Qualification events set for first EHF Youth Club Trophy Women
The first EHF Youth Club Trophy Women is ready for throw-off! A total of 16 under-17 teams, mainly youth teams from EHF Champions League participants, will compete in four qualification tournaments in March and April, where the respective winners will earn a ticket to the final tournament on the weekend of the Raiffeisen Bank EHF FINAL4 2026 in Budapest on 6/7 June.
A year after the success of the inaugural Youth Club Trophy for men, the women start with a tournament in a similar format this season.
To find the four teams that will appear at the final event in June, four qualification tournaments have been announced on Tuesday: two in Croatia, and one each in Romania and Türkiye.
On the starting grid are 16 teams with under-17 players: 14 of them are youth teams from leading European clubs currently participating in the EHF Champions League Women 2025/26 group phase.
The other two are storied Austrian side Hypo Niederösterreich — the four-time EHF Champions League winners in the 1990s — and Kepez BSK, which host the qualification tournament in Türkiye and are the national champions for female players born in 2009.
EHF Youth Club Trophy Women 2025/26 qualification tournaments
Qualification Tournament 1 Porec (CRO) – local organisation by EHF/M
Sunday/Monday, 29/30 March 2026
- AUT – Hypo Niederösterreich
- CRO – HC Podravka
- HUN – Györi ETO KC
- MNE – OTP Group Buducnost
Qualification Tournament 2 Zagreb (CRO)
Tuesday/Wednesday, 31 March/1 April 2026
- CRO – HC Lokomotiva Zagreb (host)
- DEN – Ikast Håndbold
- HUN – FTC
- SLO – Krim OTP Group Mercator
Qualification Tournament 3 Bistrita (ROU)
Thursday/Friday, 2/3 April 2026
- DEN – Team Esbjerg
- GER – BV Borussia Dortmund
- HUN – DVSC Schaeffler
- ROU – CS Gloria Bistrita (host)
Qualification Tournament 4 Ankara (TUR) – local organisation by Turkish Handball Federation
Thursday/Friday, 2/3 April 2026
- DEN – Odense Håndbold
- FRA – Metz Handball
- ROU – CSM Bucuresti
- TUR – Kepez BSK
The EHF will release details on the semi-final pairings for each group and the exact throw-off times in due course.
photo © Jozo Cabraja / kolektiff
