2025–26 EHF European League

EHF European League
2025–26
The EHF Finals will be played at the Barclays Arena in Hamburg, Germany.
Tournament information
SportHandball
DateQualification round:
30 August – 7 September 2025
Group stage:
14 October – 2 December 2025
Main round:
17 February – 10 March 2026
Knockout stage:
31 March – 5 May 2026
Final Four:
30–31 May 2026
Tournament
format(s)
Round Robin and Knockout stage
TeamsQualification round: 24[a]
Group stage: 32[b]
Knockout stage: 12
Total: 44 (from 18 countries)
WebsiteEHF European League

The 2025–26 EHF European League is the 45th season of Europe's secondary club handball tournament organised by European Handball Federation (EHF), and the 6th season since it was renamed from the EHF Cup to the EHF European League.

The defending champions are SG Flensburg-Handewitt, having won their second consecutive and third overall title.

Format

  • Qualification Round: 24 teams will be drawn into 12 different home and away ties. The 12 winners will advance to the group stage.
  • Group Stage: The 20 teams already qualified along with the 12 winners of the qualification round will be drawn into 8 groups of 4 teams each, where they will play in a double round-robin format. The top 2 teams in each group will progress to the main round. Teams from the same country can't be drawn into the same group.
  • Main Round: The 16 group winners and runners-up will be placed in 4 groups of 4 teams each where they will play a single round-robin. The winners will advance directly to the quarterfinals, while 2nd and 3rd placed teams will qualify for the play-offs.
  • Play-offs: The 2nd and 3rd placed teams from each group in the main round will play in 4 different home and away ties. The winners will progress to the quarterfinals.
  • Quarter-finals: The main round group winners will face a play-off winner to determine who makes it to the European League finals.
  • EL finals: They will be played in a Final 4 format similar to the Champions League.

Rankings

The rankings are based on the performances of each club from a respective country from a three-year period.

  • Associations 1–2 can have four clubs qualify.
  • Associations 3–9 can have three clubs qualify.
  • Associations 10–18 can have two clubs qualify.
  • Associations below the top 18 are allowed to enter apply one club for a potential wildcard.

Ranking facts

Qualified teams

The full list of teams qualified for each stage of the 2024–25 EHF European League was announced on 8 July 2025.[2][3]

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

  • CW: Cup winners
  • CR: Cup runners-up
  • 1st, ..., 5th: League position of the previous season
Group stage
MT Melsungen (3rd) THW Kiel (4th) SG Flensburg-Handewitt EL (5th) FC Porto (2nd)
SL Benfica (3rd) Montpellier Handball (3rd) Fenix Toulouse (4th) RK Nexe (2nd)
Fredericia HK (3rd)[c] Kadetten Schaffhausen (1st) Fraikin BM Granollers (2nd) Abanca Ademar León (CR)
IFK Kristianstad (2nd)[d] REBUD KPR Ostrovia Ostrów Wielkopolski (3rd) AHC Potaissa Turda (2nd) RD LL Grosist Slovan (1st)
HC Vardar 1961 (2nd) FTC-Green Collect (3rd) Knattspyrnufélagið Fram (1st) Tatran Prešov (1st)
Qualification round
TSV Hannover-Burgdorf (6th) Maritimo da Madeira Andebol SAD (4th) ABC de Braga Lusíadas Saúde (5th) Saint-Raphael Var Handball (5th)
MRK Sesvete (3rd) MRK Čakovec (4th) MRK Dugo Selo (CR[4]) Mors-Thy Håndbold (4th)[c]
SAH - Skanderborg (5th, CR)[c] BSV Bern (2nd) HC Kriens-Luzern (3rd, CW) Bathco BM Torrelavega (3rd)
Irudek Bidasoa Irún (4th) HK Malmö (3rd)[d] HF Karlskrona (4th)[d] IK Sävehof (5th)[d]
KGHM Chrobry Głogów (5th) CS Minaur Baia Mare (4th) RK Gorenje Velenje (2nd) HC Alkaloid EC (3rd)
Stjarnan (CR) Elverum Håndball (1st) RK Partizan WC SPL (1st) HCB Karviná WC SPL (1st)
  • EL: European League title holders
  • EC: European Cup title holders
  • WC: Accepted Wildcard
  • SPL: Special Play Off teams

Round and draw dates

Schedule

Phase Round Draw date Round date[5]
Qualification round First leg 15 July 2025 30–31 August 2025
Second leg 6–7 September 2025
Group stage Matchday 1 18 July 2025 14 October 2025
Matchday 2 21 October 2025
Matchday 3 11 November 2025
Matchday 4 18 November 2025
Matchday 5 25 November 2025
Matchday 6 2 December 2025
Main Round Matchday 7 17 February 2026
Matchday 8 24 February 2026
Matchday 9 3 March 2026
Matchday 10 10 March 2026
Play offs First leg no draw 31 March 2026
Second leg 7 April 2026
Quarterfinals First leg 28 April 2026
Second leg 5 May 2026
Final four Semi-finals TBD 30 May 2026
Final and Third place game 31 May 2026

Qualification round

Main article: 2025–26 EHF European League qualification round

The draw for the qualification round was conducted on 15 July 2025 in Vienna, Austria.[6][7] The eleven winners on aggregate advanced to the group stage. The first legs will be held on 30 to 31 August 2025 while the second legs will be held on 6–7 September 2025.


Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
TSV Hannover-Burgdorf 66–55 HC Alkaloid 37–27 29–28
Mors-Thy Håndbold 64–80 Saint-Raphael Var Handball 32–45 32–35
RK Gorenje Velenje 50–59 HC Kriens-Luzern 25–27 25–32
Irudek Bidasoa Irún 65–50 ABC de Braga Lusíadas Saúde 35–26 30–24
KGHM Chrobry Głogów 65–70 HF Karlskrona 30–33 35–37
CS Minaur Baia Mare 53–52 Stjarnan 26–26 27–26
HK Malmö 60–71 IK Sävehof 24–33 36–38
MRK Dugo Selo 56–64 MRK Sesvete 32–29 24–35
Elverum Håndball 67–56 Bathco BM Torrelavega 38–28 29–28
MRK Čakovec 55–73 BSV Bern 28–31 27–42
SAH - Skanderborg 74–56 Maritimo da Madeira Andebol SAD 38–25 36–31

Special Qualification Play off

Unlike the other Play offs, the losers of this tie will drop down to the European Cup.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
RK Partizan 61–53 HCB Karviná 31–27 30–26

Group stage

Main article: 2025–26 EHF European League group stage
Location of teams of the 2025–26 EHF European League group stage
Brown: Group A; Red: Group B; Orange: Group C; Yellow: Group D;
Green: Group E; Blue: Group F; Purple: Group G; Pink: Group H

The draw for the group stage was conducted on 18 July 2025 at the EHF office in Vienna.

In the group stage, teams were ranked according to points (2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). After completion of the group stage, if two or more teams have scored the same number of points, the ranking will be determined as follows:

Tiebreakers
  1. Highest number of points in matches between the teams directly involved;
  2. Superior goal difference in matches between the teams directly involved;
  3. Highest number of goals scored in matches between the teams directly involved;
  4. Superior goal difference in all matches of the group;
  5. Highest number of plus goals in all matches of the group;
  6. Drawing of Lots

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification FLE BID SRA POT
1 SG Flensburg-Handewitt (Q) 6 6 0 0 218 180 +38 12 Main Round — 38–35 32–30 46–28
2 Irudek Bidasoa Irún (Q) 6 3 0 3 201 194 +7 6 32–33 — 33–25 35–30
3 Saint-Raphaël Var Handball (E) 6 3 0 3 195 182 +13 6 29–36 35–32 — 42–24
4 AHC Potaissa Turda (E) 6 0 0 6 166 224 −58 0 26–33 33–34 25–34 —
Source: EHF
(E) Eliminated; (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification KIE MON OST BRN
1 THW Kiel (Q) 6 6 0 0 196 146 +50 12 Main Round — 27–18 34–21 37–27
2 Montpellier Handball (Q) 6 4 0 2 195 168 +27 8 28–30 — 37–26 37–29
3 REBUD KPR Ostrovia Ostrów Wielkopolski (E) 6 1 1 4 157 198 −41 3 25–33 25–38 — 32–28
4 BSV Bern (E) 6 0 1 5 170 206 −36 1 27–35 31–37 28–28 —
Source: EHF
(E) Eliminated; (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated

Group C

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification SAH GRA SLO MIN
1 SAH - Skanderborg (Q) 6 5 0 1 214 168 +46 10 Main Round — 28–29 34–30 39–26
2 Fraikin BM Granollers (Q) 6 3 1 2 169 175 −6 7 26–31 — 27–35 29–28
3 RD LL Grosist Slovan (E) 6 2 0 4 181 189 −8 4 30–37 29–34 — 35–29
4 CS Minaur Baia Mare (E) 6 1 1 4 162 194 −32 3 27–45 24–24 28–22 —
Source: EHF
(E) Eliminated; (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated

Group D

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification POR ELV LUZ FRA
1 FC Porto (Q) 6 5 0 1 228 169 +59 10 Main Round — 29–31 44–31 44–30
2 Elverum Håndball (Q) 6 4 0 2 198 179 +19 8 25–29 — 31–34 38–24
3 HC Kriens-Luzern (E) 6 3 0 3 200 213 −13 6 26–44 34–38 — 40–25
4 Knattspyrnufélagið Fram (E) 6 0 0 6 165 230 −65 0 26–38 29–35 31–35 —
Source: EHF
(E) Eliminated; (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated

Group E

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification MEL BEN FTC KAR
1 MT Melsungen (Q) 6 6 0 0 180 163 +17 12 Main Round — 28–26 33–27 35–34
2 SL Benfica (Q) 6 3 0 3 191 181 +10 6 26–30 — 38–25 36–33
3 FTC-Green Collect (E) 6 3 0 3 173 190 −17 6 25–28 33–31 — 31–29
4 HF Karlskrona (E) 6 0 0 6 184 194 −10 0 25–26 32–34 31–32 —
Source: EHF
(E) Eliminated; (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated

Group F

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification VAR KRI SEV FEN
1 HC Vardar 1961 (Q) 6 5 0 1 203 176 +27 10 Main Round — 35–30 34–29 37–35
2 IFK Kristianstad (Q) 6 4 1 1 186 179 +7 9 32–31 — 28–27 34–26
3 MRK Sesvete (E) 6 2 1 3 181 195 −14 5 24–38 32–32 — 32–31
4 Fenix Toulouse (E) 6 0 0 6 178 198 −20 0 26–28 28–30 32–37 —
Source: EHF
(E) Eliminated; (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated

Group G

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification HAN FRE SAV TAT
1 TSV Hannover-Burgdorf (Q) 6 5 0 1 196 173 +23 10 Main Round — 31–34 27–25 40–28
2 Fredericia HK (Q) 6 3 1 2 193 181 +12 7 29–31 — 29–33 38–30
3 IK Sävehof (E) 6 2 2 2 178 173 +5 6 28–30 29–29 — 33–28
4 Tatran Prešov (E) 6 0 1 5 172 212 −40 1 29–37 27–34 30–30 —
Source: EHF
(E) Eliminated; (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated

Group H

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification NEX KAD PAR ADE
1 RK Nexe (Q) 6 3 1 2 175 169 +6 7 Main Round — 29–30 30–22 29–28
2 Kadetten Schaffhausen (Q) 6 3 0 3 176 161 +15 6 31–32 — 32–19 30–22
3 RK Partizan (E) 6 3 0 3 147 162 −15 6 30–27 29–26 — 25–18
4 Abanca Ademar León (E) 6 2 1 3 155 161 −6 5 28–28 30–27 29–22 —
Source: EHF
(E) Eliminated; (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated

Main round

Main article: 2025–26 EHF European League main round

In the Main Round, the remaining sixteen teams played in four groups of four. Teams were matched with two opponents they had not previously played against in the Group Stage, while points against the teams that advanced from the same group were carried over. At the end of the Main Round, the four group winners advanced to the Quarterfinals, while 2nd- and 3rd-placed teams from each group qualified for the Play-offs.

Group I

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification KIE FLE BID MON
1 THW Kiel 2 2 0 0 57 46 +11 4 Quarterfinals — – – 27–18
2 SG Flensburg-Handewitt 2 2 0 0 71 67 +4 4 Play Offs – — 38–35 –
3 Irudek Bidasoa Irún 2 0 0 2 67 71 −4 0 – 32–33 — –
4 Montpellier Handball 2 0 0 2 46 57 −11 0 28–30 – – —
Updated to match(es) played on 3 December 2025. Source: EHF

Group II

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification SAH POR ELV GRA
1 SAH - Skanderborg 2 1 0 1 59 55 +4 2 Quarterfinals — − − 28–29
2 FC Porto 2 1 0 1 58 56 +2 2 Play Offs − — 29–31 −
3 Elverum Håndball 2 1 0 1 56 58 −2 2 − 25–29 — −
4 Fraikin BM Granollers 2 1 0 1 55 59 −4 2 26–31 − − —
Updated to match(es) played on 3 December 2025. Source: EHF

Group III

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification MEL VAR KRI BEN
1 MT Melsungen 2 2 0 0 58 52 +6 4 Quarterfinals — − − 28–26
2 HC Vardar 1961 2 1 0 1 66 62 +4 2 Play Offs − — 35–30 −
3 IFK Kristianstad 2 1 0 1 62 66 −4 2 – 32–31 — −
4 SL Benfica 2 0 0 2 52 58 −6 0 26–30 − − —
Updated to match(es) played on 3 December 2025. Source: EHF

Group IV

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification FRE KAD NEX HAN
1 Fredericia HK 2 1 0 1 63 62 +1 2 Quarterfinals — − − 29–31
2 Kadetten Schaffhausen 2 1 0 1 61 61 0 2 Play Offs − — 31–32 −
3 RK Nexe 2 1 0 1 61 61 0 2 − 29–30 — −
4 TSV Hannover-Burgdorf 2 1 0 1 62 63 −1 2 31–34 − − —
Updated to match(es) played on 3 December 2025. Source: EHF

Notes

  1. ^ From 17 countries.
  2. ^ From 17 or 18 nations
  3. ^ a b c To decide Denmark's representatives, the regular season standings are used.
  4. ^ a b c d To decide Sweden's representatives, the regular season standings are used.

See also

References

  1. ^ Place distribution for 2025/26 eurohandball.com
  2. ^ https://ehfel.eurohandball.com/men/2025-26/news/en/ehf-european-league-202526-seeding-set/
  3. ^ List of teams
  4. ^ https://www.24sata.hr/sport/rukometna-bajka-dugog-sela-izborili-smo-prvu-ligu-europu-i-finale-kupa-cestitao-je-i-kuzma-1051944
  5. ^ Schedule
  6. ^ "Qualification Round draw sets route to European League group matches". www.eurohandball.com.
  7. ^ "Teams to discover European League Men fate in group matches draw". www.eurohandball.com.
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