One of the major changes for the 2026–2027 season is the expansion of the EHF Champions League, which is set to grow from 16 to 24 teams. Ten of these sides had already secured their places by winning their respective national championships. Along with our Rouge et Bleu, this was the case for Aalborg, Barcelona, Dinamo Bucharest, Kielce, Kolstad, Magdeburg, Sporting CP, Veszprém and Zagreb. Added to these were MT Melsungen, recently crowned champions of the EHF European League.
To determine the 13 other clubs who would take part in the upcoming campaign, the governing bodies reviewed applications from 16 teams. Of these, three were rejected: Valur from Iceland, Tatabánya from Hungary and Elverum from Norway. The applications approved were those of Nantes and Montpellier, SAH and GOG (Denmark), Füchse Berlin (Germany), Szeged (Hungary), Plock (Poland), Porto (Portugal), Vardar Skopje (North Macedonia), Celje (Slovenia), Partizan Belgrade (Serbia), Kristianstad (Sweden) and Kriens-Luzern (Switzerland).
Despite this expansion, the clubs will not play any more matches. As with the current format, each team will play a maximum of 14 matches before the knockout stage. While the essence remains the same, the format itself is changing considerably.
The 24 clubs in the next edition will be divided into six groups of four teams, who will face each other in home-and-away fixtures. At the end of this first phase, the top two teams from each group will progress to the main round, where the 12 qualified teams will be split into two separate groups, whilst the bottom two teams from each group will continue their campaign in the EHF European League. It is worth noting that each team will start this main round with the number of points it earned against the other qualified club from its group, similar to what is already seen in the European Championships and World Championships.
After the eight matchdays of this main round, the standings will determine the eight teams that will progress to the quarter-finals - there will be no round of 16 under this new format. While the top four teams in each group will continue their campaign in the Champions League, the fifth-placed teams will move into the EHF European League, and the bottom teams in each group will be eliminated from all European competition. The rest of the format remains unchanged: the winners will qualify for the FINAL4 in Cologne, which will take place on 12 and 13 June 2027.
The draw for the group stage of the 2026–2027 EHF Champions League will take place this Friday, 26 June at 11:00. The capital club will then find out who their first three opponents will be, and will have a chance to learn more about the teams they could face if they make it through to the main round. The order of the groups will determine the two pots for the main round, with groups A to C forming Pot 1 and the remaining three forming Pot 2.
Group stage: 9–10 September 2026 to 28–29 October 2026
Main round: 18–19 November 2026 to 3–4 March 2027
Quarter-finals: First legs on 24–25 March 2027, second legs on 31 March and 1 April 2027
FINAL4: 12–13 June 2027, in Cologne (Germany)
