EHF EXEC confirms: Champions League with 24 teams, new system for European League

The Executive Committee of the European Handball Federation at its meeting in Vienna on Tuesday has agreed on changes to the EHF’s two top men’s club handball competitions.

The EHF Champions League will expand to 24 teams, while the EHF European League Men will be played with 32 teams, starting immediately with a group phase.

"The reform of the EHF Champions League and the EHF European League is the result of an in-depth discussion process over several months, involving key stakeholders of European handball, such as the clubs, the leagues and the federations. Furthermore, the process is the proof of the most recent EHF Congress motto, 'Next Level. Every Game' - that's what the EHF strives for," EHF President Michael Wiederer said.

The European Handball Federation had organised Competitions Conferences for men’s and women’s in spring this year. Consultations continued over the summer, with final inputs being gathered at the meeting of Forum Club Handball last week and at stakeholder meetings with the European handball leagues, clubs and federations and in the presence of players’ representatives in Vienna on Monday including a coordination in the Professional Handball Board on Tuesday.

Wiederer added: "The level of quality among Europe’s handball clubs is so high that both leagues will be incredibly competitive, increasing their attractiveness for fans, media and partners alike and positioning two products on the market which will be even stronger than they already are now."

The new competition formats will be introduced with the start of the 2026/27 season. The international handball calendar will be respected – in the EHF Champions League the total number of matches remains the same – and further coordination with the participating clubs and media partners will follow.

The new EHF Champions League Men*

The new format for the EHF Champions League sees the competition starting with six groups of four teams each.

While the teams ranked first and second after a group phase with round-robin home and away matches will qualify for the main round, the teams ranked third and fourth will continue in the EHF European League. 
The twelve teams qualified for the EHFCL main round will be divided into two groups of six, again playing home and away matches in a round-robin format.

The teams ranked first to fourth in each group at the end of the main round will qualify for the quarter-finals, the eventual of winners of those pairings will make it to the highlight event, the EHF FINAL4 in Cologne.

The journey also continues for the two teams ranked fifth in the main round, as they will progress to the Last 16 of the EHF European League.

The new EHF European League Men*

Starting with 32 teams in eight groups of four, the new EHF European League gets underway directly with the group phase – no qualification round will be played.

The teams ranked first and second qualify for the play-offs, a knockout round decided with home and away matches. The play-offs will be complemented by the twelve teams that ranked third and fourth after the group phase in the EHF Champions League.

14 winners will be joined by the two teams ranked fifth in the EHFCL main round to complete the Last 16 – and from there the competition progresses all the way to the EHF Finals.

Michael Wiederer said: "Our aim was to improve the product, while keeping the best elements from the existing formats. We increase the number of participants, the top clubs keep the same number of home matches against other top clubs, there is one round less to be played in what is already a busy spring, and we further strengthen the EHF European League with teams coming from the EHF Champions League."

Final setup in December

The place distribution for both the new EHF Champions League and the new EHF European League as well as corresponding topics will be worked on and eventually confirmed by the EHF Executive Committee as part of its December session.

The body also confirmed that a reform of the women’s club competitions will ensue for the start of the 2027/28 season.

*High-res visualisations of the new playing systems for the EHF Champions League and the EHF European League are available for download below.