One debutant, one former winner and eight nations start group phase

Former EHF Champions League Women winners Larvik and Viborg HK and defending European League winners Thüringer HC are among the teams from eight nations that will start the group phase on 10 January on their way to the EHF Finals 2026. Here are the most important Facts and Figures of the competition.

0 teams have been part of all six group phases since the implementation of the Women’s EHF European League

1 European League champion is among the 16 group phase participants: defending champions Thüringer HC

1 former Champions League winner was eliminated in the qualification: Hypo Niederösterreich

1 European Cup debutant is among the 16 group phase participants: Hungarian side MOL Esztergom, which eliminated Red Star Belgrade in qualification

2 former EHF Champions League winners made it to the group phase: Viborg (winners in 2006, 2009 and 2010) and Larvik (2011)

2 teams which played in the EHF Champions League last season qualified for the European League group phase this year: Nykøbing Falster Håndbold and CS Rapid Bucuresti

2 teams among the 16 group phase participants have won an combined total of six trophies in the old version of the EHF Cup (Viborg in 1994, 1999 and 2004) and the Cup Winners’ Cup (Larvik in 2005 and 2008, Viborg in 2014)

2 teams went all the way from the first qualification phase to the group phase: Motherson Mosonmagyarovari KC and Rapid

2 teams play their fourth straight group phase in the European League: Thüringer and Mosonmagyarovar

3 participants of the EHF Finals 2025 are part of the 2025/26 group phase:  Thüringer HC, JDA Bourgogne Dijon Handball and HSG Blomberg-Lippe. Finalists Ikast Håndbold are playing the Champions League

3 of the 16 group phase participants have previously won the EHF Challenge Cup (now EHF European Cup): Brasov in 2006, Oldenburg in 2008 and Lokomotiva in 2017

3 German and three Romanian teams; two from each of Denmark, France, Hungary and Norway; and one team from both Croatia and Poland make up the group phase participants

3 goals was the closest gap in the final qualification round, when Dijon beat Super Amara Bera Bera 49:46 on aggregate

4 teams from 4 countries were seeded for the group phase — defending champions Thüringer, Nykøbing, CSM Corona Brasov and Tertnes Bergen

6 teams in this season’s group phase were also group phase participants in the previous season: Thüringer, Blomberg, Dijon, Larvik, KGHM MKS Zaglebie Lubin, and Mosonmagyarovar

6 group phase participants have been part of the five previous EHF Finals Women: CS Baia Mare (2021, 2022), Viborg (2022), Nykøbing (2023), Thüringer (2023, 2025), Dijon (2025), Blomberg (2025)

8 different clubs from 7 different countries have won the second tier competition below Champions League since the EHF Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup merged in 2016/17: Rostov-Don (Russia), SCM Craiova (Romania), Siófok KC (Hungary), Neptunes Nantes (France), SG BBM Bietigheim (Germany), Ikast (Denmark), Storhamar Handball Elite (Norway) and Thüringer

8 nations are represented by the 16 group phase participants, as in the previous season: France, Romania, Denmark, Hungary, Norway, Germany and Poland return; Croatia are in and Spain are out

36 teams in total are or were part of this competition, 20 of them have already been eliminated in qualification

40 goals was the biggest overall margin in the final qualification round, when VfL Oldenburg beat HC Dalmatinka Ploce 75:35 on aggregate, ahead of 13 goals between Blomberg and Valur (59:46)

48 group matches will be played before the eight quarter-finalists are determined

75 goals by Oldenburg against Ploce is the highest total scored by one team in the final qualification round, ahead of 66 goals by Larvik against Molde Elite

95 goals only were scored in total in the two qualification matches between Dijon and Bera Bera; the French side won 49:46 on aggregate

2,209 goals were scored in the two qualification rounds (998 in 18 matches of round 1 and 1,211 in 22 matches in round 2), an average of 55.22 goals per match

Photos © Gergely Lőrinczi / MOL Esztergom; Sabin Malisevschi; Pawel Andrachiewicz / Foto Andrus; Kolektiff Images; Dennis Leskys