The new formats for the Europa Cup and UEFA Women's Champions League are explained.

Next season will see a significant upheaval in women's European football as the Champions League is being restructured and a new tournament called the Europa Cup is introduced.

The modifications represent a major shift for the women's game and mirror the format of the men's European tournaments, which were also redesigned at the beginning of the current season. The Europa Cup gives clubs all over the continent another chance to compete on the biggest stage, while the UEFA Women's Champions League, which was first known as the UEFA Women's Cup in the 2001–02 season, will take on a new format that intends to increase its competitiveness.

The updated format of each competition, the important changes fans should be aware of, and the dates that fans should put on their calendars for the 2025–2026 season are all examined in further detail in 90min.

Format of the Women's Champions League

The Champions League's group stage structure will be replaced by an 18-team league phase starting in the upcoming season, along with increased entrance. Instead of playing three opponents twice, teams will now play six different teams in a league, with half of the games being played at home and the other half away.

Each team will be placed in three distinct seeding pots according to their most recent club coefficient ranking, and the six opponents will be decided by a draw. Every team will be selected to play one home and one away match against two opponents from each pot.

Instead of groups being set with many games remaining, as is presently the case, it is believed that this new format would boost the competition right up until the end of the round. The results of these matches will determine the ranking in the league phase. The teams ranked fifth through twelve will play a two-leg knockout play-off to secure their spot in the last eight, while the top four teams from the 18 will automatically advance to the quarterfinals.

Seeded teams will play the second leg at home if they automatically advance to the quarterfinals. The competition will thereafter proceed according to the current structure until the final.

The domestic champions of the six highest-ranked national associations, as well as the winners of the previous season, automatically qualify. Associations one and two's runners-up will also advance straight to the league stage, with the qualifying procedure deciding the remaining spots.

Along with the winners of Spain, England, Portugal, and Italy, the winners and runners-up of France and Germany will automatically advance to the league stage in 2025–2026.

Important dates for the Women's Champions League

Draw for the first and second qualifying rounds on June 16

The first qualifying round (one-venue mini-tournaments) takes place from July 30 to August 2.
The second qualifying round (one-venue mini-tournaments) is scheduled for August 27–30.
Draw for the third qualifying round on September 1st
11 September: First leg of the third qualifying round

18 September: League phase, second leg, third qualifying round, knockout stages

Format for the Europa Cup

Thirteen teams—the third-place teams in the domestic league from associations ranked 8–13 and the runners-up of associations ranked 18–24—will directly compete in the recently established Europa Cup. The runners-up and third-place teams from the second qualifying round of the Champions League, as well as those ousted in the third qualifying round, will also have another opportunity in the Europa Cup.

The Europa Cup, which will take place concurrently with the Champions League, will be a direct knockout competition without a league phase or group round. The first and second qualifying rounds will be followed by a two-leg final at the end of the season, for a total of six rounds.

The winners of this competition will have only one round to contend for a spot in the league stage of the main event, as they will automatically advance to the third qualifying round of the champions path of the Women's Champions League the following season.

Important dates for the Europa Cup
Rounds of qualifying knockouts

Comments

Valentín Barco's Journey: From Brighton to World Cup Finalist and Now Chelsea.

Valentín Barco’s path to Chelsea is one of those modern football stories that looks messy from the outside but makes complete sense once you understand the player behind it. He did not arrive in West London by following a straight line. He came through Boca Juniors, had a brief and awkward stint at Brighton, rebuilt his reputation in loan spells, matured into a more versatile and tactically complete footballer at Strasbourg, appeared on the World Cup stage with Argentina, and only then earned the move to Chelsea. That journey matters because it shows why this signing is about much more than raw talent. It is about development, reinvention and the way elite clubs now search for players who have already been tested by failure as well as success. The first part of Barco’s story is the one that makes him so intriguing to Chelsea in the first place: he has never been a conventional prospect. Making a professional debut at 16 is not normal, even for elite academies, and Barco’s rise at Boca ...

How the AFC U20 Qualifiers Can Transform India's Football Landscape.

The AFC U20 Qualifiers can do far more than decide whether India reaches a tournament. They can reshape how the country thinks about youth football, development, selection, pressure, and long-term ambition. For Indian football, these matches are not just a competition; they are a test of whether the system is ready to turn promise into progress. Why this stage matters Youth football is often treated as preparation, but in reality it is where football cultures either grow stronger or stall. The AFC U20 Qualifiers matter because they sit at the exact point where talent, coaching and structure begin to face external pressure. India has had moments of promise at youth level, but the deeper question is whether those moments can become a habit rather than a rare event. The new qualification format raises the stakes even more. With group winners and the best runners-up advancing, while weaker finishers risk being pushed into a lower development phase, every match now carries both immediate an...

The Transfer of Konstantinos Karetsas: Borussia Dortmund's Next Big Thing in European Football.

Konstantinos Karetsas is exactly the kind of signing that makes Borussia Dortmund feel like Borussia Dortmund again. The club have built a reputation on identifying elite young talent before the rest of Europe fully catches up, and Karetsas fits that tradition almost perfectly: a teenage attacking midfielder, technically gifted, left-footed, highly productive, and already trusted on the international stage with Greece. If Dortmund are indeed the club that completes his next major step, it is easy to see why so many observers would describe him as their next big thing. What makes Karetsas so compelling is not just the size of the transfer or the excitement around his potential, but the shape of his footballing identity. He is one of those players who naturally draws attention because his game appears to be built around rhythm, balance and creative instinct rather than raw chaos. At just 171 cm, he is not the physically imposing type that often dominates scouting headlines, but that is p...

From Academy Stars to Free Agents: Understanding the 23-26 Age Trap in Football.

Age can help a footballer, but in Europe it can also quietly close doors. Between 23 and 26, many players enter the most complicated stage of their careers: old enough to be judged as “already known,” but still young enough to have been expected to break through much earlier. That is the football age trap, and it affects everything from academy graduates to free agents, from transfer value to playing time, from fan perception to self-belief. The hidden turning point In theory, football should be the fairest meritocracy in sport. If you are good enough, you play. If you improve, you move up. If you are exceptional, the market rewards you. But in practice, the game is shaped by timing as much as talent. A player who is brilliant at 17 or 18 is often protected, marketed and pushed forward as a future star. A player who is still developing at 24 can be treated like a problem, even if his actual level is rising. That is why age matters so much in Europe. Clubs are not just buying ability; t...

How Liverpool Can Maximize Ronald Araújo's Skills in Their Formation.

Ronald Araújo’s arrival at Liverpool on a season-long loan from Barcelona gives the club more than another central defender. It gives manager Andoni Iraola a player capable of changing the shape, intensity and defensive personality of the team. Araújo can operate at centre-back or right-back, offering Liverpool protection while Conor Bradley remains unavailable and several other defenders work their way back from injury. His greatest value, however, will not come simply from occupying a position. It will come from using his physical strength, recovery pace, aerial dominance and aggressive defensive instincts within a carefully designed system. Liverpool need to avoid treating Araújo as a basic replacement for one injured player. He is too versatile for that and too tactically distinctive. The club should instead use him as a structural tool: a defender who can protect a high line, defend wide spaces, dominate aerial contests and allow the team to change formation without making substit...

Dribble Diaries

Search This Blog