More teams, changed system: Understanding the new format for the EHF Champions League Men
When the EHF Champions League Men returns to action in six weeks' time, Europe's top flight will look differently from previous years. The 2026/27 season, which throws off on 9/10 September, marks the start of a new era in which the competition has more teams on the starting grid and is played under a changed system. It is the first adaptation to the EHF Champions League Men since the general overhaul of all European club competitions prior to the 2020/21 season — and this is how the new format works.
The revamped structure introduces a four-phase competition: the group phase, the main round, the quarter-finals, and the EHF FINAL4 Men. The changes apply to the first two stages but does not affect the quarter-finals or the EHF FINAL4.
The group phase includes 24 teams, eight more than in previous years, drawn into six round-robin groups of four. All top-two ranked teams will advance to the main round, the other 12 will continue in the EHF European League Men play-offs.
Group I of the main round includes the six teams advancing from sections A, B and C from the group phase; group II the six teams from D, E and F.
The teams finishing between first and fourth in the two main round groups play the quarter-finals, while both fifth-ranked teams head over to the EHF European League Men Last 16. The teams that finish last in the two main round groups have their European season ended.
The new structure means that all teams competing at the EHF FINAL4 Men will have played the same amount of matches during the season: 18 — six in the group phase, eight in the main round, two in the quarter-finals, and two at the EHF FINAL4.
In the previous format, a team could qualify directly from the group phase (14 matches) to the quarter-finals (two matches) by skipping the play-offs (two matches), meaning some teams at the EHF FINAL4 had played 18 matches in total that season while others had competed in 20 matches.
EHF Champions League Men key format features:
- 24 teams in the group phase consisting of six groups of four
- six matches per team: home and away against each other team in the group
- teams ranked first and second in each group qualify for the main round, teams ranked third and fourth go to the EHF European League Men play-offs
- 12 teams in the main round consisting of two groups of six
- eight matches per team: home and away against the other teams in the group except for the team they already played against in the group phase
- teams ranked first through fourth in both groups advance to the quarter-finals; teams ranked fifth go the EHF European League Men Last 16
- quarter-finals and EHF FINAL4 Men remain unchanged
Key playing dates 2026/27:
> group phase: 9 September 2026 - 29 October 2026
> main round: 18 November 2026 - 4 March 2027
> quarter-finals: 24 March 2027 - 1 April 2027
> EHF FINAL4 Men: 12/13 June 2027
main image © Jozo Cabraja / kolektiff
