2025-26 UWCL Qualifying Rounds

[ General Information: Main | Assoc Rank | Club Rank | Calculation | Archive ] [ 2024-25: Entry | Rds 1 & 2 | Group Stage | Knockout | Assoc Coeffs | Money ]

The 2025-26 UEFA Women's Champions League consists of three phases: qualifying rounds, a league stage, and the knockout round. Nine teams have automatic berths to the main league stage: the champions of the top six associations, the runners-up of the top two associations, and the defending champions. The other nine spots in the league stage are determined by three qualifying rounds.

There are two branches for the qualifying rounds: the Champions' Path, awarding four berths among the remaining national champions; and the League Path, awarding five berths to second and third-place teams from the top 17 nations.

Entry points for teams are indicated by this chart:

RankAssociations1st2nd3rd
1France MainMainL3
2Germany
3Spain L3
4England L2
5Portugal
6Italy L2
7Sweden C2
8-17CZE, NED, DEN, NOR,
AUT, UKR, BLR,
ISL, SCO, KAZ
18-28SUI, SRB, ALB, CYP,
BEL, RUS, FIN, BIH,
HUN, ROU, SVN
29+All other associationsC1

In addition, the defending champions enter in the Main Stage, and the holders of the Europa Cup would enter in round C3.
These starting locations will be adjusted based on vacancies.

Rebalancing

Each empty space in the starting grid is filled via procedures spelled out by UEFA in the competition regulations.

If the 2024-25 UWCL champions have qualified for the 2025-26 UWCL by their domestic play, it will create a vacancy which is filled first.
As there was no 2024-25 UWEC, the berth in C3 for the winners of that competition is vacant. The team in C2 with the highest club coefficient (after the previous paragraph) will be promoted to C3. The vacancy in C2 is then filled by promoting a team from C1 based on club coefficient.
Because Russia is presumed to still be banned from UEFA competitions, there is a vacancy in C2 which is filled by association ranking. Poland is the highest-ranked association scheduled to have its champion start in C1, so the Poland champion is promoted to C2.
Finally, if all of the above leaves 20 or fewer teams in C1, there will be only five mini-tournaments in C1, and a team will be promoted from C1 to C2 based on club coefficient.

Champions' Path

Round 1

Round 1 consists of four-team mini-tournaments held at a single site. In practice, there are six groups, but because of rebalancing, there may be only five groups.
The entrants are seeded based on their 2025 club coefficient, with the top 12 (or possibly 10) being seeded and the remainder unseeded. Each group will have two seeded teams and two unseeded teams. If necessary, one or two groups will have only one unseeded team.
For each group with four teams, there are two semifinals (each featuring a seeded team and an unseeded team), a third-place game, and a final. Only the winning team advances to Round 2, and all other teams' European seasons are over. In the group with three teams, the highest-ranked seeded team gets a bye to the final, while the other two teams play the semifinal.

Qualified teams, organized by coefficient

Seeded Teams Unseeded Teams
TeamAssocCoeff TeamAssocCoeff
BenficaPOR37 NeftciAZE 0.0
St. PoltenAUT32 PyunikARM 0.6
BIIK ShymkentKAZ21 GalatasarayTUR 1.5
TwenteNED18 Pogon SzczecinPOL 1.8
VllazniaALB17 FarulROU 1.8
ValerengaNOR15 Cardiff CityWAL 2.2
VorsklaUKR15 LjubotenMKD 2.8
AnderlechtBEL14 Crvena ZvezdaSRB 2.8
ApollonCYP14 GlentoranNIR 3.6
ValurISL13 PeamountIRL 4.1
SFK 2000BIH12 NordsjaellandDEN 4.3
FerencvarosHUN11 Spartak MyjavaSVK 4.3
ServetteSUI11 KIFRO 4.8
ZNK MuraSVN11 NSA SofiaBUL 5.3
GintraLTU10 LanchkhutiGEO 5.4
Dinamo MinskBLR 9.1 Anenii NoiMDA 5.4
PAOKGRE 8.4 CelticSCO 6.4
BreznicaMNE 8.4 Kiryat GatISR 6.4
Racing UnionLUX 7.2 SFK RigaLVA 6.6
MitrovicaKOS 7.1 BirkirkaraMLT 6.6
KuPSFIN 7.0 FloraEST 6.6
OsijekCRO 6.7

The teams were drawn into eleven groups, as follows:

SemifinalsFinalPts
SFK 20003 SFK 200002.0
KI0 Benfica4R2
Group C1 at SFK 2000 Third place Pts
Benfica3 KI01.0
Nordsjaelland1 Nordsjaelland21.5

SemifinalsFinalPts
Vllaznia3 Vllaznia02.0
Lanchkhuti0 St. Polten1R2
Group C2 at Lanchkhuti Third place Pts
St. Polten5 Lanchkhuti21.5
Neftci0 Neftci11.0

SemifinalsFinalPts
KuPS1 Celtic2R2
Celtic3 aet Gintra02.0
Group C3 at Gintra Third place Pts
Gintra5 KuPS61.5
Anenii Noi0 Anenii Noi01.0

SemifinalsFinalPts
Breznica1 Birkirkara02.0
Birkirkara2 aet Anderlecht5R2
Group C4 at Birkirkara Third place Pts
Anderlecht4 Breznica01.0
Crvena Zvezda1 Crvena Zvezda31.5

SemifinalsFinalPts
Twente7 Twente5R2
Cardiff City0 Valur02.0
Group C5 at Twente Third place Pts
Valur10 Cardiff City01.0
Ljuboten0 Ljuboten21.5

SemifinalsFinalPts
Apollon3 Apollon22.0
Pyunik0 ZNK Mura3R2
Group C6 at Apollon Third place Pts
ZNK Mura3 Pyunik01.0
Glentoran2 Glentoran11.5

SemifinalsFinalPts
PAOK2 aet PAOK02.0
Kiryat Gat1 Servette2R2
Group C7 at Pogon Szczecin Third place Pts
Servette1 Kiryat Gat01.0
Pogon Szczecin0 Pogon Sczcecin11.5

SemifinalsFinalPts
BIIK Shymkent3 BIIK Shymkent02.0
NSA Sofia0 Galatasaray5R2
Group C8 at Racing Union Third place Pts
Racing Union4 NSA Sofia01.0
Galatasaray1 Racing Union21.5

SemifinalsFinalPts
Osijek2 Osijek2R2
Spartak Myjava0 Peamount12.0
Group C9 at Osijek Third place Pts
Dinamo Minsk1 Spartak Myjava21.0
Peamount2 aet Dinamo Minsk31.5

SemifinalsFinalPts
Ferencvaros2 Ferencvaros02.0
Flora1 Vorskla2R2
Group C10 at Ferencvaros Third place Pts
Vorskla5 Flora0 (7)1.5
SFK Riga0 SFK Riga0 (6)1.0

SemifinalFinalPts
Mitrovica0 Valerenga3R2
Farul4 Farul12.0
Group C11 at Farul Third place Pts
Valerengabye Mitrovica1.5

Round 2

Round 2 consists of home-and-away series. Three teams begin at this stage, the champions of the fifth, sixth, and seventh ranked nations. These are Roma (ITA), Hammarby (SWE), and Slavia Praha (CZE). Eleven teams won their way in via Round 1.

Qualified teams, organized by coefficient

Seeded Teams Unseeded Teams
TeamAssocCoeff TeamAssocCoeff
BenficaPOR37 GalatasarayTUR 1.5
Slavia PrahaCZE33 HammarbySWE 5.0
St. PoltenAUT32 CelticSCO 6.4
RomaITA29 OsijekCRO 6.7
TwenteNED18 ZNK MuraSVN10.8
ValerengaNOR15.3 ServetteSUI11.4
VorsklaUKR14.8 AnderlechtBEL14.4

Pairings

GSSt. Polten @ 3-0   ZNK Mura 3
  5-0 @
3Benfica   2-1 @ Hammarby GS
@ 0-2  
3Osijek @ 1-4   Twente GS
  0-4 @
GSGalatasaray @ 2-2   Slavia Praha 3
  2-1 @
aet
GSRoma @ 3-1   Servette 3
  7-2 @
3Anderlecht @ 1-2   Valerenga GS
  0-3 @
3Vorskla @ 0-1   Celtic GS
  0-2 @
The order of matches for Benfica v Hammarby was reversed after the draw.

League Path

Round 1

Round 1 consists of four-team mini-tournaments held at a single site. The 16 entrants are seeded based on their 2024 team coefficient, with the top 8 being seeded and the remainder unseeded. Four groups will be drawn, each with two seeded teams and two unseeded teams.
For each group, there are two semifinals (each featuring a seeded team and an unseeded team), a third-place game, and a final. Only the winning team advances to Round 2, and all other teams' European seasons are over.

Qualified teams, organized by coefficient

Seeded Teams Unseeded Teams
ArsenalENG58 Kolos KovalivkaUKR 3.8
Atletico MadridESP35 First ViennaAUT 4.2
Paris FCFRA27 RangersSCO 6.4
Sparta PrahaCZE26 LinkopingSWE 6.5
Eintracht FrankfurtGER25 Sporting LisbonPOR 6.8
AjaxNED23 RosenborgNOR 9.3
BrondbyDEN22 FiorentinaITA17
FC MinskBLR21 BreidablikISL18

The teams were drawn into these groups:

SemifinalsFinalPts
Brondby0 Fiorentina1R2
Fiorentina1 Ajax02.0
Group L1 at Brondby Third place Pts
Ajax4 aet Brondby21.5
Kolos Kovalivka1 Kolos Kovalivka11.0

SemifinalsFinalPts
Sparta Praha3 aet Sparta Praha02.0
Linkoping1 Paris FC2R2
Group L2 at Linkoping Third place Pts
Paris FC9 Linkoping81.5
First Vienna0 First Vienna01.0

SemifinalsFinalPts
Arsenal6 Arsenal1R2
Rangers0 Rosenborg02.0
Group L3 at Arsenal Third place Pts
Atletico Madrid2 (2) Rangers01.0
Rosenborg2 (3) Atletico Madrid31.5

SemifinalsFinalPts
FC Minsk1 Breidablik02.0
Breidablik6 Sporting Lisbon2R2
Group L4 at Breidablik Third place Pts
Eintracht Frankfurt0 FC Minsk01.0
Sporting Lisbon2 Eintracht Frankfurt61.5

Round 2

Round 2 consists of home-and-away series. Six teams begin at this stage, the runner-ups of the top six associations, and they are joined by the four winners of round one.

Seeded Teams Unseeded Teams
TeamAssocCoeff TeamAssocCoeff
Paris St GermainFRA99 Sporting LisbonPOR 6.8
WolfsburgGER93 FiorentinaITA17
ArsenalENG58 Paris FCFRA27
Real MadridESP41.6 HackenSWE35
Manchester CityENG40.9 JuventusITA40.8

Pairings

3Sporting Lisbon@ 1-2   Real Madrid GS
  1-3 @
GSJuventus @ 3-1   Paris St Germain 3
  2-1 @
3Paris FC @ 0-5   Manchester City GS
  0-3 @
3Fiorentina @ 0-7   Wolfsburg GS
  0-5 @
3Hacken @ 1-0   Arsenal GS
  0-4 @