Barcelona are the current Women’s Champions League defending champions and they will be looking to retain their title in the 2026/27 season.
Tournament Structure
The tournament initially emerged as the UEFA Women’s Cup from 2001-2009, before being rebranded as the UEFA Women’s Champions League from 2009 onwards.
The competition has undergone a change in format since 2021; as now the top six associations enter three teams, associations ranked 7-16 enter two and remaining associations enter one.
This restructure was decided upon to mirror the men’s UEFA Champions League format, with a double-round-robin group stage and two paths (Champions road and Non-Champions path) for clubs who do not automatically qualify for the group stage.
Qualification
Currently, there are two stages of qualification: a first round consisting of four-team mini-tournaments and a second round of two-leg matches. Based on how teams qualified, each of these rounds is divided into two simultaneous paths.
The Champions path consists of the Champions from the top 50 associations and the Non-Champions format consists of second place from the top 16 associations, with seven and five teams advancing respectively.
Group Stage
This includes four teams qualifying directly, the current UWCL Champions and the Champions from the top three associations.
The group stages take place in four groups of four, with the top two teams from each group progressing to the quarter-finals.
Most Women’s Champions League titles
Olympique Lyon lead the way with eight titles, with their most recent title win coming in the 2021/2022 season, the first edition of the tournament to feature a 16-team group stage.
Club | Titles | Runners-up | Seasons won | Seasons Runner-up |
Lyon | 8 | 4 | 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022 | 2010, 2013, 2024, 2026 |
Barcelona | 4 | 3 | 2021, 2023, 2024, 2026 | 2019, 2022, 2025 |
FFC Frankfurt | 4 | 2 | 2002, 2006, 2008, 2015 | 2004, 2012 |
VfL Wolfsburg | 2 | 4 | 2013, 2014 | 2016, 2018, 2020, 2023 |
Umeå IK | 2 | 3 | 2003, 2004 | 2002, 2007, 2008 |
Turbine Potsdam | 2 | 2 | 2005, 2010 | 2006, 2011 |
Barcelona | 2 | 2 | 2021, 2023 | 2019, 2022 |
Arsenal | 2 | 0 | 2007, 2025 | N/a |
Most consecutive Women’s Champions League wins
Again it is Olympique Lyon who lead the way with five titles on the bounce in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020.
Performances in the Women’s Champions League by nation
Nation | Wins | Runners-Up |
Germany | 9 | 8 |
France | 8 | 6 |
Spain | 4 | 3 |
Sweden | 2 | 5 |
England | 2 | 1 |
Denmark | 0 | 1 |
Russia | 0 | 1 |
All-time tournament scorers
Topscorer | Goals |
Ada Hegerberg | 69 |
Anja Mittag | 51 |
Eugénie Le Sommer | 50 |
Conny Pohlers | 48 |
Pernille Harder | 48 |
