The UEFA Champions League has for decades been known as not only the top competition in European club football, but even beyond that, the most coveted club trophy around the world.
As the 2025/26 competition wraps up, with just four teams remaining, some of the focus has turned to next season’s competition as teams gun for qualifying places in the upcoming Champions League tournament.
Real Madrid, the most successful side in the competition with 15 European titles, lead the pack along with some of the top domestic champions from across the continent.
The top clubs from around Europe will be on hand, tested by some of the Cinderella stories who look to become household names across the globe. Last season, Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt made waves with a run into the knockout phase, and they have qualified for next year’s competition as they hope to make a similar charge.
The Sporting News takes you through all the teams involved in next year’s Champions League tournament, as well as all the places still to be earned and determined.
MORE: Tracking the chase for European qualification across the Premier League table
Teams qualified for the Champions League league phase next season
36 teams will participate in the league phase of the Champions League in 2026/27.
Of those, 29 will qualify directly to this lucrative phase of the competition, while seven will qualify from the playoff rounds.
The top four teams in each of the four highest-ranked leagues across UEFA gain direct access to the league phase. After that, three teams qualify directly from the fifth-ranked league, two from the sixth-ranked league, and one from leagues ranked seven through 10.
Additionally, there are two places earned via overall league participation in the previous season’s UEFA competition structure, known as European Performance Spots (EPS). For the 2026/27 season, England has already secured one of these spots, while Spain and Germany are fighting for the second.
League coefficientsRankNationLeague phase qualifiersPlayoff round qualifiers1.England4 + 102.Italy403.Spain4*04.Germany4*05.France316.Netherlands217.Portugal118.Belgium119.Czechia1110.Turkey11
* Can potentially gain one more qualifying slot via European Performance Spots
League phase qualifiersClubCountryHow qualifiedLast appearance Champions League — Title winner*** Europa League — Title winner*** ArsenalEnglandPremier League — 1st/2nd2025/26Man CityEnglandPremier League — 1st/2nd/3rd2025/26Man UnitedEnglandPremier League — 2nd/3rd/4th/5th2023/24 EnglandPremier League — 4th place EnglandPremier League — 5th place* Inter MilanItalySerie A — 1st/2nd/3rd2025/26 ItalySerie A — 2nd place ItalySerie A — 3rd place ItalySerie A — 4th place BarcelonaSpainLa Liga — 1st/2nd2025/26Real MadridSpainLa Liga — 1st/2nd/3rd/4th2025/26VillarrealSpainLa Liga — 2nd/3rd/4th2025/26 SpainLa Liga — 4th place Bayern MunichGermanyBundesliga — 1st place2025/26Borussia DortmundGermanyBundesliga — 2nd/3rd2025/26 GermanyBundesliga — 3rd place GermanyBundesliga — 4th place PSGFranceLigue 1 — 1st/2nd2025/26 FranceLigue 1 — 2nd place FranceLigue 1 — 3rd place PSV EindhovenNetherlandsEredivisie — 1st place2025/26 NetherlandsEredivisie — 2nd place PortoPortugalPrimeira Liga — 1st place2025/26 BelgiumPro League — 1st place CzechiaFirst League — 1st place TurkeySuper Lig — 1st place Spain/GermanyLa Liga/Bundesliga — 5th place**
* England have mathematically secured a fifth Champions League place via the two slots awarded by UEFA to the top participants in the previous season’s competitions.
** The second nation to earn a fifth Champions League place via the two slots awarded by UEFA to the top participants in the previous season’s competitions has not yet been determined, with Spain and Germany still in the running.
*** In the event either the 2025/26 Champions League or Europa League title winners have already qualified via table position, this slot will fall to the highest-ranked club coefficient not already qualified for the league phase. This will trickle all the way down through the qualifying rounds as necessary, bumping teams up each round until the field is completely filled out.
Teams qualified for the Champions League qualifying rounds
All nations ranked 11th or below in the UEFA coefficient will see their league champions qualify for the playoff round, as well as a few others from those qualifying spots given out to additional participants.
These fall into two “paths” of qualifying. Five participants from the “champions path” made of all league champions will reach the league phase from the qualifying rounds, while two participants from the “league path” will advance.
Qualifying Playoff RoundClubCountryHow qualifiedLast appearanceVikingNorwayEliteserien — 1st place1992/93 GreeceSuper League — 1st place AustriaBundesliga — 1st place ScotlandPremiership — 1st place Third Qualifying RoundClubCountryHow qualifiedLast appearanceLens*FranceLigue 1 — 4th place2023/24 NetherlandsEredivisie — 3rd place PortugalPrimeira Liga — 2nd place BelgiumPro League — 2nd place Slavia Prague*CzechiaFirst League — 2nd place2025/26
* Can still qualify for the league phase via table position
Second Qualifying RoundClubCountryHow qualifiedLast appearance PolandEkstraklasa — 1st place DenmarkSuperliga — 1st place ThunSwitzerlandSuper League — 1st place2005/06 IsraelPremier League — 1st place Omonia NicosiaCyprusFirst Division — 1st place2021/22Mjallby AIFSwedenAllsvenskan — 1st placeNone (First appearance)Dinamo ZagrebCroatiaFootball League — 1st place2024/25Red Star BelgradeSerbiaSuperLiga — 1st place2025/26 UkrainePremier League — 1st place TurkeySuper Lig — 2nd place Bodo/GlimtNorwayEliteserien — 2nd place2025/26 GreeceSuper League — 1st place AustriaBundesliga — 2nd place ScotlandPremiership — 2nd place PolandEkstraklasa — 2nd place First Qualifying RoundClubCountryHow qualifiedLast appearance HungaryNB I — 1st place RomaniaLiga I — 1st place Slovan BratislavaSlovakiaFirst Football League — 1st place2025/26NK CeljeSloveniaPrvaLiga — 1st place2024/25Levski SofiaBulgariaFirst Professional League — 1st place2009/10SabahAzerbaijanPremier League — 1st placeNone (First appearance)Shamrock RoversRep. of IrelandPremier Division — 1st place2024/25 MoldovaMoldova Liga — 1st place Vikingur ReykjavikIcelandBeska Deild Karla — 1st place2024/25 Bosnia & HerzegovinaPremier League — 1st place ArmeniaPremier League — 1st place RigaLatviaHigher League — 1st place2021/22 KosovoSuperleague — 1st place KuPSFinlandVeikkausliiga — 1st place2025/26Kairat AlmatyKazakhstanPremier League — 1st place2025/26KIFaroe IslandsPremier League — 1st place2024/25 MaltaPremier League — 1st place LarneN. IrelandPremiership — 1st place2024/25Kauno ZalgirisLithuaniaA Lyga — 1st placeNone (First appearance)FloraEstoniaMeistriliiga — 1st place2024/25 AlbaniaKategoria Superiore — 1st place MontenegroFirst League — 1st place LuxembourgNational Division — 1st place The New SaintsWalesCymru Premier — 1st place2025/26Iberia 1999GeorgiaErovnuli Liga — 1st place2025/26 MacedoniaFirst League — 1st place ML VitebskBelarusPremier League — 1st placeNone (First appearance) AndorraPremiera Divisio — 1st place Lincoln Red ImpsGibraltarFootball League — 1st place2025/26Tre FioriSan MarinoCampionato di Calcio — 1st place2020/21