2025–26 Women's EHF Champions League

This article is about the men's competition. For the men's competition, see 2025–26 EHF Champions League.
Women's EHF Champions League
2025–26
Tournament information
SportHandball
DatesSeptember 2025–June 2026
Teams16
Websiteehfcl.com

The 2025–26 Women's EHF Champions League will be the 33rd edition of Europe's premier club handball tournament, running from September 2025 to June 2026.

Győri Audi ETO KC are the defending champions

Format

The tournament will use the same format as the previous seasons. The competition begins with a group stage featuring sixteen teams divided into two groups. Matches will be played in a double round-robin system with home-and-away fixtures, fourteen in total for each team. In Groups A and B, the top two teams automatically qualify for the quarter-finals, with teams ranked 3rd to 6th enter the playoff round.

The knockout stage include four rounds: the playoffs, quarter-finals, and a final-four tournament comprising two semifinals and the final. In the playoffs, eight teams will be paired against each other in two-legged home-and-away matches (third-placed in group A plays sixth-placed group B; fourth-placed group A plays fifth-placed group B, etc.). The four aggregate winners of the playoffs advance to the quarterfinals, joining the top-two teams of Groups A and B. The eight quarterfinalist teams will be paired against each other in two-legged home-and-away matches, with the four aggregate winners qualifying to the final-four tournament.

In the final four tournament, the semifinals and the final will be played as single matches at a pre-selected host venue.

Rankings

The rankings are based on the performances from the three most recent seasons.[1]

  • Associations 1–9 have their league champion qualify for the group stage and apply up to two wildcards.
  • The best-ranked association in the Women's EHF European League can have its league champion and runner-up qualified for the group stage and can apply for one wildcard.
  • Associations below the top 9 have their league champion apply for a wildcard.

Ranking facts

Teams

19 teams applied for a place, with nine having a fixed place.[3] The final list was announced on 24 June 2025.[4]

The fixed place for Russia was vacant since the country and its clubs were not admitted to participate in the EHF competitions due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[5]

On 5 August 2025, after previously monitoring HB Ludwigsburg's financial situation,[6] the EHF decided to disqualify them after they failed to raise enough funds to play in the Champions League. They would be replaced by Sola HK.[7][8]

Participating teams
Entry round Teams
Fixed spots Hungary Győri Audi ETO KC (1st) Norway Storhamar HE (1st) Denmark Team Esbjerg (2nd) Denmark Odense Håndbold (1st)
France Metz Handball (1st) Romania CSM București (1st) Slovenia RK Krim Mercator (1st) Montenegro OTP Group Budućnost (1st)
Wildcards Hungary FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria (2nd) Hungary DVSC Schaeffler (4th) Norway Sola HK (2nd) Denmark Ikast Håndbold (3rd)
France Brest Bretagne Handball (2nd) Romania CS Gloria Bistrița (3rd) Germany Borussia Dortmund (2nd) Croatia HC Podravka Vegeta (1st)
Rejected upgrades
Norway Tertnes HE (5th) Romania CS Minaur Baia Mare (4th)
Withdrawn
Germany HB Ludwigsburg (1st)

Group stage

Location of teams of the 2025–26 Women's EHF Champions League group stage.
Red: Group A; Blue: Group B.
Main article: 2025–26 Women's EHF Champions League group stage

The 16 teams were drawn into two groups of eight. The draw took place on 27 June 2025.[4][9]

In the group stage, teams were ranked according to points (2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). After completion of the group stage, if two or more teams have scored the same number of points, the ranking was determined as follows:

  1. Highest number of points in matches between the teams directly involved;
  2. Superior goal difference in matches between the teams directly involved;
  3. Highest number of goals scored in matches between the teams directly involved;
  4. Superior goal difference in all matches of the group;
  5. Highest number of plus goals in all matches of the group;
  6. Drawing of Lots

This season, nine national associations are present. Sola HK will make their debut this season. Borussia Dortmund made their return to the Champions League for the first time since 2021–22. Ikast Håndbold and DVSC Schaeffler return after a one edition absence.

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification STO MET GYO LUD ESB BIS BUD DEB
1 Norway Storhamar HE 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Quarterfinals —
2 France Metz Handball 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
3 Hungary Győri Audi ETO KC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Playoffs —
4 Germany Borussia Dortmund 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
5 Denmark Team Esbjerg 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
6 Romania CS Gloria Bistrița 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
7 Montenegro OTP Group Budućnost 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
8 Hungary DVSC Schaeffler 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
First match(es) will be played: 6 September 2025. Source: EHF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification SOL ODE BUC BRE FER KOP KRI IKA
1 Norway Sola HK 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Quarterfinals —
2 Denmark Odense Håndbold 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
3 Romania CSM București 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Playoffs —
4 France Brest Bretagne Handball 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
5 Hungary FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
6 Croatia HC Podravka Vegeta 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
7 Slovenia RK Krim Mercator 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
8 Denmark Ikast Håndbold 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
First match(es) will be played: 6 September 2025. Source: EHF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Knockout stage

Playoffs

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
B6 M1 A3 21–22 Mar 28–29 Mar
A6 M2 B3 21–22 Mar 28–29 Mar
B5 M3 A4 21–22 Mar 28–29 Mar
A5 M4 B4 21–22 Mar 28–29 Mar

Quarterfinals

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
M4 – A1 18–19 Apr 25–26 Apr
M3 – B1 18–19 Apr 25–26 Apr
M2 – A2 18–19 Apr 25–26 Apr
M1 – B2 18–19 Apr 25–26 Apr

Final four

The final four will held at the MVM Dome, Budapest, Hungary on 6 and 7 June 2026.

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
6 June
 
 
 
 
7 June
 
 
 
 
 
6 June
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Third place
 
 
7 June
 
 
 
 
 
 

See also

References

  1. ^ "Place distribution released for 2025/26 season". eurohandball.com. 2 August 2024. Retrieved 7 June 2025.
  2. ^ "EHF Club Competitions 2025/26" (PDF). eurohandball.com. 2 August 2024. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
  3. ^ "19 clubs registered for EHF Champions League Women 2025/26". eurohandball.com. 5 June 2025. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  4. ^ a b "EHF confirms upgrades to EHF Champions League". eurohandball.com. 24 June 2025. Retrieved 24 June 2025.
  5. ^ "EHF Court of Handball rejects Russia appeal against ban". insidethegames.biz. 25 March 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  6. ^ "EHF statement regarding the situation of HB Ludwigsburg". www.eurohandball.com.
  7. ^ "Sola HK replace HB Ludwigsburg at EHFCL Women 2025/26". www.eurohandball.com.
  8. ^ https://www.sola-hk.no/vi-skal-spille-champions-league-2025-26/
  9. ^ "EHF Champions League 2025/26 takes shape after group phase draws". EHF. 27 June 2025.
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