UEFA Women's Champions League: All you need to know about who's qualified, draws & dates

 

The UEFA Women’s Champions League 2025/26 season begins with a new format, mirroring the men’s competition. The traditional 16-team group stage is replaced by an 18-team league phase. Each club will play six games, facing two sides from each of three seeded pots, with one match at home and one away. Clubs cannot face more than two teams from the same country. At the end of the league phase, the top four teams progress directly to the quarter-finals. Sides placed fifth to 12th enter the knockout playoffs, while the bottom six are eliminated.

This year’s competition features Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Benfica, Chelsea, Juventus, Manchester United, OH Leuven, Lyon, Paris FC, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Roma, St. Pölten, Twente, Valerenga and Wolfsburg. Arsenal are top seeds as defending champions.

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The first matchdays are October 7th and 8th, with the league phase concluding December 17th. The draw for the knockout playoffs follows on December 18th. All draws are streamed live on http://UEFA.com. The final will be played in May 2026 at the Ullevaal Stadium in Oslo, Norway.

The 2025/26 season also introduces the brand-new UEFA Women’s Europa Cup, designed to increase opportunities for clubs across Europe. It will be a knockout competition featuring six rounds, all played over two legs, including the final. Thirty-one of the 44 entrants will come from the Champions League qualifying process, ensuring sides eliminated from the main competition still have European fixtures.

In the Europa Cup, the first round features 13 direct entrants from mid-ranked leagues alongside third-placed teams from the Women’s Champions League second qualifying round. The second round adds runners-up from that qualifying stage as well as clubs who fall short in the third qualifying round. Winners then progress into a 16-team straight knockout bracket, seeded by UEFA coefficients.

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Success brings significant reward: the Europa Cup champion earns a place in the Champions Path of the next Women’s Champions League third qualifying round. If they also qualify via their domestic league or the Champions League holders’ spot, the berth adjusts accordingly. The first matches of the Women’s Europa Cup will take place in September, immediately after the Champions League qualifying rounds conclude.