.

West Ham were 1-0 winners away to Fulham on Saturday to ease their relegation worries in the Premier League, where they now sit 14th, four places and three points above the drop zone.

The winners of this tie will face Anderlecht or AZ in the semi-final.