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: 82 (from 53 associations) |
← 2024–25 2026–27 → | |
The 2025–26 UEFA Champions League is the 71st season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 34th season since it was rebranded from the European Cup to the UEFA Champions League. Paris Saint-Germain are the defending champions, having secured their maiden title the previous season.
The final will be played on 30 May 2026 at Puskás Aréna in Budapest, Hungary.[1] It will be the first time Puskás Aréna will host a Champions League final. The stadium previously hosted the 2020 UEFA Super Cup, several matches of UEFA Euro 2020, and the 2023 UEFA Europa League final.[2][3] The winners of the 2025–26 UEFA Champions League will automatically qualify for the 2026–27 UEFA Champions League league phase, the 2026 FIFA Intercontinental Cup finals, the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup group stage, and earn the right to play against the winners of the 2025–26 UEFA Europa League in the 2026 UEFA Super Cup.
This is the first Champions League season to feature six clubs from one nation, with England earning an extra spot through UEFA coefficient ranking and Tottenham Hotspur having won the previous season's Europa League.[4]
Association team allocation
[edit]A total of 82 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 with the best coefficients 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 finish in the top 2 of the 2024–25 association coefficients
- (TH) – Additional berth for UEFA Champions League title holders
- (EL) – Additional berth for UEFA Europa League title holders
|
|
|
Distribution
[edit]| Teams entering in this round | Teams advancing from the previous round | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| First qualifying round (28 teams) |
|
||
| Second qualifying round (30 teams) |
Champions Path (24 teams) |
|
|
| League Path (6 teams) |
|
||
| Third qualifying round (20 teams) |
Champions Path (12 teams) |
| |
| League Path (8 teams) |
|
| |
| Play-off round (14 teams) |
Champions Path (10 teams) |
|
|
| League Path (4 teams) |
| ||
| League phase (36 teams) |
|
| |
| Knockout phase play-offs (16 teams) |
| ||
| Round of 16 (16 teams) |
| ||
The information here reflects the ongoing suspension of Russia in European football, and so the following changes to the default access list have been made:
- The champions of associations 23 (Cyprus) and 24 (Hungary) will enter the second qualifying round (Champions Path) instead of the first qualifying round.
As the Champions League title holders (Paris Saint-Germain) qualified via their domestic league's standard berth allocation, the following changes to the default access list have been made:
- Olympiacos as the club with the highest club coefficient that would otherwise have entered the Champions Path of the qualifying phase or play-off round, will enter the league phase instead of the Champions Path second qualifying round.
- Slovan Bratislava and Qarabağ, as the two clubs with the highest club coefficient that would otherwise have entered the Champions Path first qualifying round, will enter the Champions Path second qualifying round.
Teams
[edit]The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round:
- TH: Champions League title holders
- EL: Europa League title holders
- 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc.: League positions of the previous season
- EPS: European Performance Spots – the additional berths given to clubs from the two associations with the highest coefficient points in 2024–25
The label of European Performance Spots and title holders already qualified via league position are superscripted.
The second qualifying round, third qualifying round and play-off round are divided into Champions Path (CH) and League Path (LP).
- ^ 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]
Round and draw dates
[edit]The schedule of the competition is as follows.[9] One "exclusive week" will be held in which Thursday will also be a matchday.[10][11] All matches in other weeks will be played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays apart from Matchday 8 (Wednesday only) and the final.
| Phase | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying | First qualifying round | 17 June 2025 | 8–9 July 2025 | 15–16 July 2025 |
| Second qualifying round | 18 June 2025 | 22–23 July 2025 | 29–30 July 2025 | |
| Third qualifying round | 21 July 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 phase play-offs | 30 January 2026 | 17–18 February 2026 | 24–25 February 2026 |
| Round of 16 | 27 February 2026 | 10–11 March 2026 | 17–18 March 2026 | |
| Quarter-finals | 7–8 April 2026 | 14–15 April 2026 | ||
| Semi-finals | 28–29 April 2026 | 5–6 May 2026 | ||
| Final | 30 May 2026 at Puskás Aréna, Budapest | |||
Qualifying rounds
[edit]First qualifying round
[edit]The draw for the first qualifying round was held on 17 June 2025. The first legs were played on 8 and 9 July, and the second legs were played on 15 and 16 July 2025.
The winners of the ties advanced to the Champions Path second qualifying round. Twelve of the losing teams were transferred to the Conference League Champions Path second qualifying round, and the other two losing teams (selected via a draw) were transferred to the Conference League Champions Path third qualifying round.
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Žalgiris  | 2–2 (10–11 p) |  Hamrun Spartans | 2–0 | 0–2 (a.e.t.) |
KuPS  | 1–0 |  Milsami Orhei | 1–0 | 0–0 |
The New Saints  | 1–2 |  Shkëndija | 0–0 | 1–2 (a.e.t.) |
Iberia 1999  | 2–6 |  Malmö FF | 1–3 | 1–3 |
FCI Levadia  | 0–2 |  RFS | 0–1 | 0–1 |
Drita  | 4–2 |  Differdange 03 | 1–0 | 3–2 |
Víkingur Gøta  | 2–4 |  Lincoln Red Imps | 2–3 | 0–1 |
Egnatia  | 1–5 |  Breiðablik | 1–0 | 0–5 |
Shelbourne  | 2–1 | .svg/40px-Flag_of_Northern_Ireland_(1953–1972).svg.png){kind=small} Linfield | 1–0 | 1–1 |
FCSB  | 4–3 |  Inter Club d'Escaldes | 3–1 | 1–2 |
Virtus  | 1–4 |  Zrinjski Mostar | 0–2 | 1–2 |
Olimpija Ljubljana  | 1–3 |  Kairat | 1–1 | 0–2 |
Noah  | 3–2 |  Budućnost Podgorica | 1–0 | 2–2 |
Ludogorets Razgrad  | 3–2 |  Dinamo Minsk | 1–0 | 2–2 (a.e.t.) |
Second qualifying round
[edit]The draw for the second qualifying round was held on 18 June 2025. The first legs were played on 22 and 23 July, and the second legs were played on 29 and 30 July 2025.
The winners of the ties advanced to the third qualifying round. The losers were transferred to the Europa League third qualifying round.
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champions Path | ||||
| RFS | 1–5 | Malmö FF | 1–4 | 0–1 |
| Hamrun Spartans | 0–6 |  Dynamo Kyiv | 0–3 | 0–3 |
Pafos  | 2–1 |  Maccabi Tel Aviv | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Lincoln Red Imps | 1–6 |  Red Star Belgrade | 0–1 | 1–5 |
| Noah | 4–6 |  Ferencváros | 1–2 | 3–4 |
Lech Poznań  | 8–1 | Breiðablik | 7–1 | 1–0 |
Copenhagen  | 3–0 | Drita | 2–0 | 1–0 |
Rijeka  | 1–3 | Ludogorets Razgrad | 0–0 | 1–3 (a.e.t.) |
| Shkëndija | 3–1 | FCSB | 1–0 | 2–1 |
Slovan Bratislava  | 6–2 | Zrinjski Mostar | 4–0 | 2–2 |
| Shelbourne | 0–4 |  Qarabağ | 0–3 | 0–1 |
| KuPS | 2–3 | Kairat | 2–0 | 0–3 |
| League Path | ||||
Brann  | 2–5 |  Red Bull Salzburg | 1–4 | 1–1 |
Viktoria Plzeň  | 3–2 | .svg/20px-Flag_of_Switzerland_(Pantone).svg.png){kind=small} Servette | 0–1 | 3–1 |
Rangers  | 3–1 |  Panathinaikos | 2–0 | 1–1 |
Third qualifying round
[edit]The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 21 July 2025. The first legs were played on 5 and 6 August, and the second legs were played on 12 August 2025.
The winners of the ties advanced to the play-off round. The losers of the Champions Path were transferred to the Europa League play-off round. The losers of the League Path were transferred to the Europa League league phase.
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champions Path | ||||
| Malmö FF | 0–5 | Copenhagen | 0–0 | 0–5 |
| Kairat | 1–1 (4–3 p) | Slovan Bratislava | 1–0 | 0–1 (a.e.t.) |
| Lech Poznań | 2–4 | Red Star Belgrade | 1–3 | 1–1 |
| Ludogorets Razgrad | 0–3 | Ferencváros | 0–0 | 0–3 |
| Dynamo Kyiv | 0–3 | Pafos | 0–1 | 0–2 |
| Shkëndija | 1–6 | Qarabağ | 0–1 | 1–5 |
| League Path | ||||
| Red Bull Salzburg | 2–4 | .svg/40px-Flag_of_Belgium_(civil).svg.png){kind=small} Club Brugge | 0–1 | 2–3 |
| Rangers | 4–2 | Viktoria Plzeň | 3–0 | 1–2 |
Nice  | 0–4 | .svg/40px-Flag_of_Portugal_(official).svg.png){kind=small} Benfica | 0–2 | 0–2 |
Feyenoord  | 4–6 |  Fenerbahçe | 2–1 | 2–5 |
Play-off round
[edit]The draw for the play-off round was held on 4 August 2025. The first legs were played on 19 and 20 August, and the second legs were played on 26 and 27 August 2025.
The winners of the ties advanced to the league phase. The losers were transferred to the Europa League league phase.
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champions Path | ||||
| Ferencváros | 4–5 | Qarabağ | 1–3 | 3–2 |
| Red Star Belgrade | 2–3 | Pafos | 1–2 | 1–1 |
| Bodø/Glimt | 6–2 | Sturm Graz | 5–0 | 1–2 |
| Celtic | 0–0 (2–3 p) | Kairat | 0–0 | 0–0 (a.e.t.) |
| Basel | 1–3 | Copenhagen | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| League Path | ||||
| Fenerbahçe | 0–1 | Benfica | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| Rangers | 1–9 | Club Brugge | 1–3 | 0–6 |
League phase
[edit]
Madrid
Benfica SportingLondon teams
Arsenal Chelsea TottenhamMadrid teams
Atlético Madrid Real Madrid
The league phase draw for the 2025–26 UEFA Champions League took place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on 28 August 2025. The 36 teams were divided into four pots of nine teams each based on their UEFA club coefficient, except for the Champions League title holders, who were automatically placed as the top seed in pot 1.
The 36 teams were manually drawn and then automated software drew their eight different opponents at random, determining which of their matches are at home and which ones away. Each team faces two opponents from each of the four pots, one at home and one away. Teams could not face opponents from their own association, and could only be drawn against a maximum of two sides from the same association.[12]
Bodø/Glimt, Kairat, Pafos and Union Saint-Gilloise will make their debut appearances in the league phase/group stage. Kairat, based in Almaty, became the easternmost team to ever qualify for the Champions League proper, and, after being drawn to play away against Sporting CP, will break the record for the longest trip in UEFA competitions, travelling approximately 7200km from Almaty to Lisbon, taking into account that the Portuguese authorities banned incoming flights that travel through Russian airspace, a measure taken due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[13][14] In addition, Bodø/Glimt, based in Bodø within the Arctic Circle, became the northernmost European team to ever compete in the Champions League.[15] This marks the first time a Norwegian team has participated in the competition proper since the 2007–08 season,[16] and will also be the first season since 2005–06 in which no Ukrainian sides qualified for the group stage/league phase.[17]
A total of 16 national associations will be represented in the league phase.
Table
[edit]The top eight ranked teams will receive a bye to the round of 16. The teams ranked from 9th to 24th will contest the knockout phase play-offs, with the teams ranked from 9th to 16th seeded for the draw. Teams ranked from 25th to 36th will be eliminated from all competitions, with no access to the 2025–26 UEFA Europa League.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ajax
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to round of 16 (seeded) |
| 2 |  Arsenal
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 |  Atalanta
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 |  Athletic Bilbao
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 5 | Atlético Madrid
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 6 | Barcelona
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 7 |  Bayer Leverkusen
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 8 | Bayern Munich
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 9 | Benfica
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to knockout phase play-offs (seeded) |
| 10 | Bodø/Glimt
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 11 | Borussia Dortmund
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 12 | Chelsea
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 13 | Club Brugge
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 14 | Copenhagen
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 15 | Eintracht Frankfurt
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 16 | Galatasaray
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 17 | Inter Milan
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to knockout phase play-offs (unseeded) |
| 18 | Juventus
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 19 | Kairat
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 20 | Liverpool
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 21 | Manchester City
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 22 | Marseille
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 23 | Monaco
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 24 | Napoli
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 25 | Newcastle United
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 26 | Olympiacos
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 27 | Pafos
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 28 | Paris Saint-Germain
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 29 | PSV Eindhoven
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 30 | Qarabağ
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 31 | Real Madrid
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 32 | Slavia Prague
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 33 | Sporting CP
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 34 | Tottenham Hotspur
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 35 | Union Saint-Gilloise
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 36 | Villarreal
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Rules for classification: League phase tiebreakers
Results
[edit]See also
[edit]- 2025–26 UEFA Europa League
- 2025–26 UEFA Conference League
- 2026 UEFA Super Cup
- 2025–26 UEFA Women's Champions League
- 2025–26 UEFA Women's Europa Cup
- 2025–26 UEFA Youth League
References
[edit]- ^ "Budapest to host UEFA Champions League Final 2026". Union of European Football Associations. 22 May 2024. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
- ^ "2020 UEFA Super Cup: Bayern 2–1 Sevilla". UEFA. Retrieved 30 August 2025.
- ^ "Sevilla beat Roma on penalties in 2023 Europa League final". UEFA. 31 May 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2025.
- ^ "Premier League set to have SIX clubs in Champions League". Premier League. 9 May 2025. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
- ^ "Regulations of the UEFA Champions League, 2024/25 Season". Nyon: UEFA. 2024. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
- ^ "Association coefficients 2023/24". UEFA. 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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Sheldon, Dan (16 May 2023). "How the new Champions League format works". The Athletic. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
- ^ Dunbar, Graham (10 July 2023). "More national derby games possible when revamped Champions League starts next year". AP News. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
- ^ "UEFA Club Competitions 2024/25 onwards: new league phase draw procedures explained". UEFA. 31 July 2024. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
- ^ Flanagan, Chris (26 August 2025). "Welcome to Kairat Almaty: the Champions League's easternmost fixture". FourFourTwo.
- ^ Kenmare, Jack (26 August 2025). "Kairat Almaty create piece of Champions League history after win over Celtic and it may never be topped". SPORTbible.
- ^ Rajan, Adwaidh (26 August 2025). "Pafos, Bodo/Glimt join Kairat among CL debutants". BBC Sport.
- ^ "Champions League play-off second legs round-up: Bodø/Glimt, Kairat Almaty, Pafos through to league phase". UEFA. 26 August 2025. Retrieved 27 August 2025.
- ^ "Dynamo eliminated from the Champions League: Ukraine without a group stage for the first time in 20 years". 112 Ukraine. 12 August 2025.