Draft:2025–26 UEFA Champions League
 The Puskás Aréna in Budapest will host the final. | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | Qualifying: 8 July – 27 August 2025 Competition proper: 16 September 2025 – 30 May 2026 |
| Teams | Competition proper: 36 Total: 81 (from 53 associations) |
The 2025–26 UEFA Champions League will be the 71th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 33rd season since it was rebranded from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League.
The final tournament will be played in Hungary from 10 March to 30 May 2026.
Schedule[edit]
The schedule of the competition is as follows.[1] Compared to past seasons, "exclusive week" will be introduced in which Thursday will also be a matchday.[2][3][4] All matches in other weeks will be played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays apart from the final.
| Phase | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying | First qualifying round | 22 June 2025 | 8–9 July 2025 | 15–16 July 2025 |
| Second qualifying round | 23 June 2025 | 22–23 July 2025 | 29–30 July 2025 | |
| Third qualifying round | 30 June 2025 | 5–6 August 2025 | 12 August 2025 | |
| Play-offs | Play-off round | 4 August 2025 | 19–20 August 2025 | 26–27 August 2025 |
| League phase | Matchday 1 | 28 August 2025 | 16–18 September 2025 | |
| Matchday 2 | 30 September – 1 October 2025 | |||
| Matchday 3 | 21–22 October 2025 | |||
| Matchday 4 | 4–5 November 2025 | |||
| Matchday 5 | 25–26 November 2025 | |||
| Matchday 6 | 9–10 December 2025 | |||
| Matchday 7 | 20–21 January 2026 | |||
| Matchday 8 | 28 January 2026 | |||
| Knockout phase | Knockout round play-offs | 30 January 2026 | 10–11 February 2026 | 17–18 February 2026 |
| Round of 16 | 20 February 2026 | 4–5 & 10–11 March 2026 | ||
| Quarter-finals | 14–15 April 2026 | |||
| Semi-finals | 7–8 May 2026 | |||
| Final | 30 May 2026 at Puskás Aréna, Budapest | |||
Final tournament venues[edit]
| Budapest |
|
Budapest |
|---|---|---|
| Puskás Aréna (final venue) |
Groupama Arena | |
| Capacity: 67,215 | Capacity: 23,700 | |
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Association team allocation[edit]
A total of 81 teams from 53 of the 55 UEFA member associations are set to participate in the 2025–26 UEFA Champions League (the exceptions being Liechtenstein which does not organise a domestic league and Russia which is currently suspended). The association ranking based on the UEFA association coefficients is used to determine the number of participating teams for each association:[5]
- Associations 1–5 each have four teams.
- Association 6 has three teams.
- Associations 7–15 each have two teams.
- Associations 16–55 (except Liechtenstein[Note LIE] and Russia[Note RUS]) each have one team.
- The winners of the 2024-25 UEFA Champions League and 2024-25 UEFA Europa League are each given an additional entry if they do not qualify for the 2025–26 UEFA Champions League through their domestic league.
- The two associations who obtain the most coefficient points in the 2024–25 season will each have one European Performance Spot into the league phase. The winners of the UEFA Champions League and Europa League cannot fill the European Performance Spots.
Association ranking[edit]
For the 2025–26 UEFA Champions League, the associations are allocated places according to their 2024 UEFA association coefficients, which takes into account their performance in European competitions from 2019–20 to 2023–24.[6] The table reflects Russia's ongoing suspension from UEFA.
Apart from the allocation based on the association coefficients, associations may have additional teams participating in the Champions League, as noted below:
- (EPS) – European Performance Spot, the additional berths for associations who finished in the top 2 of the 2023–24 association coefficients
- (TH) – Additional berth for UEFA Champions League title holders
- (EL) – Additional berth for UEFA Europa League title holders
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- ^ Liechtenstein (LIE): The seven teams affiliated with the Liechtenstein Football Association (LFV) all play in the Swiss football league system. The only competition organised by the LFV is the Liechtenstein Football Cup – the winners of which qualify for the UEFA Conference League for the 2025–26 season.
- ^ Russia (RUS): On 28 February 2022, Russian football clubs and national teams were suspended from FIFA and UEFA competitions due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[7] The tables reflect Russia's ongoing suspension from UEFA competitions.[8]
References[edit]
- ^ "UEFA club competitions cycle 2024–27 ("Post 2024")". UEFA Circular Letter. No. 36/2023. Union of European Football Associations. 7 July 2023. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
UEFA New Formatwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Sheldon, Dan. "How the new Champions League format works". The Athletic. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
- ^ "More national derby games possible when revamped Champions League starts next year". AP News. 10 July 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
- ^ "Regulations of the UEFA Champions League, 2024/25 Season". Nyon: UEFA. 2024. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
- ^ "Association coefficients 2023/24". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
- ^ "Ukraine crisis: Fifa and Uefa suspend all Russian clubs and national teams". BBC.co.uk. British Broadcasting Corporation. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
- ^ "UEFA decisions for upcoming competitions relating to the ongoing suspension of Russian national teams and clubs. However this could change depending on what happens" (Press release). Nyon: UEFA. 2 May 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2022.