EHF Champions League 2025/26 takes shape after group phase draws

Maintaining the format from recent years, both the men's and women's competitions will begin with the teams divided into two groups of eight teams each, as the participating clubs meet in a round-robin format over 14 gruelling rounds to determine who advances to the knockout phase.

The top two teams in each group will qualify directly for the quarter-finals, with the teams finishing in third, fourth, fifth and sixth heading to the play-offs, aiming to secure the remaining tickets in the quarter-final line-up. The two lowest-ranked clubs in each group will be eliminated from the competition at the end of the group phase.

For the draw, each team was assigned a numbered position in their respective group, which will be used to determine their group phase schedule.

Country protection rules applied to the draw when possible, however, with both Denmark and Hungary represented by three teams each in the women's competition, national derbies in the group phase were guaranteed for two teams from those nations.

In the EHF Champions League Women, reigning champions Györi Audi ETO KC will have to face a domestic rival as they were drawn into group A with DVSC Schaeffler. The title holders also face a repeat of their EHF FINAL4 Women 2025 semi-final against Team Esbjerg of Denmark.

With France's Metz Handball also drawn into group A, Odense Håndbold, runners-up at the MVM Dome in Budapest a month ago, have avoided the other three EHF FINAL4 participants by being drawn into group B, though they will meet compatriots Ikast Håndbold.

EHF Champions League Women 2025/26 group phase draw

GROUP A

1. NOR – Storhamar Handball Elite

2. FRA – Metz Handball

3. HUN – Györi Audi ETO KC

4. GER – BV Borussia Dortmund

5. DEN – Team Esbjerg

6. ROU – Gloria Bistrita

7. MNE – OTP Group Buducnost

8. HUN – DVSC Schaeffler

GROUP B

1. GER – HB Ludwigsburg

2. DEN – Odense Håndbold

3. ROU – CSM Bucuresti

4. FRA – Brest Bretagne Handball

5. HUN – FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria

6. CRO – HC Podravka

7. SLO – Krim Mercator Ljubljana

8. DEN – Ikast Håndbold

The group phase of the EHF Champions League Women 2025/26 will start at the beginning of autumn, on 6/7 September, and is set to finish on 21/22 February 2026 as we discover know who will qualify for the latter stages.

Country protection rules meant there would be no repeat of the 2025 final in the Machineseeker EHF Champions League either.

However, we will see rematches of both semi-finals from the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 2025. The two teams who have dominated the competition in recent seasons - reigning champions SC Magdeburg and record winners Barça - will rekindle their rivalry in group A.

Meanwhile, the silver and bronze medallists from earlier this month, Füchse Berlin and HBC Nantes, will face each other twice more in group B.

Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2025/26 group phase draw

GROUP A

1. DEN – Aalborg Håndbold

2. GER – Füchse Berlin

3. HUN – One Veszprém HC

4. POL – Industria Kielce

5. FRA – HBC Nantes

6. POR – Sporting Clube de Portugal

7. ROU – Dinamo Bucuresti

8. NOR – Kolstad Håndball

GROUP B

1. POL – Orlen Wisla Plock

2. ESP – Barça

3. FRA – Paris Saint-Germain

4. DEN – GOG

5. GER – SC Magdeburg

6. HUN – OTP Bank - PICK Szeged

7. CRO – HC Zagreb

8. MKD – HC Eurofarm Pelister

The first round is set to take place on 10/11 September 2025, with the group phase matches scheduled until 11/12 March 2026, when the final round will be played before the Road to Cologne begins with the knockout phase.

2024/25 MVPs and BYPs crowned

During the draw ceremony, the Most Valuable Players (MVP) and Best Young Players (BYP) for the 2024/25 season were announced. Following the conclusion of voting for the EHF Excellence Awards 2025, the winners of the MVP awards were, in fact, the top scorers in the men's and women's competitions last season, Mathias Gidsel and Henny Reistad, respectively. The BYP winners were 20-year-old Mia Emmenegger and 21-year-old Ian Barrufet.

To discover more about the amazing 2024/25 seasons for the four winners, click here.

To watch the draws in full, click the video below or head to the Home of Handball YouTube channel.

Main photo © Uros Hocevar / kolektiff; in-text photos © Uros Hocevar / kolektiff, Jozo Cabraza / kolektiff