EHF Handball Champions League 2026/27 introduces new competition format
Die 2026/27 EHF Handball Champions League season features a new competition format involving 24 teams across six groups. Bookmakers offer attractive promotions for new and existing customers’ bets on the tournament, including free bets and odds boosts, such as a 500% boost and a 100 euro new customer bonus for new customers in Germany. With the FC Barcelona and SC Magdeburg dominance established since 2021, betting market favorites and outright odds for the upcoming European campaign have drawn intense focus from bookmakers.
Twenty-Four Teams Compete in Six Preliminary Groups
The 2026/27 tournament introduces a modified structure. A total of 24 teams compete initially across six groups, with four teams in each group. During the group stage, every team plays each opponent twice in home-and-away fixtures. The top two teams from each of the six preliminary groups advance directly to the main round. Meanwhile, the third and fourth-placed finishers continue their European campaign in the EHF European League playoffs.
In the main round, the six teams originating from preliminary groups A, B, and C combine to form Main Round Group I, while the six sides from groups D, E, and F comprise Main Round Group II. Across eight total matchdays featuring home-and-away games, group phase results carry forward. Following this stage, the four best teams from each main round group qualify for the quarterfinals of the Handball Champions League 2026/27. Fifth-placed finishers transition to the EHF European League round of the last 16, and the two sixth-placed teams are eliminated entirely from the competition.
Title Favorites and Betting Market Outlook
Since 2021, the EHF Champions League has seen only two champions: FC Barcelona and SC Magdeburg. Based on current odds provided by bookmakers such as Bet-at-home, both Barcelona and Magdeburg lead the betting markets among the top favorites for the 2026/27 crown. According to the law of series, SC Magdeburg, who is also the reigning German champion, would be due again now, having taken the title in 2023 and 2025.
Beyond Barca and SCM, other contenders mentioned in the outright markets include Hungarian powerhouse Veszprem and Danish side Aalborg. The Füchse Berlin represent a second German club carrying title ambitions in the EHF CL odds, whereas French teams Nantes and Paris Saint-Germain enter the preliminary stage as outsiders.
Upcoming Handball Highlights
The 2027 World Men’s Handball Championship takes place in Germany in January as the handball highlight of the season.