The 2026–27 UEFA Champions League is the 72nd season of Europe's premier football tournament organised by UEFA and the 35th season since it was rebranded from the European Cup to the UEFA Champions League.
The final will be held on 5 June 2027 at the Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid, Spain. It will be the second time the Metropolitano Stadium has hosted the UEFA Champions League final after 2019. The Winners of the 2026–27 UEFA Champions League will automatically qualify for the 2027–28 UEFA Champions League league phase, the 2027 FIFA Intercontinental Cup final, the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup group stage and earn the right to play against the winners of the 2026–27 UEFA Europa League in the 2027 UEFA Super Cup.
Paris Saint-Germain are the two-time defending champions.
Association team allocation A total of 81 teams from 53 of the 55 UEFA member associations are participating in the 2026–27 UEFA Champions League (the exceptions being Liechtenstein which did not organise a domestic league and Russia which is currently suspended). The association ranking based on the UEFA association coefficients was used to determine the number of participating teams for each association: Associations 1–5 each have four teams. Association 6 has three teams. Associations 7–15 each have two teams. Associations 16–55 (except Russia and Liechtenstein) each have one team. The winners of the 2025–26 UEFA Champions League and 2025–26 UEFA Europa League were each given an additional entry if they did not qualify for the 2026–27 UEFA Champions League through their domestic league. The two associations with the best coefficients in the 2025–26 season each have one European Performance Spot into the league phase. The winners of the UEFA Champions League and Europa League could not fill the European Performance Spots.
Association ranking For the 2026–27 UEFA Champions League, the associations were allocated places according to their 2025 UEFA association coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 2020–21 to 2024–25. The table reflects Russia's ongoing suspension from UEFA.
Apart from the allocation based on the association coefficients, associations could have additional teams participating in the Champions League, as noted below: – European Performance Spot, the additional berths for associations who finished in the top 2 of the 2025–26 association coefficients – Additional berth for UEFA Champions League title holders – Additional berth for UEFA Europa League title holders
+Association ranking for 2026–27 UEFA Champions LeagueRankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes1115.1964297.231394.453486.331573.093667.1503762.2662856.850944.1001043.9001139.6871239.3121336.4501435.5501535.0001633.98111733.6251831.6251927.537RankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes2027.12512127.0252225.5002324.4002424.0002523.2502622.63202721.25012820.3432919.8753019.6253114.9683214.5003313.5203413.0313512.2503612.2503712.0413811.750RankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes3911.12514010.750418.500428.333438.250448.0000457.9571467.875477.208486.875496.791506.625516.166526.000535.498545.457552.498
Distribution
Teams entering in this roundTeams advancing from the previous roundFirst qualifying round (28 teams) 28 champions from associations 24–25 and 29–55 (except Russia and Liechtenstein)Second qualifying round (28 teams)Champions Path (24 teams) 8 champions from associations 15–22 2 champions from associations 27 and 28 as the teams with highest club coefficients, originally from the first qualifying round (Champions Path) 14 winners from the first qualifying roundLeague Path (4 teams) 4 runners-up from associations 10 and 13–15Third qualifying round (20 teams)Champions Path (12 teams) 12 winners from the second qualifying round (Champions Path)League Path (8 teams) 2 runners-up from associations 8–9 1 third-placed team from association 6 1 fourth-placed team from association 5 2 runners-up from associations 11 and 12 as the teams with highest club coefficients, originally from the second qualifying round (League Path) 2 winners from the second qualifying round (League Path)Play-off round (14 teams)Champions Path (10 teams) 4 champions from associations 11–14 6 winners from the third qualifying round (Champions Path)League Path (4 teams) 4 winners from the third qualifying round (League Path)League phase (36 teams) 2 associations with the highest coefficients from the previous season receive an extra Champions League league phase berth. 10 champions from associations 1–10 6 runners-up from associations 1–6 5 third-placed teams from associations 1–5 4 fourth-placed teams from associations 1–4 1 champion from association 23 as the team with the highest club coefficient, originally from the second qualifying round (Champions Path) 1 runner-up from association 7 as the team with the highest club coefficient, originally from the third qualifying round (League Path) 5 winners from the play-off round (Champions Path) 2 winners from the play-off round (League Path)Knockout phase play-offs(16 teams) 16 teams ranked 9–24 from the league phaseRound of 16(16 teams) 8 teams ranked 1–8 from the league phase 8 winners from the knockout phase play-offs
The information here reflects the continued suspension of Russia from European football, and so the following changes to the default access list have been made:
The champions of association 23 (Ukraine) entered the second qualifying round (Champions Path) instead of the first qualifying round.
As the Champions League title holders (Paris Saint-Germain) qualified via their domestic league's standard berth allocation, the following changes to the default access list were made:
Shakhtar Donetsk as the domestic champions with the highest club coefficient among the clubs that would otherwise have entered the Champions Path of the qualifying phase or play-off round, entered the league phase instead of the Champions Path second qualifying round. Slovan Bratislava and Celje, as the two clubs with the highest club coefficient that would otherwise have entered the Champions Path first qualifying round, entered the Champions Path second qualifying round.
As the Europa League title holders (Aston Villa) qualified via their domestic league's standard berth allocation, the following changes to the default access list were made: Sporting CP, as the club with the highest club coefficient among all clubs that would otherwise have entered either the Champions Path or the League Path of the qualifying phase or play-off round, entered the league phase instead of the League Path third qualifying round. Bodø/Glimt and Olympiacos, as the two clubs with the highest club coefficient that would otherwise have entered the League Path second qualifying round, entered the League Path third qualifying round.
Teams The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round: TH: Champions League title holders EL: Europa League title holders 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc.: League positions of the previous season EPS: European Performance Spots – the additional berths given to clubs from the two associations with the highest coefficient points in 2025–26
The label of European Performance Spots and title holders already qualified via league position are superscripted.
The second qualifying round, third qualifying round and play-off round are divided into Champions Path (CH) and League Path (LP).
+Qualified teams for 2026–27 UEFA Champions LeagueEntry roundTeamsLeague phase Paris Saint-Germain TH Aston Villa EL Arsenal Manchester City Manchester United Liverpool EPS Inter Milan Napoli Roma Como Barcelona Real Madrid Villarreal Atlético Madrid Real Betis EPS Bayern Munich Borussia Dortmund RB Leipzig VfB Stuttgart Lens Lille PSV Eindhoven Feyenoord Porto Sporting CP Club Brugge Slavia Prague Galatasaray Shakhtar Donetsk Play-off round Viking AEK Athens LASK Celtic Third qualifying round Lyon NEC Union Saint-Gilloise Sparta Prague Bodø/Glimt Olympiacos Second qualifying round Lech Poznań AGF Thun Hapoel Be'er Sheva Omonia Mjällby AIF Dinamo Zagreb Red Star Belgrade Slovan Bratislava Celje Fenerbahçe Sturm Graz Heart of Midlothian Górnik Zabrze First qualifying round ETO Győr Universitatea Craiova Levski Sofia Sabah Shamrock Rovers Petrocub Hîncești Víkingur Reykjavík Borac Banja Luka Ararat-Armenia Riga Drita KuPS Kairat KÍ Floriana Larne Kauno Žalgiris Flora Egnatia Sutjeska Atert Bissen The New Saints Iberia 1999 Vardar ML Vitebsk Inter Club d'Escaldes Lincoln Red Imps Tre Fiori
Schedule The schedule of the competition is as follows.
+Schedule for 2026–27 UEFA Champions LeaguePhaseRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond legQualifyingFirst qualifying round16 June 20267–8 July 202614–15 July 2026Second qualifying round17 June 202621–22 July 202628–29 July 2026Third qualifying round20 July 20264–5 August 202611 August 2026Play-offsPlay-off round3 August 202618–19 August 202625–26 August 2026League phaseMatchday 127 August 20268–10 September 2026Matchday 213–14 October 2026Matchday 320–21 October 2026Matchday 43–4 November 2026Matchday 524–25 November 2026Matchday 68–9 December 2026Matchday 719–20 January 2027Matchday 827 January 2027Knockout phaseKnockout phase play-offs29 January 202716–17 February 202723–24 February 2027Round of 1626 February 20279–10 March 202716–17 March 2027Quarter-finalsrowspan="3" 6–7 April 202713–14 April 2027Semi-finals27–28 April 20274–5 May 2027Final5 June 2027 at the Metropolitano Stadium, Madrid
Qualifying rounds
First qualifying round
Second qualifying round
Third qualifying round
Play-off round
League phase
Como, LASK, Sabah and Viking are making their debut appearances since the introduction of the group stage or league phase, with Sabah making their debut appearance in a major UEFA competition group or league phase and Como qualifying for European football for the first time in their history. For the first season since 1999–2000, Norway has two clubs in the Champions League main stage. Additionally, two Turkish sides qualified for the main phase for the first time since the 2007–08 season.
A total of 16 national associations are being represented in the league phase.
Table The top eight ranked teams receive a bye directly to the round of 16. Teams ranked from 9th to 24th contest the knockout phase play-offs, with teams ranked from 9th to 16th seeded for the draw. Teams ranked from 25th to 36th are eliminated from the tournament.
Results
Statistics Statistics exclude qualifying rounds and play-off round.
Table correct as of 10 September 2026.
Top goalscorers RankPlayerTeamGoalsMinutes played1 Ermedin Demirović VfB Stuttgart362 Ferran Torres Paris Saint-Germain733 Ousmane Dembélé Paris Saint-Germain264 Raphinha Barcelona71 Marc Bartra Real Betis90 Serhou Guirassy Borussia Dortmund Erling Haaland Manchester City Michael Olise Bayern Munich Danijel Šturm Slavia Prague10Forty-six players1
See also 2026–27 UEFA Europa League 2026–27 UEFA Conference League 2026–27 UEFA Women's Champions League 2026–27 UEFA Women's Europa Cup
References
External links