2025–26 EHF European Cup

The 2025–26 EHF European Cup is the 29th season of Europe's tertiary club handball tournament organised by the European Handball Federation (EHF), and the 6th season since it was renamed from the Challenge Cup to the EHF European Cup.^[1]

The defending champions are RK Alkaloid, who won their first title in the previous season.^[2]

The tournament is played in a knockout format. Ties were played in a home-and-away format. Finalists played a total of seven rounds (Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Last 16, Quarterfinals, Semifinals and the Final).

Rankings for the following federations were based on performances of clubs from each respective country during the most recent three-year period.

Rank[3]	Association	Average points	Teams
1	Norway	47.67	2
2	Serbia	36.00	3
3	Greece	33.67	5
4	Czech Republic	28.00	2
5	Belarus	28.00	0
6	Italy	17.67	4
7	Austria	17.00	4
8	Turkey	16.00	5
9	Luxembourg	14.00	4
10	Bosnia and Herzegovina	13.67	5
11	Israel	12.67	2
12	Cyprus	12.33	3
13	Estonia	11.00	3
14	Kosovo	10.33	3
15	Netherlands	10.00	1
16	Belgium	9.67	1
17	Faroe Islands	8.33	2
18	Latvia	8.33	1
19	Lithuania	7.33	3
20	Montenegro	4.33	2
21	Azerbaijan	4.00	2
N/A	Great Britain	0.00	1

For the following federations the number of spots in the EHF European Cup depended on the number spots in the other two European competitions.

	Association	Average points	Teams
23	Romania	48.50	2
24	Hungary	45.00	2
25	Iceland	35.33	1
26	Russia	31.00	0
27	Sweden	30.00	0
28	Slovenia	25.33	2
29	Croatia	25.00	0
30	Switzerland	22.00	1
31	Slovakia	20.67	1
32	Finland	11.67	1
33	Ukraine	8.33	1
34	North Macedonia	8.00	3

The full list of teams qualified for each stage of the 2025–26 EHF European Cup was announced on 8 July 2025.^[1][4]

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

• EC: European Cup title holders
• CW: Cup winners
• CR: Cup runners-up
• 2nd, 3rd, etc.: League position of the previous season

Round 2

Förthof UHK Krems (2nd)	Handball Tirol (5th, CW)	HC Fivers WAT Margareten (4th)	Kur
HC Baki	Sezoens Achilles Bocholt (2nd)	RK Izviđač (1st)	RK Konjuh Živinice (2nd)
RK Leotar (3rd)	Sabbianco Anorthosis Famagusta	A.C. European University Cyprus	HCB Karviná (1st)[a]
HC Dukla Prague (3rd)	SKKP Handball Brno (4th)	Põlva Serviti (1st)	Viljandi HC (3rd)
H71	St.Í.F	BK-46 (1st, CW)	Olympiacos SFP (1st)
Diomidis Argous (3rd)	Bianco Monte Drama (4th)	Oxford University Handball Club	MOL Tatabánya KC (4th)
Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar (6th)	Holon Yuvalim HC	Maccabi Tel Aviv	Pallamano Conversano
Cassano Magnago HC	Teamnetwork Albatro Siracusa	KH Rahoveci	KH Kastrioti
ZRHK Tenax Dobele	Dragūnas Klaipėda (1st)	VHC Šviesa	Red Boys Differdange (1st)
HC Berchem (2nd)	RK Lovćen (1st)	RK Budvanska rivijera (7th, CW)	HV KRAS/Volendam
GRK Ohrid (4th)	GRK Tikveš (5th)	Runar Sandefjord (3rd)	Nærbø IL (5th)
HC Buzău (3rd)	RK Vojvodina (2nd)	HC Metaloplastika Elixir (3rd)	HC Dinamo Pančevo (4th)
MŠK Považská Bystrica (2nd)	RK Trimo Trebnje (3rd)	RK Celje Pivovarna Laško (4th)	HSC Suhr Aarau (5th)
Beşiktaş JK (1st, CW)	Nilüfer BSK (2nd)	HC Motor (1st)

Round 1

roomz JAGS Vöslau (8th, CR)	RK Vogošća (6th)	RK Sloga Doboj (4th)	Parnassos Strovolou
Mistra (2nd)	AC PAOK (5th)	ESN Vrilissia (8th, CR)	Balatonfüredi KSE (5th)
Raimond Sassari	KH Besa Famgas	Granitas-Karys (2nd)	HB Dudelange (3rd)
Handball Esch (4th)	HC Butel Skopje (6th)	CSM Constanța (5th)	Beykoz BLD SK (4th, CR)
Spor Toto SK (5th)	Depsaş Enerji AS SK (3rd)

A total of 18 teams played in the first round. First leg matches were held on 6 and 7 September 2025, while second leg matches took place on 13 and 14 September 2025. The draw was on 15 July 2025.^[5]

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
HB Dudelange	56–55	HC Butel Skopje	27–31	29–24
roomz JAGS Vöslau	62–46	Mistra	31–23	31–23
Beykoz BLD SK	38–85	Balatonfüredi KSE	18–42	20–43
RK Sloga Doboj	74–54	Granitas-Karys	37–21	37–33
Handball Esch	73–75	RK Vogošća	42–31	31–44
ESN Vrilissia	44–60	AC PAOK	20–27	24–33
KH Besa Famgas	67–64	Depsaş Enerji AS SK	39–34	28–30
Spor Toto SK	70–78	Raimond Sassari	32–36	38–42
CSM Constanța	73–46	Parnassos Strovolou	39–22	34–24

A total of 64 teams played in the first round. First leg matches were held on 11 and 12 October 2025, while second leg matches took place on 18 and 19 October 2025.^[6]

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
KH Rahoveci	61–86	HB Dudelange	34–41	27–45
VHC Šviesa	55–51	HC Motor	31–25	24–26
Pallamano Conversano	47–56	SKKP Handball Brno	20–25	27–31
Beşiktaş JK	54–41	GRK Tikveš	31–20	23–21
HC Dinamo Pančevo	54–60	HCB Karviná	29–27	25–33
HC Baki	32–82	GRK Ohrid	11–44	21–38
RK Lovćen	55–58	Bianco Monte Drama	32–27	23–31
RK Sloga Doboj	74–65	ZRHK Tenax Dobele	41–31	33–34
Handball Tirol	59–56	Dragūnas Klaipėda	29–27	30–29
Balatonfüredi KSE	81–39	Kur	42–19	39–20
Raimond Sassari	69–61	MŠK Považská Bystrica	34–26	35–35
HC Metaloplastika Elixir	56–58	HSC Suhr Aarau	28–30	28–28
Teamnetwork Albatro Siracusa	53–72	Olympiacos SFP	28–34	25–38
HV KRAS/Volendam	57–58	Cassano Magnago HC	28–29	29–29
Förthof UHK Krems	58–59	HC Fivers WAT Margareten	31–27	27–32
Sezoens Achilles Bocholt	57–75	RK Celje Pivovarna Laško	27–31	30–44
Viljandi HC	55–89	Runar Sandefjord	26–45	29–44
RK Izviđač	72–51	KH Besa Famgas	40–19	32–32
A.C. European University Cyprus	44–64	Pölva Serviti	23–31	21–33
CSM Constanța	58–70	HC Dukla Prague	27–37	31–33
Nærbø IL	59–63	MOL Tatabánya KC	32–30	27–33
roomz JAGS Vöslau	49–62	RK Trimo Trebnje	28–32	21–30
RK Vogošća	62–69	BK-46	30–40	32–29
RK Konjuh Živinice	56–54	H71	36–28	20–26
St.Í.F	48–72	RK Vojvodina	27–38	21–34
Diomidis Argous	60–60 7–8 PS	RK Budvanska rivijera	28–30	32–30
Red Boys Differdange	60–54	KH Kastrioti	31–28	29–26
Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar	57–60	Nilüfer BSK	23–31	34–29
AC PAOK	60–56	Holon Yuvalim HC	31–31	29–25
HC Buzău	89–51	RK Leotar	46–21	43–30
HC Berchem	77–48	Oxford University HC	34–27	43–21
Maccabi Tel Aviv	60–53	Sabbianco Anorthosis Famagusta	38–28	22–25

A total of 32 teams played in the third round. First leg matches were held on 15 and 16 November 2025, while second leg matches took place on 22 and 23 November 2025.^[7]

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Raimond Sassari	56–64	RK Konjuh Živinice	28–36	28–28
Pölva Serviti	55–58	BK-46	28–27	27–31
GRK Ohrid	79–37	RK Sloga Doboj	37–19	42–18
Bianco Monte Drama	50–58	HC Dukla Prague	20–27	30–31
RK Vojvodina	66–69	RK Celje Pivovarna Laško	34–32	32–37
Beşiktaş JK	55–54	AC PAOK	30–25	25–29
MOL Tatabánya KC	67–58	HSC Suhr Aarau	40–33	27–25
Nilüfer BSK	69–63	Red Boys Differdange	35–29	34–34
HC Buzău	76–66	Maccabi Tel Aviv	36–33	40–33
SKKP Handball Brno	54–49	HC Berchem	27–25	27–24
HCB Karviná	76–65	Handball Tirol	43–25	33–40
HC Fivers WAT Margareten	60–66	Balatonfüredi KSE	31–34	29–32
Olympiacos SFP	54–46	Cassano Magnago HC	25–20	29–26
RK Budvanska rivijera	43–69	RK Trimo Trebnje	23–33	20–36
RK Izviđač	61–56	HB Dudelange	29–27	32–29
Runar Sandefjord	72–63	VHC Šviesa	36–30	36–33

First leg matches will be held on 14 and 15 February 2026, while second leg matches will take place on 21 and 22 February 2026.^[8]

Results

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Olympiacos SFP	–	BK-46	39–30	–
RK Izviđač	65–61	RK Trimo Trebnje	31–28	34–33
GRK Ohrid	–	HC Dukla Prague	30–21	–
SKKP Handball Brno	–	Nilüfer BSK	29–26	–
HCB Karviná	–	Balatonfüredi KSE	30–28	–
MOL Tatabánya KC	–	Runar Sandefjord	35–33	–
RK Celje Pivovarna Laško	–	Beşiktaş	39–34	–
RK Konjuh Živinice	–	HC Buzău	28–26	–

• 2025–26 EHF Champions League
• 2025–26 EHF European League
• 2025–26 Women's EHF Champions League
• 2025–26 Women's EHF European League
• 2025–26 Women's EHF European Cup

• Official website