Europe’s top talents on the road to Cologne

A total of 16 sides compete for four tickets to final tournament in Cologne, headlined by the final in LANXESS arena on 14 June, right before the 3/4 placement match at the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 2026. The Youth Club Trophy semi-finals, on 13 April, and the 3/4 placement match, on 14 April, will be played in Dormagen.

The qualification tournaments are comprised of the U18 teams of the Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2025/26, including the four sides that were part of the inaugural final tournament last year: Winners GOG from Denmark, finalists Veszprém, bronze medallists Barça and Eurofarm Pelister. The four qualification tournaments will be played between 28 March and 3 April, with the winner of each progressing to Cologne.

Live streams of all matches are available via EHFTV.

QUALIFICATION TOURNAMENT 1

CS Dinamo Bucuresti (ROU), GOG (DEN), Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR), HBC Nantes (FRA)

28–29 March 2026, Bucharest, live on EHFTV 

• hosts CS Dinamo Bucuresti lock horns with defending champions GOG in the first semi-final on Saturday at 15:00 CET
• Dinamo hosted one of the qualification tournaments in 2025, and missed the title-deciding weekend narrowly, losing the tournament against Eurofarm Pelister 36:37
• after eliminating the German sides Füchse Berlin and SC Magdeburg in the qualification tournament in 2025, GOG were the dominant team at the final tournament, beating Eurofarm Pelister 36:21 in the semi and Veszprém 37:28 in the final
• in the second semi-final on Saturday at 17:30 CET, Sporting CP face HBC Nantes; the sides duelled in the 2025 qualification tournament in Barcelona, with Sporting beating Nantes 29:22
• last year, Nantes lost their semi against Barça 43:27, while Sporting were defeated 34:31 by Paris
• on Sunday, 29 March, the 3/4 placement match will throw off at 15:00 CEST, followed by the final at 17:30 CEST

QUALIFICATION TOURNAMENT 2

Aalborg Håndbold (DEN), HC Eurofarm Pelister (MKD), HC Zagreb (CRO), Füchse Berlin (GER)

30–31 March 2026, Porec, live on EHFTV

• Aalborg Håndbold versus HC Eurofarm Pelister is the pairing of the first semi-final on Monday at 12:00 CEST
• two-time EHF Champions League finalists Aalborg Håndbold will see their U18 side debut in the EHF Youth Club Trophy
• Eurofarm Pelister made it to the final tournament in 2025, finishing fourth, after defeats against GOG and Barça and following victory in the qualification tournament in Bucharest
• HC Zagreb will face Füchse Berlin in the second semi-final on Monday at 14:30 CEST
• Zagreb finished third at the 2025 qualification tournament in Veszprém after losing the semi against Szeged 26:20 and beating Serbian side Vojvodina 43:41 in the placement match
• Berlin hosted a qualification tournament in 2025 and made it to the final after a 33:31 win against Sävehof, but were chanceless against GOG, suffering a 40:33 defeat
• the 3/4 placement match will throw off at 14:00 CEST on 31 March, followed by the final at 16:30 CEST

QUALIFICATION TOURNAMENT 3

OTP Bank - PICK Szeged (HUN), Barça (ESP), Kolstad Håndball (NOR), Orlen Wisla Plock (POL)

31 March–1 April 2026, Szeged, live on EHFTV

• competition debutants Kolstad Håndball will meet Orlen Wisla Plock to open the tournament in Szeged with the first semi-final at 15:00 CEST on 31 March
• Plock hope for their first victory in the EHF Youth Club Trophy after their two defeats in the qualification tournament in 2025, against Bucharest (31:28) in the semi and Kielce (32:27) in the 3/4 placement match
• in the second semi-final, hosts OTP Bank - PICK Szeged lock horns with Barça at 18:00 CEST
• Szeged were close to reaching the trophy weekend last year, but lost to their arch-rivals Veszprém in the qualification tournament final (31:30) after winning the semi against Zagreb 26:20
• Barça were part of the final weekend in 2025, where they lost a thrilling semi-final against Veszprém 43:42 after overtime; they won the qualification tournament on home ground thanks to victories over Paris and Nantes
• the winner of the tournament will be decided in the final at 17:00 CEST on 1 April, before the 3/4 placement match at 15:00 CEST

QUALIFICATION TOURNAMENT 4

Veszprém Handball Academy (HUN), KSS Iskra Kielce (POL), SC Magdeburg (GER), Paris Saint-Germain Handball (FRA)

2–3 April 2026, Veszprém, live on EHFTV

• the U18 teams of two past EHF Champions League Men winners and two Champions League finalists fight for a ticket to Cologne
• in the first semi-final, SC Magdeburg duel with Paris Saint-Germain Handball on Thursday at 13:30 CEST — three weeks after the senior teams met in an EHF Champions League clash won by PSG
• in 2025, Magdeburg lost their qualification tournament semi-final against eventual trophy winners GOG 38:36 and then beat Sävehof 35:31 to finish third
• Paris made it to the final of their qualification tournament after beating Sporting 34:31, but then lost clearly to hosts Barça, 37:28
• in a match between the clubs that played the memorable EHF Champions League 2015/16 final, Veszprém Handball Academy face KSS Iskra Kielce at 16:00 CEST
• Veszprém won their qualification tournament in 2025 after beating Szeged in the final, then were the lucky semi-final winners against Barça in overtime — but GOG were too strong in the final, beating the Hungarian side 37:28
• Kielce finished third in their 2025 qualification tournament after a 37:29 defeat in the semi-final against Eurofarm Pelister and a 32:27 win against Polish rivals Plock in the 3/4 placement match
• on 3 April, the placement match throws off at 15:30 CEST; the ticket to Cologne will be decided in the final at 18:00 CEST

Photos © kolektiff images/Jozo Cabraja; CS Dinamo Bucuresti; One Veszprém HC