The 2026–27 EHF Champions League is the 67th edition of Europe's premier club handball tournament, running from 9 September 2026 to 13 June 2027.
Format The tournament will see a new format. The 24 teams will be split into six groups of four teams and play a round-robin with home and away matches. The top two-placed teams advance to the main round, which conists of two groups of six, also playing home and away matches against the teams they not played already. The top four-placed teams advance to the quarterfinals, from whereon a knockout system will be used.
Association ranking The rankings are based on the performances from the three most recent seasons.
Associations ranked 1–10 have their league champion qualify for the group stage and can apply for a wildcard for two more teams. Associations ranked outside the top ten can only have their league champion apply for a wildcard.
RankAssociationAverage pointsTeams1 Germany210.3312 Spain186.333 France139.334 Denmark138.675 Poland128.006 Hungary118.007 Romania77.508 Portugal59.679 Croatia48.6710 Norway 34.3311 Slovenia29.00012 North Macedonia20.001338 associations0.00
Participating teams 27 teams applied for a place, with ten having a fixed place. The full list was announced on 22 June 2026.
HC Zagreb (1st) Aalborg Håndbold (1st) Barça (1st) Paris Saint-Germain (1st) SC Magdeburg (1st) One Veszprém HC (1st) Kolstad Håndball (1st) Industria Kielce (1st) Sporting CP (1st) CS Dinamo București (1st) MT Melsungen (EL) SAH Aarhus (2nd) U GOG (3rd) U HBC Nantes (2nd) U Montpellier Handball (3rd) U Füchse Berlin (2nd) U OTP Bank – Pick Szeged (2nd) U HC Vardar 1961 (1st) U Orlen Wisła Płock (2nd) U FC Porto (2nd) U RK Celje Pivovarna Laško (1st) U RK Partizan (1st) U HC Kriens-Luzern (1st) U IFK Kristianstad (1st) U EL: European League title holders U Confirmed upgrades
Rejected upgrades MOL Tatabánya KC (3rd) Valur (1st) Elverum Håndball (3rd)
Draw The draw took place on 26 June 2026.
Tiebreakers In the group stage, teams are 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 the same number of points, the ranking will be determined as follows:
Highest number of points in matches between the teams directly involved; Superior goal difference in matches between the teams directly involved; Highest number of goals scored in matches between the teams directly involved; Superior goal difference in all matches of the group; Highest number of plus goals in all matches of the group; If the ranking of one of these teams is determined, the above criteria are consecutively followed until the ranking of all teams is determined. If no ranking can be determined, a decision shall be obtained by EHF through drawing of lots.
Group stage
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Main round
Group A
Group B
Knockout stage
Quarterfinals
Final four
The final four is scheduled to be held at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany in June 2027.
Bracket
Final
Top goalscorers
Rank Player Club Goals1 Mathias Gidsel Füchse Berlin19 Noam Leopold HBC Nantes3 Óli Mittún GOG18 Martim Costa Sporting CP5 Aleks Vlah Industria Kielce176 Hugo Descat One Veszprém HC16 Yahia Omar Paris Saint-Germain Manuel Zehnder GOG9 Mohab Abdelhak HC Vardar 196115 Ihar Bialiauski HC Zagreb
See also 2026–27 EHF European League 2026–27 EHF European Cup 2026–27 Women's EHF Champions League 2026–27 Women's EHF European League 2026–27 Women's EHF European Cup
References
External links Official website