FC Porto profit from Champions expansion, joining Sporting | OneFootball

The European Handball Federation (EHF) confirmed, in a statement released on its official platforms early on Monday morning, the group of teams covered by the expansion of the Champions League from 16 to 24 participants, starting as early as the 2026/27 season.

Among those clubs, as had already been expected, is FC Porto, which, under normal circumstances, would have been sent to the European League, since it finished no higher than second place in the national championship, but will in fact take part in the continent’s top club competition alongside Portuguese champions Sporting.

Also benefiting from this format change were SAH Aarhus, GOG, HNC Nantes, Montpellier Handball, Fusche Berlin, PICK Szeged, HC Vardar 1961, Orlen Wisla Plock, RK Celje Pivovarna Lasko, RK Partizan AdmiralBet, HC Kriens-Luzern and IFK Kristianstad, as well as the most recent European League winners, MT Melsungen.

These teams will join not only Sporting, but also HC Zagreb, Aalborg Handbold, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, SC Magdeburg, One Veszprém HC, Kolstad Handball, Industria Kielce and CS Dinamo Bucuresti. Left out are MOL Tatabánya KC, Valur and Elverum Handball, whose applications for inclusion were rejected.

The group stage draw is scheduled for 10:00 a.m., mainland Portugal time, next Friday, at the House of European Handball in Vienna. The competition itself will begin on September 9, in the men’s category.

FC Porto return and Sporting keep the dream alive

FC Porto thus return to the Champions League, a competition they last played in in 2023/24, a season in which they failed to get beyond the group stage, collecting only eight points in 14 matches, which left them seventh and second from bottom in Group B.

In the following two seasons, the Dragons played in the European League, falling in the quarter-finals on both occasions. In 2024/25, the side that stopped them was Montpellier HB, with a 61-65 aggregate score, and in 2025/26, MT Melsungen, by 47-46 over the two legs.

Sporting, meanwhile, will try to put behind them the record of the last two editions of this competition and finally get past the quarter-finals. In 2024/25, they were knocked out by HBC Nantes, 60-57 on aggregate over the two legs, and in 2025/26 by Aalborg, 67-68.

Benfica and Águas Santas head to the European League

With FC Porto’s promotion, Portugal’s presence in the European League will be reduced to two teams, Benfica and Águas Santas, who finished the national championship title phase in third and fourth place, respectively.

The Eagles, it should be remembered, went no further than the main round last season, after finishing only fourth and last in Group III. The Maia-based side, meanwhile, will play in the competition for only the second time in its history, after being eliminated in the group stage in 2022/23.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.