![]() The
Puskás Aréna in
Budapest will host the final. | |
Tournament details | |
---|---|
Dates | Qualifying: 8 July – 27 August 2025 Competition proper: 16 September 2025 – 30 May 2026 |
Teams | Competition proper: 36 Total: 81 (from 53 associations) |
The 2025–26 UEFA Champions League will be the 71th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 33rd season since it was rebranded from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League.
The final tournament will be played in Hungary from 10 March to 30 May 2026.
The schedule of the competition is as follows. [1] Compared to past seasons, "exclusive week" will be introduced in which Thursday will also be a matchday. [2] [3] [4] All matches in other weeks will be played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays apart from the final.
Phase | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
---|---|---|---|---|
Qualifying | First qualifying round | 22 June 2025 | 8–9 July 2025 | 15–16 July 2025 |
Second qualifying round | 23 June 2025 | 22–23 July 2025 | 29–30 July 2025 | |
Third qualifying round | 30 June 2025 | 5–6 August 2025 | 12 August 2025 | |
Play-offs | Play-off round | 4 August 2025 | 19–20 August 2025 | 26–27 August 2025 |
League phase | Matchday 1 | 28 August 2025 | 16–18 September 2025 | |
Matchday 2 | 30 September – 1 October 2025 | |||
Matchday 3 | 21–22 October 2025 | |||
Matchday 4 | 4–5 November 2025 | |||
Matchday 5 | 25–26 November 2025 | |||
Matchday 6 | 9–10 December 2025 | |||
Matchday 7 | 20–21 January 2026 | |||
Matchday 8 | 28 January 2026 | |||
Knockout phase | Knockout round play-offs | 30 January 2026 | 10–11 February 2026 | 17–18 February 2026 |
Round of 16 | 20 February 2026 | 4–5 & 10–11 March 2026 | ||
Quarter-finals | 14–15 April 2026 | |||
Semi-finals | 7–8 May 2026 | |||
Final | 30 May 2026 at Puskás Aréna, Budapest |
Budapest |
|
Budapest |
---|---|---|
Puskás Aréna ( final venue) |
Groupama Arena | |
Capacity: 67,215 | Capacity: 23,700 | |
![]() |
![]() |
A total of 81 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: [5]
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. [6] 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:
|
|
|
UEFA New Format
was invoked but never defined (see the
help page).
![]() The
Puskás Aréna in
Budapest will host the final. | |
Tournament details | |
---|---|
Dates | Qualifying: 8 July – 27 August 2025 Competition proper: 16 September 2025 – 30 May 2026 |
Teams | Competition proper: 36 Total: 81 (from 53 associations) |
The 2025–26 UEFA Champions League will be the 71th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 33rd season since it was rebranded from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League.
The final tournament will be played in Hungary from 10 March to 30 May 2026.
The schedule of the competition is as follows. [1] Compared to past seasons, "exclusive week" will be introduced in which Thursday will also be a matchday. [2] [3] [4] All matches in other weeks will be played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays apart from the final.
Phase | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
---|---|---|---|---|
Qualifying | First qualifying round | 22 June 2025 | 8–9 July 2025 | 15–16 July 2025 |
Second qualifying round | 23 June 2025 | 22–23 July 2025 | 29–30 July 2025 | |
Third qualifying round | 30 June 2025 | 5–6 August 2025 | 12 August 2025 | |
Play-offs | Play-off round | 4 August 2025 | 19–20 August 2025 | 26–27 August 2025 |
League phase | Matchday 1 | 28 August 2025 | 16–18 September 2025 | |
Matchday 2 | 30 September – 1 October 2025 | |||
Matchday 3 | 21–22 October 2025 | |||
Matchday 4 | 4–5 November 2025 | |||
Matchday 5 | 25–26 November 2025 | |||
Matchday 6 | 9–10 December 2025 | |||
Matchday 7 | 20–21 January 2026 | |||
Matchday 8 | 28 January 2026 | |||
Knockout phase | Knockout round play-offs | 30 January 2026 | 10–11 February 2026 | 17–18 February 2026 |
Round of 16 | 20 February 2026 | 4–5 & 10–11 March 2026 | ||
Quarter-finals | 14–15 April 2026 | |||
Semi-finals | 7–8 May 2026 | |||
Final | 30 May 2026 at Puskás Aréna, Budapest |
Budapest |
|
Budapest |
---|---|---|
Puskás Aréna ( final venue) |
Groupama Arena | |
Capacity: 67,215 | Capacity: 23,700 | |
![]() |
![]() |
A total of 81 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: [5]
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. [6] 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:
|
|
|
UEFA New Format
was invoked but never defined (see the
help page).