2025–26 Basketball Champions League

European basketball competition From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 2025–26 Basketball Champions League is the 10th season of the Basketball Champions League (BCL), a European professional basketball competition for clubs launched by FIBA.

Season2025–26
DatesQualifying:
23–28 September 2025
Competition proper:
7 October 2025 – 10 May 2026
TeamsCompetition proper: 32
Total: 53 (from 30 countries)
Quick facts Basketball Champions League, Season ...
Basketball Champions League
Season2025–26
DatesQualifying:
23–28 September 2025
Competition proper:
7 October 2025 – 10 May 2026
TeamsCompetition proper: 32
Total: 53 (from 30 countries)
2026–27
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Unicaja are the defending champions.[1]

Team allocation

A total of 53 teams from 30 of the 50 FIBA Europe member associations are set to participate in the 2025–26 Basketball Champions League.[2] The country ranking based on the country coefficients is used to determine the number of participating teams for each country:[3]

  • All countries, if they entered, each have at least one team qualify.[4]
  • The winners of the 2024–25 Basketball Champions League are given an additional entry if they do not qualify for the 2025–26 Basketball Champions League through their domestic league.[5]
  • The organiser may grant access to the League through the attribution of up to 4 invitations (wild cards) to the Regular Season or to the Qualification Rounds.[5]
  • If one or more clubs do not use their right to participate in the Basketball Champions League, the organiser may decide to allocate the respective place(s) to other clubs of the same or other country.[5]

Country ranking

.It takes into account their performance from 2022–23 to 2024–25.[6]

More information Rank, Country ...
Country ranking for 2025–26 Basketball Champions League
Rank Country Coeff. Teams
1  Spain 97.70 4+1
2  Turkey 65.95 3+1
3  France 65.58 2+1
4  Israel 65.33 2+0
5  Greece 65.00 3+1
6  Germany 54.75 3+1
7  Czech Republic 49.50 1+0
8  Italy 43.92 2+1
9  Lithuania 38.00 1+1
10  Hungary 36.00 1+1
11  Portugal 34.00 1+1
12  Belgium 33.50 1+1
13  Bosnia and Herzegovina 31.00 1+0
14  Latvia 27.00 1+0
15  Poland 21.00 1+1
16  Serbia 9.50 1+0
17  Denmark 9.00 0+1
Rank Country Coeff. Teams
18  Slovakia 7.00 0+1
19  Switzerland 7.00 0+1
20  Estonia 6.00 0+1
21  Netherlands 5.00 0+1
22  Romania 5.00 0+1
23  Sweden 5.00 0+0
24  Cyprus 4.00 0+1
25  Finland 4.00 0+1
26  Kosovo 4.00 0+1
27  Great Britain 3.00 0+0
28  Austria 2.00 0+0
29  Ukraine 2.00 0+0
30  Georgia 2.00 0+1
31  Bulgaria 2.00 0+1
32  North Macedonia 1.00 0+1
33  Montenegro 1.00 0+1
34  Azerbaijan 1.00 1+0
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Teams

The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round:

  • TH: Title holders
  • 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc.: League positions of the previous season
Notes
  1. ^
    Germany (GER): Alba Berlin got a wild card.[7]

Referees

A total of 54 officials are set to work on the 2025–26 season in Basketball Champions League:[8] After the 2024–25 season, twelve referees were replaced by new ones. Newcomers are marked by *.

More information Referees of the 2025−26 season ...
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Round and draw dates

The schedule of the competition will be as follows.[9][10]

More information Phase, Round ...
Schedule for 2025–26 Basketball Champions League
Phase Round Draw date First leg Second leg Third leg
Qualifying rounds 2 July 2025 19–25 September 2025
Regular season Round 1 7–8 October 2025
Round 2 14–15 October 2025
Round 3 21–22 October 2025
28–29 October 2025
Round 4 4–5 November 2025
11–12 November 2025
Round 5 18–19 November 2025
9–10 December 2025
Round 6 16–17 December 2025
Play-ins 6 January 2026 8 January 2026 13–14 January 2026
Round of 16 Round 1 20–21 January 2026
Round 2 27–28 January 2026
Round 3 3–4 February 2026
Round 4 10–11 February 2026
Round 5 10–11 March 2026
Round 6 17–18 March 2026
Play-offs Quarter-finals 20 March 2026 31 March–1 April 2026 7–8 April 2026 14–15 April 2026
Final Four Semi-finals 8 May 2026
Final 10 May 2026
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Qualifying rounds

The 24 teams will face in three qualifying round tournaments, one of which belong to the Champions Path, which contains the domestic league champions, and the other two to the League Path, which contains the rest of the teams that vie for qualify to the regular season. In each path, teams will be seeded ordered by the club ranking and by the country ranking for clubs that have not yet participated in the competition. The three winners of the finals will then qualify for the regular season and will join the 29 directly qualified teams in the main draw. The rest of the teams will qualify, if they apply, to the FIBA Europe Cup.

Draw

The draw for the qualifying rounds was held on 2 July 2025 at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.[11]

Champions path

More information Team, Pts ...
Pot 1
Team Pts
Danish Basketball Association Bakken Bears9
Slovak Basketball Association Patrioti Levice7
Pot 2
Team Pts
Basketball Nederland Heroes Den Bosch5
Estonian Basketball Association Kalev/Cramo5
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More information Team, Pts ...
Pot 3
Team Pts
Basketball Federation of Kosovo Trepça2
Bulgarian Basketball Federation Rilski Sportist2
Pot 4
Team Pts
Georgian Basketball Federation Kutaisi 20101
Cyprus Basketball Federation Petrolina AEK Larnaca1
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League path

More information Team, Pts ...
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More information Team, Pts ...
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Tournament 1

The tournament 1 will be played on September 21–25, 2025.

 
Quarter-finals
September 21–22
Semi-finals
September 23
Final
September 25
 
          
 
 
 
 
Slovak Basketball Association Patrioti Levice 90
 
 
 
Cyprus Basketball Federation Petrolina AEK Larnaca 69
 
Slovak Basketball Association Patrioti Levice 81
 
 
 
Estonian Basketball Association Kalev/Cramo 69
 
Estonian Basketball Association Kalev/Cramo 93
 
 
 
Bulgarian Basketball Federation Rilski Sportist 84
 
Slovak Basketball Association Patrioti Levice (2OT) 100
 
 
 
Danish Basketball Association Bakken Bears 98
 
Danish Basketball Association Bakken Bears 84
 
 
 
Georgian Basketball Federation Kutaisi 2010 81
 
Danish Basketball Association Bakken Bears 82
 
 
 
Basketball Nederland Heroes Den Bosch 77
 
Basketball Nederland Heroes Den Bosch 80
 
 
Basketball Federation of Kosovo Trepça 68
 

Source: FIBA

Tournament 2

The tournament 2 will be played on September 19–23, 2025.

 
Quarter-finals
September 19
Semi-finals
September 21
Final
September 23
 
          
 
 
 
 
Hellenic Basketball Federation PAOK mateco 79
 
 
 
Basketball Federation of Montenegro SC Derby 67
 
Hellenic Basketball Federation PAOK mateco 73
 
 
 
Turkish Basketball Federation Bursaspor 92
 
Turkish Basketball Federation Bursaspor 81
 
 
 
German Basketball Federation Löwen Braunschweig 74
 
Turkish Basketball Federation Bursaspor 77
 
 
 
Basketball Belgium Windrose Giants Antwerp 58
 
Italian Basketball Federation Pallacanestro Reggiana 99
 
 
 
Basketball Federation of North Macedonia Pelister 87
 
Italian Basketball Federation Pallacanestro Reggiana 78
 
 
 
Basketball Belgium Windrose Giants Antwerp 81
 
Romanian Basketball Federation CSM CSU Oradea 71
 
 
Basketball Belgium Windrose Giants Antwerp 79
 

Source: FIBA

Tournament 3

The tournament 3 will be played on September 20–24, 2025.

 
Quarter-finals
September 20
Semi-finals
September 22
Final
September 24
 
          
 
 
 
 
Spanish Basketball Federation UCAM Murcia 100
 
 
 
Polish Basketball Federation Start Lublin 84
 
Spanish Basketball Federation UCAM Murcia 81
 
 
 
Lithuanian Basketball Federation Juventus 71
 
Basketball Finland Karhu Kauhajoki 89
 
 
 
Lithuanian Basketball Federation Juventus 103
 
Spanish Basketball Federation UCAM Murcia 88
 
 
 
French Federation of Basketball Élan Chalon 96
 
Hungarian Basketball Federation Falco Szombathely 79
 
 
 
Portuguese Basketball Federation Porto 83
 
Portuguese Basketball Federation Porto 79
 
 
 
French Federation of Basketball Élan Chalon 100
 
Swiss Basketball Fribourg Olympic 80
 
 
French Federation of Basketball Élan Chalon 107
 

Source: FIBA

Regular season

The regular season will be played by 32 teams divided into eight groups of four in which 29 teams receive direct spots plus the three qualifying round tournaments winners. The regular season will begin on 7 October and will conclude on 17 December 2025. In each group, teams will play against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format where the eight group winners from each regular season group will qualify directly to the round of 16. Moreover, the second-placed and third-placed will qualify to the play-ins, where the series winners will qualify for the round of 16, while the remanining last-placed teams will be eliminated after the regular season.

A minimum of 18 countries will be represented in the regular season which will involve up to nine domestic league champions. Continental powerhouses like Alba Berlin, Joventut Badalona and Dreamland Gran Canaria will join the league after their previous stage in Euroleague Basketball competitions,[12][13][14] others like Karditsa Iaponiki, Mersin and Trapani Shark will make their debut appearance in international competitions.

Group A

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification VIL HDB PRO WAR
1 Lithuanian Basketball Federation Rytas 6 4 2 564 534 +30 10 Advance to round of 16 116–90 98–79 93–85
2 German Basketball Federation MLP Academics Heidelberg 6 3 3 502 507 5 9 Advance to play-ins 92–83 82–62 67–74
3 Hellenic Basketball Federation Promitheas Vikos Cola 6 3 3 481 507 26 9 111–95 89–83 72–85
4 Polish Basketball Federation Legia Warszawa 6 2 4 468 467 +1 8 77–79 83–88 64–68
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Source: FIBA

Group B

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification ALB CHA NYM SAB
1 German Basketball Federation Alba Berlin 6 5 1 549 483 +66 11 Advance to round of 16 76–81 94–78 106–82
2 French Federation of Basketball Élan Chalon 6 5 1 539 513 +26 11 Advance to play-ins 91–100 97–84 84–71
3 Czech Basketball Federation ERA Nymburk 6 1 5 512 546 34 7 75–88 95–97 93–65
4 Azerbaijan Basketball Federation Sabah 6 1 5 486 544 58 7 76–85 87–89 105–87
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Source: FIBA

Group C

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification CJB CHO HOL BUR
1 Spanish Basketball Federation Joventut Badalona 6 6 0 531 455 +76 12 Advance to round of 16 91–73 97–95 94–67
2 French Federation of Basketball Cholet 6 3 3 539 524 +15 9 Advance to play-ins 87–89 92–103 109–77
3 Israeli Basketball Association Hapoel Netanel Holon 6 3 3 531 521 +10 9 65–81 92–94 84–74
4 Turkish Basketball Federation Bursaspor 6 0 6 441 542 101 6 68–79 72–84 83–92
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Source: FIBA

Group D

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification LLT TOF TPS HER
1 Spanish Basketball Federation La Laguna Tenerife 6 4 2 519 474 +45 10 Advance to round of 16 80–70 80–83 108–85
2 Turkish Basketball Federation Tofaş 6 3 3 495 511 16 9 Advance to play-ins 64–81 99–93 90–86
3 Italian Basketball Federation Trapani Shark 6 3 3 521 516 +5 9 78–84 89–91 101–88
4 Israeli Basketball Association Bnei Penlink Herzliya 6 2 4 509 543 34 8 94–86 82–81 74–77
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Source: FIBA

Group E

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification GSM WUE TS IGO
1 Turkish Basketball Federation Galatasaray MCT Technic 6 5 1 534 474 +60 11 Advance to round of 16 89–83 79–80 94–82
2 German Basketball Federation Fitness First Würzburg Baskets 6 4 2 480 452 +28 10 Advance to play-ins 74–99 78–63 70–68
3 Italian Basketball Federation Pallacanestro Trieste 6 2 4 501 519 18 8 90–91 77–90 115–90
4 Basketball Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Igokea m:tel 6 1 5 452 522 70 7 65–82 56–85 91–76
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Source: FIBA

Group F

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification AEK OLA PAT VEF
1 Hellenic Basketball Federation AEK Betsson 6 5 1 494 431 +63 11 Advance to round of 16 91–77 99–88 95–64
2 Hungarian Basketball Federation NHSZ-Szolnoki Olajbányász 6 3 3 451 439 +12 9 Advance to play-ins 80–69 84–54 77–76
3 Slovak Basketball Association Patrioti Levice 6 3 3 461 467 6 9 69–71 73–71 85–69
4 Latvian Basketball Association VEF Rīga 6 1 5 411 480 69 7 53–69 76–62 73–92
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Source: FIBA

Group G

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification UNI MSK KAR OOS
1 Spanish Basketball Federation Unicaja 6 6 0 575 435 +140 12 Advance to round of 16 97–66 115–84 102–80
2 Turkish Basketball Federation Mersin 6 4 2 415 404 +11 10 Advance to play-ins 77–100 81–73 84–76
3 Hellenic Basketball Federation Karditsa Iaponiki 6 2 4 461 519 58 8 55–72 72–80 82–78
4 Basketball Belgium Filou Oostende 6 0 6 563 656 93 6 73–89 86–104 93–95
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Source: FIBA

Group H

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification DGC SPA MSB SLB
1 Spanish Basketball Federation Dreamland Gran Canaria 6 6 0 518 425 +93 12 Advance to round of 16 77–62 73–68 87–63
2 Basketball Federation of Serbia Spartak Office Shoes 6 3 3 469 462 +7 9 Advance to play-ins 83–93 74–73 99–69
3 French Federation of Basketball Le Mans 6 2 4 484 460 +24 8 88–90 76–61 89–69
4 Portuguese Basketball Federation Benfica 6 1 5 429 553 124 7 61–98 74–90 93–90
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Source: FIBA

Play-ins

The Play-ins will take place from 6 to 14 January 2026. The teams classified in second and third place in their respective groups of Basketball Champions League, went to the Play-ins. The winners will advance to the round of 16. First legs will be played on 6 January, second legs on 8 January and if required, third legs will be played on 13–14 January.

More information Team 1, Series ...
Team 1 Series Team 2 Game 1 Game 2 Game 3
MLP Academics Heidelberg Germany 0–2 Czech Republic ERA Nymburk 63–72 71–78
Tofaş Turkey 2–1 France Cholet 89–75 86–105 84–82
Hapoel Netanel Holon Israel 1 Italy Trapani Shark 38–51
Élan Chalon France 2–0 Greece Promitheas Vikos Cola 93–78 92–82
Fitness First Würzburg Baskets Germany 2–1 Slovakia Patrioti Levice 89–92 74–56 92–71
NHSZ-Szolnoki Olajbányász Hungary 1–2 Italy Pallacanestro Trieste 62–82 89–80 86–87
Mersin Turkey 0–2 France Le Mans 65–92 83–113
Spartak Office Shoes Serbia 0–2 Greece Karditsa Iaponiki 82–89 75–84
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Notes:

^1 According to Article 14.5.4 of the Basketball Champions League Competition Regulations, a club that loses any game by forfeit or by default in the Play-Ins and the Play-Offs shall lose the series.[15]

Round of 16

The Round of 16 will take place from January 20 until March 18, 2026. The groups will be formed by the winners of each Regular Season Group and by eight Play-Ins winners. The 16 teams will be divided in 4 groups, 4 teams each. The first two of each groups advance to the quarter-finals.

Group I

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification VIL GSM MSB HOL
1 Lithuanian Basketball Federation Rytas 6 4 2 560 508 +52 10 Advance to quarter-finals 85–89 101–81 106–81
2 Turkish Basketball Federation Galatasaray MCT Technic 6 4 2 520 501 +19 10 81–90 83–90 86–81
3 French Federation of Basketball Le Mans 6 4 2 538 527 +11 10 78–72 81–94 102–92
4 Israeli Basketball Association Hapoel Netanel Holon 6 0 6 511 593 82 6 98–106 74–87 85–106
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Group J

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification AEK ALB TOF KAR
1 Hellenic Basketball Federation AEK Betsson 6 6 0 548 481 +67 12 Advance to quarter-finals 88–80 96–88 88–73
2 German Basketball Federation Alba Berlin 6 4 2 491 482 +9 10 88–93 69–60 84–80
3 Turkish Basketball Federation Tofaş 6 1 5 511 529 18 7 90–93 90–94 90–98
4 Hellenic Basketball Federation Karditsa Iaponiki 6 1 5 463 521 58 7 62–90 71–76 79–93
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Group K

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification UNI CJB CHA WUE
1 Spanish Basketball Federation Unicaja 6 4 2 504 462 +42 10 Advance to quarter-finals 86–74 111–82 90–85
2 Spanish Basketball Federation Joventut Badalona 6 4 2 505 479 +26 10 71–66 107–75 91–84
3 French Federation of Basketball Élan Chalon 6 2 4 479 534 55 8 70–80 85–77 86–75
4 German Basketball Federation Fitness First Würzburg Baskets 6 2 4 491 504 13 8 80–71 83–85 84–81
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Group L

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification LLT NYM DGC TS
1 Spanish Basketball Federation La Laguna Tenerife 6 4 2 482 447 +35 10 Advance to quarter-finals 104–80 79–76 84–82
2 Czech Basketball Federation ERA Nymburk 6 3 3 464 483 19 9 55–69 64–67 82–76
3 Spanish Basketball Federation Dreamland Gran Canaria 6 3 3 462 452 +10 9 72–70 82–92 71–77
4 Italian Basketball Federation Pallacanestro Trieste 6 2 4 472 498 26 8 82–76 85–91 70–94
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Playoffs

The playoffs will begin on 1 April 2026 and ends with the 2026 Basketball Champions League Final Four. The 8 qualified clubs have been ranked according to their final position within their respective group during the Round of 16 and their place in the Draw was based on this ranking. The teams having finished 1st of their Round of 16 group was placed in Pot 1, the teams having finished 2nd of their Round of 16 group was placed in Pot 2.

Qualified teams

Key to colors
Seeded teamsUnseeded teams
More information Group, Winners ...
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Bracket

 
QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal
 
                
 
1 April–15 April
 
 
Spanish Basketball Federation Unicaja7288
 
7 May
 
German Basketball Federation Alba Berlin6985
 
Spanish Basketball Federation Unicaja
 
1 April–15 April
 
Hellenic Basketball Federation AEK Betsson
 
Hellenic Basketball Federation AEK Betsson876672
 
9 May
 
Spanish Basketball Federation Joventut Badalona848867
 
 
 
1 April–15 April
 
 
 
Lithuanian Basketball Federation Rytas7770
 
7 May
 
Czech Basketball Federation ERA Nymburk7069
 
Lithuanian Basketball Federation Rytas
 
1 April–15 April
 
Spanish Basketball Federation La Laguna TenerifeThird place
 
Spanish Basketball Federation La Laguna Tenerife846299
 
9 May
 
Turkish Basketball Federation Galatasaray MCT Technic836459
 
 
 
 
 
 

Quarterfinals

The quarterfinals will be played in a best-of-3 series and start on April 1. The seeded teams will play the first games of the Quarter-Finals at home and these games are scheduled on April 1; reverse fixtures are to be played on April 7 and 8; potential third games of the series would happen on April 15.[16]

More information Team 1, Series ...
Team 1 Series Team 2 Game 1 Game 2 Game 3
Unicaja Spain 2–0 Germany Alba Berlin 72–69 88–85
AEK Betsson Greece 2–1 Spain Joventut Badalona 87–84 66–88 72–67
Rytas Lithuania 2–0 Czech Republic ERA Nymburk 77–70 70–69
La Laguna Tenerife Spain 2–1 Turkey Galatasaray MCT Technic 84–83 62–64 99–59
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Individual awards

MVP of the Group Phase

More information Player, Club ...
Player Club Ref.
Gabon Chris SilvaGreece AEK Betsson
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Team of the Group Phase

MVP of the Play-ins

More information Player, Club ...
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Team of the Play-ins

MVP of the Round of 16

More information Player, Club ...
Player Club Ref.
United States RaiQuan GrayGreece AEK Betsson
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Team of the Round of 16

MVP of the Quarterfinals

More information Player, Club ...
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Team of the Quarterfinals

References

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