Who has qualified for Champions League's league phase?

WHAT HAPPENED
The Champions League league phase will include 36 teams; 29 of those places have already been decided, with the final seven to be settled next week as qualifying concludes. The remaining spots are being contested across four qualifying rounds, the last of which is taking place this week and next.

Several national allocations are already filled: five English clubs (Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool and Aston Villa) and five Spanish clubs (Barcelona, Real Madrid, Villarreal, Atletico Madrid and Real Betis) have secured places, alongside confirmed entrants from Italy, Germany, France, Portugal and other countries named below.

KEY CONTEXT
UEFA allocates places based on association rankings over a five-year period ending two seasons before the campaign; for 2026–27 that ranking covers 2020–21 to 2024–25. The distribution gives the top four associations (England, Italy, Spain, Germany) four automatic league-phase places each. France, ranked fifth, has three direct spots; the Netherlands (sixth) gets two direct places; associations ranked 7–10 receive two spots with varying entry rounds; and lower-ranked nations receive fewer or single qualifying entries, with the exact round depending on rank.

Two special places in the league phase go to the Champions League and Europa League winners. Because Paris St‑Germain won last season’s Champions League, they occupied the defending-champion spot; PSG also won Ligue 1, so the league-allocated place that would have gone to their domestic finish was transferred to Shakhtar Donetsk as Ukrainian champions. England and Spain each received an extra Elite Performance Spot after strong UEFA club competition results, which is how Liverpool and Real Betis gained entry.

WHY IT MATTERS
With only seven qualifying spots remaining, the outcome of the final qualifying rounds will determine which lower-ranked domestic champions and non-champions join the already-confirmed teams in the expanded 36-team league phase. The allocation rules and EPS adjustments have materially altered the usual national quotas (for example England’s traditional four places being supplemented), affecting which clubs benefit from direct entry and which must navigate qualifying ties.

WHAT TO WATCH NEXT
- The last qualifying round fixtures this week and next will decide the seven remaining league-phase clubs.
- Of those seven places, five will come via the champions path (national title-winners from lower-ranked associations) and two via the league path (non-champions who qualified for qualifying rounds).
- How the remaining qualifiers change the final geographic mix of the 36-team league phase.

KEY FACTS
- Total league-phase places: 36; already confirmed: 29; remaining: 7.
- English qualifiers named: Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Aston Villa (Villa qualified via Europa League win and also finished in the Premier League top five).
- Spanish qualifiers named: Barcelona, Real Madrid, Villarreal, Atletico Madrid, Real Betis.
- Italy’s confirmed teams: Inter Milan, Napoli, Roma, Como; Germany’s: Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Stuttgart.
- Other confirmed clubs include PSV Eindhoven, Feyenoord, Porto, Club Brugge, Slavia Prague, Galatasaray; Shakhtar Donetsk received a direct place in place of PSG’s domestic allocation.