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Women’s European football is set for big changes next season with the reformatting of the Champions League and the introduction of a new competition, the Europa Cup.
The changes mark a significant evolution for the women’s game and echo the structure seen in men’s European competitions, which have also undergone improvements since the start of the current campaign. This UEFA Women’s Champions LeagueWhat began as the UEFA Women’s Cup in the 2001/02 season, will adopt a new format aimed at broadening its competitiveness, while the Europa Cup provides an additional platform for clubs across the continent to test themselves on the big stage.
90 minutes Each takes a closer look at the competition’s revamped format, the key changes fans need to know and the crucial dates to mark in their calendars for the 2025/26 season.
From next season, the Champions League will have expanded entry and an 18-team league stage that will replace the group stage format. Teams will no longer play three opponents twice and will instead face six different teams in the league, playing half their games at home and half away.
The six opponents will be decided by draw, with each team ranked in three different seeding pots based on their latest club coefficient ranking. Each team will be drawn to play two opponents from each pot, one match each at home and away.
The results of these matches will determine the league stage rankings, and it is hoped that this new format will increase competitiveness towards the end of the round, rather than groups being decided with numerous games to be played, as is currently the case. The top four teams out of 18 will automatically qualify for the quarter-finals, while the fifth to 12th-placed teams will compete in a two-legged knock-out play-off to book their place in the last eight.
Those who automatically qualify for the quarter-finals will be seeded and will play the second leg at home. From that point, the competition will follow the existing format leading to the finals.
In terms of qualification, the previous season’s winners automatically qualify, as do the local champions of the six top-ranked national associations. The runners-up of associations one and two will also advance directly to the league stage, with the remaining places determined by the qualifying path.
In 2025/26, the champions and runners-up of France and Germany will automatically qualify for the league stage, along with the champions of Spain, England, Portugal and Italy.
qualification
League stage
Knockout round
13 teams will enter the newly formed Europa Cup directly, these are the third-placed domestic league teams from associations ranked 8–13 and the runners-up teams from associations ranked 18–24. The Europa Cup will also give a second chance to clubs eliminated in the third qualifying round of the Champions League, as well as to the runners-up and third-placed teams from the second qualifying round.
There will be no league stage or group stage in the Europa Cup as it will be a direct knockout that will run parallel to the Champions League. A total of six rounds will be played, starting with the first and second qualifying rounds and ending with a two-legged final at the end of the season.
The winners of this competition will automatically qualify for the third qualifying round of the Champions Path of the following season’s Women’s Champions League, meaning they will have just one round to secure a place in the league stage of the preliminary tournament.
