Manchester United have become the 12th club to confirm their participation in next season’s Champions League. They are the third English side, following Arsenal and Manchester City, to accumulate enough points to guarantee no lower than a fifth-place finish in the Premier League.
Typically, England receives four Champions League berths. However, due to strong performances in Uefa club competitions this season, England has secured one of two Elite Performance Spots (EPS) for the upcoming campaign, meaning the top five Premier League teams will qualify.
Other teams that have already clinched their spots include Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Villarreal, Paris St-Germain, PSV Eindhoven, and Porto. Inter has ensured a top-four Serie A finish, while Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Villarreal have done the same in La Liga. Bayern, PSV, and Porto have sealed league titles in Germany, the Netherlands, and Portugal, respectively. Borussia Dortmund will finish either second or third in the Bundesliga, and reigning Ligue 1 champions PSG will end no lower than second in their division.
A total of 36 teams will compete in the Champions League league phase, with 29 of them determined before the end of this season. The remaining seven will come through qualification rounds early in the 2026-27 campaign.
How many spots are allocated to each nation?
The first two places in the Champions League league phase go to the winners of this season’s Champions League and Europa League. To determine each nation’s quota, Uefa uses association rankings based on the five-year period ending two seasons prior to the campaign. For the 2026-27 season, the rankings from 2020-21 to 2024-25 apply.
England, Italy, Spain, and Germany are ranked first to fourth, respectively, so their top four league teams qualify directly for the league phase. France, ranked fifth, sends its top three Ligue 1 teams directly, with fourth place entering the third qualifying round. Netherlands, ranked sixth, awards spots to the top two Eredivisie clubs, with third place also entering the third qualifying round.
Portugal, Belgium, Czech Republic, and Turkey (ranked seventh to tenth) each receive two places. League winners from these countries go directly to the league phase, while runners-up from Portugal, Belgium, and Czech Republic enter the third qualifying round. Turkey’s second team begins in the second qualifying round.
Norway, Greece, Austria, and Scotland (ranked 11th to 14th) have their league champions enter the play-off qualifying round (the fourth and final qualifying stage), and all four also get a second team in the second qualifying round. Poland, ranked 15th, sees its top two clubs enter the second qualifying round. All other nations receive one team each, starting in either the first or second qualifying round.
Seven qualification spots are available. Teams are split into the ‘champions path’ (league winners from nations outside the top ten) competing for five spots, and the ‘league path’ (clubs from nations with multiple qualifying berths who didn’t win their domestic league) competing for the remaining two.
The final EPS spot remains undecided, but only Germany, Spain, and Portugal can mathematically claim it. While not officially guaranteed, there is…