Upcoming season or competition: 2025–26 EHF Champions League | |
 | |
| Sport | Handball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1956; 69 years ago (1956) |
| No. of teams | 16 (Group phase) |
| Country | EHF members |
| Confederation | EHF (Europe) |
| Most recent champions |  SC Magdeburg(5th title) |
| Most titles |  FC Barcelona(12 titles) |
| Level on pyramid | 1 |
| Official website | ehfcl.eurohandball.com |
TheEHF Champions League is the most important clubhandball competition for men's teams in Europe and involves the leading teams from the top European nations. The competition is organised every year byEHF. The official name for the men's competition is the EHF Champions League Men.
TheEHF coefficient rank decides which teams have access and in which stage they enter.
Each year, the EHF publishes a ranking list of its member federations. The first 9 nations are automatically permitted to participate in the tournament with their national champion.[1] The national federation ranked first place in theEHF European League, currently Germany,[2] is awarded a second qualification berth for the domestic runner-up.[3] The remaining six positions are designated through wildcards, with each national federation without two teams already qualified able to submit a single applicant.[3] The wildcards are judged on five criteria: venue, TV, spectators, results in past EHF competitions and product management and digital.[3]
Each year, the EHF publishes a ranking list of its member federations. The first nine nations are allowed to participate in the tournament with their national champion. In addition, the tenth spot is reserved for the best ranked national federation of the EHF European League Men. The national federations are allowed to request upgrades for their teams eligible to play in the EHF European League and based on the criteria list the EHF Executive Committee approves six upgrades.
The EHF Champions League is divided into four stages. All participating teams enter the competition in the group phase.
The current playing system has been introduced before the 2020/21 season.
Since the 2020/21 season, the format sees two groups formed, with eight teams each in Group A and B. All the teams in each group play each other twice, in home and away matches (14 rounds in total). The first two teams in Groups A and B advance directly to the quarter-finals, while teams from positions three to six in each of these groups proceed to the playoff. The season is over for the last two teams in each group after the completion of the group phase.The pairings for the playoff are decided by the placement of the teams at the end of the group phase (A6 vs B3, B6 vs A3, A5 vs B4 and B5 vs A4). Each pairing is decided via a home and away format, with the aggregate winners over the two legs advancing to the quarter-finals. The higher ranked teams in the group phase have the home right advantage in the second leg. The pairings for the quarter-finals are also decided by the placement in the group phase (Winner of A5/B4 vs A1, Winner B5/A4 vs B1, Winner A6/B3 vs A2, Winner B6/A3 vs B2). The ties are decided through a home and away format, with the four winners over the two legs played in each pairing advancing to the EHF FINAL4. The higher ranked teams in the group phase have the home right advantage in the second leg. The official name for the men's EHF FINAL4 is the EHF FINAL4 Men. The participating EHF FINAL4 teams are paired for the semifinals through a draw and play the last two matches of the season over a single weekend at one venue. The two semi-finals are played on a Saturday, with the third-place game and final on a Sunday.
The new format will see 24 teams being split into six groups of four teams. The two top-placed teams advance to the main round, which conists of two groups of six, where the top four-placed teams advance to the quarterfinals.[4]
Much like the visual brand identity, the brand sound identity will acoustically connect the various leagues and tournaments which fit under the EHF umbrella. For the EHF Brand Sound, the authors got to the core of "The Sound of Handball" and created a handball sound DNA as the recurring element across all audio-visual applications. The jump shot was identified as the most iconic and defining handball movement.
Through video analysis and motion tracking, the jump shot was extracted into a rhythmic design pattern. There are numerous application opportunities of the brand sound, which will be developed over time. First implementations of the new EHF Brand Sound will be heard in the EHF Champions League. The premium character of this tournament was translated into a modern sound design through a new EHF Champions League sound logo and anthem. Both will come to life in the arena and will consistently complement all audio-visual communications.
The previous anthem for the EHF Champions League is "Hymn of the Champions", used until the end of the 2019/20 season and exclusively written by Austrian film composer Roman Kariolou in 2007. The recording played during the entry ceremony before every game was performed by theBratislava Symphony Orchestra, conducted by David Hernando.[5]
Notes:
Bold: Aggregate
Bold-italic: Winner's goals
| Rank | Country | Winners | Runners-up | Semi-finals | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spain | 18 | 13 | 20 | 51 |
| 2 | Germany | 18 | 11 | 27 | 56 |
| 3 |  Soviet Union[A] | 5 | 3 | 4 | 12 |
| 4 |  Yugoslavia[B] | 4 | 7 | 6 | 17 |
| 5 |  East Germany | 4 | 2 | 3 | 9 |
| 6 |  Romania | 3 | 3 | 7 | 13 |
| 7 |  Czechoslovakia[C] | 3 | 2 | 6 | 11 |
| 8 |  Croatia | 2 | 4 | 1 | 7 |
| 9 |  France | 2 | 2 | 13 | 17 |
| 10 |  North Macedonia | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 11 |  Hungary | 1 | 5 | 9 | 15 |
| 12 |  Poland | 1 | 5 | 3 | 9 |
| 13 |  Sweden | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| 14 |  Slovenia | 1 | 0 | 7 | 8 |
| 15 |  Denmark | 0 | 4 | 11 | 15 |
| 16 |  Switzerland | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 17 |  Iceland | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 18 |  Portugal | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 19 |  Norway | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 20 |  Austria | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 21 |  Russia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 22 |  Turkey | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 65 | 65 | 130 | 260 | |
All-time top scorers[edit]
| All-time Final Four top scorers[edit]
|
All the goals(3805) scored in the Final Four by the nationality of the players.
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| Coach | Titles | Clubs | |
|---|---|---|---|
| # | List | ||
| Valero Rivera | 6 | 1 | Barcelona 1991, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 |
| Talant Dujshebaev | 4 | 2 | Ciudad Real 2006, 2008, 2009, Kielce 2016 |
| Xavier Pascual | 3 | 1 | Barcelona 2011, 2015, 2021 |
| Alfreð Gíslason | 3 | 2 | Magdeburg 2002, Kiel 2010, 2012 |
| Spartak Mironovitch | 3 | 1 | SKA Minsk 1987, 1989, 1990 |
*Horst Dreischang won titles with Gummersbach in 1967 and 1970. He was Gummersbach's coach until 29 January 1971, just after 1st game of Champions League 1/4 finals, which Gummersbach won with 11 goals lead. Gummersbach won the title that year.[27][28]
| Player/Coach | Titles | as Player | as Coach | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | List | # | List | ||
| Carlos Ortega | 8 | 6 | Barcelona 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2005 | 2 | Barcelona 2022, 2024 |
| Talant Dujshebaev | 6 | 2 | CSKA Moscow 1988, Teka Santander 1994 | 4 | Ciudad Real 2006, 2008, 2009, Kielce 2016 |
| Roberto García Parrondo | 3 | 2 | Ciudad Real 2008, 2009 | 1 | Vardar 2019 |
| Filip Jicha | 3 | 2 | THW Kiel 2010, 2012 | 1 | THW Kiel 2020 |
| Bennet Wiegert | 3 | 1 | SC Magdeburg 2002 | 2 | SC Magdeburg 2023, 2025 |
In addition to the sporting prestige of winning the EHF Champions League, the competition also provides financial rewards for participating clubs. For theEHF FINAL4, the European Handball Federation (EHF) allocates a total prize fund of €750,000: the winners receive €300,000, the runners-up €225,000, while the third- and fourth-placed teams obtain €150,000 and €75,000 respectively.[29]
Clubs also receive income throughout the competition. During the group stage, each participating team earns €10,000 per match played, as well as an additional €5,000 for every point won. The first two teams in each group are awarded a further €20,000 qualification bonus for direct entry into the quarter-finals. In the play-offs and quarter-finals, teams continue to receive €10,000 per match, with bonuses between €6,000 and €7,000 per point depending on the stage.[30]
As a result, the overall revenues can be significant. In the 2024–25 season, for example,Füchse Berlin (runners-up) earned around €540,000,HBC Nantes approximately €455,000 after finishing third, andFC Barcelona about €379,000 following their semi-final exit. The 2025 champions,SC Magdeburg, received €300,000 for the title and became eligible for an additional prize of up to €300,000 by participating in theIHF Super Globe in Saudi Arabia in November 2025.[31]
