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
Sport	Handball
Date	Qualification 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
Teams	Qualification round: 24[a] Group stage: 32[b] Knockout stage: 12 Total: 44 (from 18 countries)
Website	EHF 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.

• 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.

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.

Rank[1] Association Average points Teams 1 Germany 145.67 4 2 Portugal 96.67 3 France 79.33 3 4 Croatia 68.33 4 5 Denmark 63.00 3 6 Switzerland 59.67 3 7 Spain 58.33 4 8 Sweden 55.00 9 Poland 46.33 2 10 Romania 38.00 11 Slovenia 30.67 12 North Macedonia 30,00 13 Hungary 29.33 1 14 Iceland 28.50 2

Rank Association Average points Teams 15 Russia 25.00 0 16 Ukraine 22.50 17 Slovakia 22.00 1 18 Finland 14.50 0 19 Greece 14.33 20 Norway 12.3 1 21 Serbia 10.67 22 Bosnia and Herzegovina 10.00 0 22 Montenegro 10.00 24 Austria 9.33 25 Israel 0.50 25 Turkey 0.50 N/A Czech Republic 0.00 1 N/A Everyone else 0.00 0

Biggest rise
Pos	Team	Old	New	Move
1	Romania	17	10	+7
2	Croatia	6	4	+2
	Denmark	7	5
	Slovenia	13	11
	Iceland	16	14
	Ukraine	18	16
	Norway	22	20

Biggest fall
Pos	Team	Old	New	Move
1	Austria	15	24	–9
2	Russia	10	15	–5
3	Poland	5	9	–4
	Turkey	21	25

New entries
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Montenegro

Entries leaving
Belarus
Luxembourg

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

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

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

Nexe

Sesvete

Fredericia

Skanderborg

Fenix

Montpellier

Saint-Raphaël

Flensburg

Kiel

Melsungen

Hannover

FTC

Fram

Vardar

Elverum

Porto

SLB

Ostrów

Turda

Minaur

Partizan

Tatran

Slovan

Granollers

Ademar

Irún

Kristianstad

Karlskrona

Sävehof

Kadetten

Bern

Kriens

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:

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	—

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	—

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	—

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	—

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	—

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	—

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	—

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	—

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.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		KIE	FLE	MON	BID
1	THW Kiel	3	3	0	0	89	76	+13	6	Quarterfinals		—	–	27–18	–
2	SG Flensburg-Handewitt	3	2	0	1	101	99	+2	4	Play Offs		30–32	—	–	38–35
3	Montpellier Handball	3	1	0	2	84	90	−6	2			28–30	–	—	38–33
4	Irudek Bidasoa Irún	3	0	0	3	100	109	−9	0			–	32–33	–	—

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		SAH	ELV	POR	GRA
1	SAH - Skanderborg	3	2	0	1	92	83	+9	4	Quarterfinals		—	−	−	28–29
2	Elverum Håndball	3	2	0	1	93	86	+7	4	Play Offs		−	—	25–29	37−28
3	FC Porto	3	1	0	2	86	89	−3	2			28−33	29–31	—	−
4	Fraikin BM Granollers	3	1	0	2	83	96	−13	2			26–31	−	−	—

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		MEL	VAR	BEN	KRI
1	MT Melsungen	3	3	0	0	91	81	+10	6	Quarterfinals		—	−	28–26	33−29
2	HC Vardar 1961	3	1	0	2	101	102	−1	2	Play Offs		−	—	−	35–30
3	SL Benfica	3	1	0	2	92	93	−1	2			26–30	40−35	—	−
4	IFK Kristianstad	3	1	0	2	91	99	−8	2			–	32–31	−	—

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		HAN	KAD	FRE	NEX
1	TSV Hannover-Burgdorf	3	2	0	1	96	91	+5	4	Quarterfinals		—	−	31–34	34−28
2	Kadetten Schaffhausen	3	2	0	1	93	91	+2	4	Play Offs		−	—	−	31–32
3	Fredericia HK	3	1	0	2	93	94	−1	2			29–31	30−32	—	−
4	RK Nexe	3	1	0	2	89	95	−6	2			−	29–30	−	—

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

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