For 20 teams, round 1 marks the start of the international season, as they were directly seeded for the group matches. 12 other sides fought for their place in this stage via the qualification round, which wrapped up in early September.
The group matches will see a total of six rounds played, always on Tuesday evenings, with the last on 2 December. 16 teams — the two top-ranked clubs in each of the eight groups — will progress to the main round, and from there they will battle for places in the knockout phase.
HIGHLIGHT MATCHES
GROUP A
Tuesday 14 October, 20:45 CEST, live on EHFTV
- Flensburg were directly seeded into the group matches, while Saint-Raphael came through the qualification round, beating Danish club Mors-Thy Håndbold 80:64 on aggregate
- Flensburg are the back-to-back EHF European League Men champions, having taken the title both last season and the one prior
- Flensburg goalkeeper Kevin Møller was named MVP of the Maschinensucher EHF Finals 2025; his teammate Emil Jakobsen nabbed the same award in 2024 and was named left wing of the season at the EHF Excellence Awards twice in a row
- this is Saint-Raphael’s first season in the EHF European League, but they were regulars in the competition’s previous format and reached the EHF Cup final in 2017/18, losing to Füchse Berlin
- this will be the first official match between the sides
