2025–26 UEFA Champions League explained

Tourney Name:UEFA Champions League
Year:2025–26
Size:260
Dates:Qualifying:
8 July – 27 August 2025
Competition proper:
16 September 2025 – 30 May 2026
Num Teams:Competition proper: 36
Total: 83
Associations:53
Prevseason:2024–25
Nextseason:2026–27

The 2025–26 UEFA Champions League will be the 71st season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 34th season since it was rebranded from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League.

The final will be played on 30 May 2026 at Puskás Aréna in Budapest, Hungary.[1]

Association team allocation

A total of 83 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:[2]

Association ranking

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.[3] 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:

Association ranking for 2025–26 UEFA Champions League
RankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes
1104.303align=center rowspan=54
290.284
389.489
486.624
566.831
661.3003
756.316align=center rowspan=92
848.800
938.600
1036.050
1136.050
1232.975
1332.600
1431.625
1531.525
1631.450align=center rowspan=41
1731.125
1828.000
1927.780
RankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes
2025.525align=center rowspan=21
2125.375
2222.965align=center rowspan=10
2322.100align=center rowspan=161
2421.875
2521.500
2621.375
2720.375
2820.125
2919.625
3013.250
3113.125
3211.541
3311.500
3411.125
3510.875
3610.625
3710.625
3810.375
RankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes
3910.000align=center rowspan=11
4010.000align=center rowspan=10
419.583align=center rowspan=151
429.208
438.625
448.500
458.250
467.625
477.375
487.207
496.625
506.000
515.998
525.791
535.708
544.957
551.832

Distribution

Teams entering in this roundTeams advancing from the previous round
First qualifying round
(30 teams)
  • 30 champions from associations 25–55 (except Liechtenstein)
Second qualifying round
(30 teams)
Champions Path
(24 teams)
  • 9 champions from associations 15–24 (except Russia)
  • 15 winners from the first qualifying round
League Path
(6 teams)
  • 6 runners-up from associations 10–15
Third qualifying round
(20 teams)
Champions Path
(12 teams)
  • 12 winners from the second qualifying round (Champions Path)
League Path
(8 teams)
  • 3 runners-up from associations 7–9
  • 1 third-placed team from association 6
  • 1 fourth-placed team from association 5
  • 3 winners from the second qualifying round (League Path)
Play-off round
(14 teams)
Champions Path
(10 teams)
  • 4 champions from associations 11–14
  • 6 winners from the third qualifying round (Champions Path)
League Path
(4 teams)
  • 4 winners from the third qualifying round (League Path)
League stage
(36 teams)
  • UEFA Champions League title holders
  • UEFA Europa League title holders
  • 2 associations with the highest coefficients from the previous season will receive an extra Champions League berth.
  • 10 champions from associations 1–10
  • 6 runners-up from associations 1–6
  • 5 third-placed teams from associations 1–5
  • 4 fourth-placed teams from associations 1–4
  • 5 winners from the play-off round (Champions Path)
  • 2 winners from the play-off round (League Path)

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:

Teams

The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round:

The second qualifying round, third qualifying round and play-off round are divided into Champions Path (CH) and League Path (LP).

Schedule

The schedule of the competition is as follows.[4] Compared to past seasons, "exclusive week" will be introduced in which Thursday will also be a matchday.[5] [6] All matches in other weeks will be played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays apart from the final.

Schedule for 2025–26 UEFA Champions League
PhaseRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond leg
QualifyingFirst qualifying round22 June 20258–9 July 202515–16 July 2025
Second qualifying round23 June 202522–23 July 202529–30 July 2025
Third qualifying round21 July 20255–6 August 202512 August 2025
Play-offsPlay-off round4 August 202519–20 August 202526–27 August 2025
League phaseMatchday 128 August 202516–18 September 2025
Matchday 230 September – 1 October 2025
Matchday 321–22 October 2025
Matchday 44–5 November 2025
Matchday 525–26 November 2025
Matchday 69–10 December 2025
Matchday 720–21 January 2026
Matchday 828 January 2026
Knockout phaseKnockout phase play-offs29 January 202617–18 February 202624–25 February 2026
Round of 1627 February 202610–11 March 202617–18 March 2026
Quarter-finals7–8 April 202614–15 April 2026
Semi-finals28–29 April 20265–6 May 2026
Final30 May 2026 at Puskás Aréna, Budapest

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Budapest to host UEFA Champions League Final 2026 . Union of European Football Associations . 22 May 2024 . 22 May 2024.
  2. Web site: Regulations of the UEFA Champions League, 2024/25 Season. UEFA. Nyon. 2024 . 1 April 2024.
  3. Web site: Association coefficients 2023/24 . 1 June 2024 . UEFA.com . Union of European Football Associations.
  4. UEFA club competitions cycle 2024–27 ("Post 2024") . 36/2023 . UEFA Circular Letter . . 7 July 2023 . 10 July 2023.
  5. Web site: Sheldon . Dan . 16 May 2023 . How the new Champions League format works . 11 December 2023 . The Athletic . en.
  6. Web site: 10 July 2023 . More national derby games possible when revamped Champions League starts next year . 11 December 2023 . AP News . en.