Ahead of the 2025/2026 season, the UEFA Women's Champions League undergo significant changes. At the same time, a second European tournament for women will be introduced: UEFA Women's Europa Cup, similar to the men's Europa League.
Key Changes
These are the biggest changes to European women's cup competitions and the UEFA Women's Champions League for the 2025/2026 season:
- The traditional group stage in the main tournament will be replaced by a league system, following the model introduced in the men's Champions League for the 2024/2025 season.
- The main tournament's league stage will feature 18 clubs, which is 2 more than the traditional group stage.
- The number of clubs directly qualifying for the main tournament will increase from 4 to 9.
- A total of 78 different clubs will participate in the 2025/2026 Champions League (including the qualifiers), which is more than the 72 clubs that took part in the 2024/2025 season.
- The new Europa Cup tournament will allow for more clubs to play (more games) on the European stage.
- A total of 91 different clubs will participate in European club competitions in the 2025/2026 season (including the qualifiers), which is more than the 72 clubs that took part in the 2024/2025 season.
.
Here is an attempt to visualise the new format of UEFA Women's Champions League and UEFA Women's Europa Cup:
.png?alt=media&token=cd536c6f-11e5-4bdd-af48-00656e2a249f)
Below is also a detailed description of the changes and the new format.
How does the UEFA Women's Champions League work in 2025/2026?
The biggest change is that the group stage of the main tournament, with four teams in each group, will be replaced by a league system, following the same model introduced for the men's Champions League in the 2024/2025 season. The league stage of the main tournament will feature 18 clubs, 2 more than in the group stage. A total of 78 different clubs will have (at least theoretically) a chance to win the 2025/2026 Champions League. The equivalent number for the 2024/2025 season was 72, so more clubs will participate in the UEFA Women's Champions League moving forward.
Which clubs qualify directly for the main tournament?
A total of 9 clubs will be directly qualified for the league stage of the main tournament:
- The reigning Champions League winners.
- The league champions from the top 6 countries according to UEFA’s national rankings (after the 2023/2024 season).
- The runners-up from the top 2 countries according to UEFA’s national rankings (after the 2023/2024 season).
.
Additionally, 9 clubs will join the main tournament's league format via the qualifying rounds.
The number of directly qualified clubs for the main tournament will thus increase from 4 to 9.
Which clubs qualify for the main tournament?
A total of 69 clubs will compete for the 9 remaining spots in the main tournament. The qualification process will continue to follow two parallel paths: the Champions Path and the League Path. 47 clubs will compete in the Champions Path, and 22 clubs will get their chance in the League Path.
Champions Path
Which clubs get to play in the Champions Path qualifiers?
- The reigning champions of the new tournament (it's unclear how this place will be filled for the inaugural season).
- The remaining league champions from Europe, i.e. countries ranked 7-52 in UEFA's national rankings.
.
This will result in a total of 46 clubs entering the Champions Path, 3 more than under the previous system.
League champions from countries ranked 29-52 will enter a preliminary (first) qualifying round, which is a new element for this season. Previously, there were only two qualifying rounds, but for the lower-ranked nations, there will now be three qualifying rounds before a potential spot in the main tournament. This should provide more opportunities for clubs from lower-ranked nations to earn points, and we might see more movement in the lower half of the national rankings in the future. The preliminary qualifying round will be played as mini-tournaments, with the 24 teams split into 6 tournaments. These tournaments will be knockouts, with only 6 teams advancing from the preliminary round to qualifying round 2.
League champions from countries ranked 7-28 will enter at qualifying round 2. These 22 clubs will be joined by 6 teams from the previous round. Qualifying round 2 will also be played as mini-tournaments, with 28 clubs split into 7 tournaments of 4 teams each. The winner of each mini-tournament advances to qualifying round 3. The runners-up and third-placed teams in each mini-tournament won’t be left empty-handed, as they will get a second chance in the newly established Europa Cup tournament.
The reigning champions of the Europa Cup tournament will enter at qualifying round 3. At this stage, 7 teams will have progressed from qualifying round 2. These 8 teams will be drawn against each other and will play traditional playoff ties, with 4 clubs advancing to the main tournament. The 4 losers of these playoff ties will also get a second chance for glory, as they will secure places in the Europa Cup.
League Path
Which clubs get to play in the League Path qualifiers?
- The runners-up from countries ranked 3-17.
- The third-placed teams from countries ranked 1-7.
.
In the League Path, there is still only two qualifying rounds. These are called qualifying round 2 and qualifying round 3 for structural reasons. The runners-up from countries ranked 6-17 and the third-placed teams from countries ranked 4-7 will enter at qualifying round 2. Like the Champions Path, qualifying round 2 in the League Path will be played as mini-tournaments, with 16 clubs split into 4 tournaments of 4 teams each. The winner of each mini-tournament advances to qualifying round 3. The runners-up and third-placed teams will have another chance in the newly established Europa Cup tournament.
The runners-up from countries ranked 3-5 and the third-placed teams from countries ranked 1-3 will enter at qualifying round 3. These 6 teams will be joined by the 4 teams that progressed from qualifying round 2. A total of 10 teams will then be drawn into playoff ties, with 5 clubs advancing to the main tournament. The 5 losers of these playoff ties will also have a chance at redemption in the Europa Cup tournament.
Main Tournament
As mentioned earlier, the biggest change in the Champions League for the 2025/2026 season is the replacement of the traditional group stage in the main tournament with a league system. This follows the same model introduced in the men's Champions League for the 2024/2025 season. By the time we reach the main tournament, the 78 clubs will have been reduced to 18.
League Format
The league stage of the main tournament will feature 18 clubs, 2 more than the number of teams that participated in the traditional group stage. In the new league system, there will be no home-and-away matches. Each team that qualifies for this stage will be drawn to play 6 matches: 3 home matches and 3 away matches. Before the draw, the 18 clubs will be split into three seeding pots based on their club ranking points according to UEFA. Each participating club will then be drawn against two teams from each seeding group, ensuring that every team plays one home and one away match against (different) teams from the first seeding group, one home and one away match against (different) teams from the second seeding group, and one home and one away match against (different) teams from the third seeding group.
Points will be awarded in the traditional manner, with 3 points for a win and 1 point for a draw. The league standings after all teams have played their 6 matches will determine which clubs advance to the knockout stages. The teams finishing 1st-4th in the final league table will advance directly to the quarter-finals (and will be seeded). The teams finishing 5th-12th will proceed to the round of 16, where they will face off in two-legged playoff ties, as is customary for knockout stages. The teams finishing 13th-18th in the final league table will be eliminated from European competition for this season. The winners of the round of 16 ties will advance to the quarter-finals (where they will be unseeded).
Knockout Stage
From the quarter-finals onwards, there will be no changes. Quarter-finals and semi-finals will be played as traditional two-legged play-off ties. The final will be a single match, held at a pre-determined venue.
How does the UEFA Women's Europa Cup work in 2025/2026?
This new tournament is somewhat smaller in scope and scale than the UEFA Women's Champions League. All stages of the competition are played as two-legged play-off ties between two teams — including both the first qualifying round and the final. In total, 44 different clubs will have the chance to win the Europa Cup 2025/2026. Thirteen of these teams will enter directly into the first qualifying round, while the remaining 31 clubs will drop down after being eliminated at various stages of the Champions League qualifiers.
Which clubs will take part in the Europa Cup?
No teams are directly qualified for the knockout stage; all 16 participants must earn their place through the qualification rounds.
So, which clubs are eligible to enter qualification? The following:
- League runners-up from nations ranked 18–24.
- League third-placed teams from nations ranked 8–13.
- 31 clubs eliminated during Champions League qualification.
.
The league runners-up from nations ranked 18–24, along with the league third-placed teams from nations ranked 8–13, will enter in the first qualifying round. They will be joined by 11 teams that finish third in the 11 mini-tournaments that make up Champions League Qualifying Round 2.
The 12 teams that advance to the second qualifying round of the Europa Cup will then be joined by another 20 teams from the Champions League qualifiers: the runners-up from the 11 mini-tournaments in Champions League Qualifying Round 2, and 9 teams eliminated in the play-off stage that forms Qualifying Round 3 of the Champions League.
Main tournament
All stages of the main tournament knockout phase are played as traditional two-legged play-off ties — including the final.
How does the ranking system work in European competitions?
First of all: there are two different ranking systems to keep track of in European women’s club competitions. First, there’s the UEFA national association ranking. This determines how many teams each nation is allowed to enter into the European tournaments. Second, each individual club has its own ranking points or coefficient. This comes into play when clubs are seeded ahead of tournament draws.
It’s also important to note: the UEFA national ranking is not the same as the FIFA world ranking for national teams! Since the Champions League and Europa Cup are club competitions organised by UEFA, it is the UEFA national association ranking that is relevant here.
How does the national ranking work?
UEFA’s national ranking, or ‘Women’s association club coefficients’ in UEFA’s terminology, is based on how club teams from each nation perform in European club competitions. That is, the Champions League and its qualifiers and the Europa Cup and its qualifiers.
In simple terms, UEFA’s national ranking is calculated as follows: each club that participates in the Champions League earns points based on how far the club progresses in the tournament (including the qualifiers). The sum of the club teams’ points from each nation is then divided by the number of club teams from that nation participating in the tournament. The total national ranking is the sum of the points from the last five seasons for each nation.
Here is the top of the UEFA national ranking after last season, ending with Arsenal beating Barcelona in the Champions League final:
| Rank | Nation | 2020/2021 | 2021/2022 | 2022/2023 | 2023/2024 | 2024/2025 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | England | 17.500 | 9.000 | 13.333 | 8.666 | 20.000 | 68.499 |
| 2 | France | 15.000 | 16.333 | 10.000 | 17.000 | 10.000 | 68.333 |
| 3 | Spain | 15.500 | 13.666 | 13.000 | 11.000 | 13.833 | 66.999 |
| 4 | Germany | 16.500 | 14.666 | 14.000 | 7.333 | 8.833 | 60.000 |
| 5 | Italy | 5.000 | 8.500 | 12.500 | 5.000 | 7.000 | 38.000 |
| 6 | Portugal | 3.000 | 7.000 | 8.000 | 12.000 | 3.000 | 34.000 |
| 7 | Sweden | 7.500 | 3.666 | 2.833 | 6.500 | 4.166 | 24.665 |
| 8 | Norway | 5.500 | 2.500 | 3.000 | 8.500 | 3.500 | 23.000 |
| 9 | Netherlands | 3.000 | 2.500 | 2.500 | 8.000 | 5.000 | 21.000 |
| 10 | Austria | 9.000 | 2.000 | 4.250 | 3.000 | 2.500 | 20.750 |
It is the total points after the 2023/2024 season that determines how many clubs each nation can send to European competitions for the 2025/2026 season. It is the total points after the 2024/2025 season that determines how many clubs each nation can send to European competitions for the 2026/2027 season, and so on. Hence, the total points in the above table determines how many clubs each nation can send to European competitions for the 2026/2027 season.
How does the club ranking work?
Each club that participates in the Champions League earns points based on how far the club progresses in the tournament (including the qualifiers). The sum of the points from the last five seasons is each club's ranking points or coefficient (‘Women’s club coefficient’ in UEFA’s terminology). This club ranking is then used to determine seeding for future editions of the Champions League and the Europa Cup.
For those interested in the details of how the points are allocated per club, UEFA’s website is recommended: How the women's club coefficients are calculated
.