Contested each year between the top football teams from all over Europe, the UEFA Champions League is one of the biggest gambling events in world sport. Find out which betting sites offer the best odds and betting specials for the most prestigious trophy in club football. UEFA Champions League betting sites offer odds all-year round, including on the winner, to pass the group stage and on all matches in the event.
Wagering on UEFA Champions League online can be done via the following betting sites:
What is the UEFA Champions League?
The European Cup was first contested during the 1955-56 domestic season. It was a straight knockout competition between 16 teams, most of which were reigning champions of their respective top-flight leagues. Real Madrid claimed top honours that year in the first of five consecutive titles.
It was not long before the European Cup evolved into a highly competitive tournament of champions. Madrid’s early success set a high mark that top teams from the rest of Europe were determine to match. By the end of the 1980s, the winners’ list featured multiple entries from the likes of Benfica, Milan, Internazionale, Ajax, Bayern Munich and Liverpool.
The tournament has grown considerably in the past few decades. The ‘Champions League’ branding was adopted after a group stage was introduced in 1992; a few years later, the qualification rules were loosened to allow multiple entrants from each nation. The result is a star-studded competition that ranks second only to the FIFA World Cup in prestige.
Champions League dates 2025/26
The Champions League is one of the most hotly contested titles in world soccer, with it roughly running from February to August each year. The key Champions League dates for 2025/26 are:
2025/26 Champions League qualifying matches
- First qualifying round: July 8–9, 2025 and July 15–16, 2025
- Second qualifying round: July 22–23, 2025 and July 29–30, 2025
- Third qualifying round: August 5–6, 2025 and August 12, 2025
- Play‑offs: August 19–20, 2025 and August 26–27, 2025
2025/26 Champions League league phase match dates
- Matchday 1: September 16–18, 2025
- Matchday 2: September 30–October 1, 2025
- Matchday 3: October 21–22, 2025
- Matchday 4: November 4–5, 2025
- Matchday 5: November 25–26, 2025
- Matchday 6: December 9–10, 2025
- Matchday 7: January 20–21, 2026
- Matchday 8: January 28, 2026
2025/26 Champions League knockout stage
- Knockout play‑offs: February 17/18 and February 24/25, 2026
- Round of 16: March 10/11 and March 17/18, 2026
- Quarter‑finals: April 7/8 and April 14/15, 2026
- Semi‑finals: April 28/29 and May 5/6, 2026
- Final: May 30, 2026 – Puskás Aréna, Budapest, Hungary
2025/26 Champions League draw dates
- First qualifying round: June 17, 2025
- Second qualifying round: June 18, 2025
- Third qualifying round: July 21, 2025
- Play‑offs: August 4, 2025
- League phase: August 28, 2025 (Monaco)
- Knockout play‑offs: January 30, 2026
- Round of 16, quarter‑final, semi‑final and final: February 27, 2026
Note: All dates are subject to change by UEFA.
Best UEFA Champions League betting sites
Thousands of sports betting operators take bets on Champions League football, but some are better than others. Furthermore, licensing restrictions mean some bookies may not be accessible in certain parts of the world. The sites below are licensed, secure and open to gamblers in United States.
How to bet on Champions League football
There are literally hundreds of ways to have a bet on the Champions League. Open the tabs below to learn more.
- Every Champions League match comes with three standard bets: you can back either team to win outright, or you can bet that the game will end in a draw. That’s all there is to it.
- Betting handicaps even up the odds when one team is heavily favoured to beat the other. For example, let’s say Liverpool are pegged at +100 odds on a -2.0 handicap; for the bet to pay, the Reds must win by at least three goals.
- These markets offer excellent returns, but they are very tricky to pick. For instance, if Barcelona are paying +500 to win 3-0, the bet only returns if the Blaugrana triumph by exactly three goals to nil and not any other scoreline.
- UCL bookies do a massive trade in goalscorer predictions. You can back any player to score the first goal, the last goal, two or more goals, with their head, from outside the box – the options are all but endless.
- Soccer bookmakers often tie multiple bets together and advertise them at special odds. For example, a double on the first goalscorer and the match result will pay more than if you had wagered on those two markets separately.
- You can bet on just about every aspect of a Champions League match. There are markets for corners and throw-ins, yellow and red cards, penalties, own goals, clean sheets, margins – the list goes on.
- Champions League outright markets are available well in advance of the tournament’s commencement. You can bet on the title winner, the top teams in each group, and player props such as top goalscorer and most clean sheets.
Champions League format and qualification
The final field for the European Cup has doubled in size since the 1990s, while the qualifying route has also undergone some significant changes. Tap the tabs below to find out more.
- The Champions League now has a 36‑team league phase (replacing the old 32‑team group stage). Places are earned via domestic performance and UEFA’s access list, with two “European Performance Spots” awarded each season to the best‑performing leagues. Champions from lower‑ranked associations still enter via qualifying rounds on the Champions Path.
- All 36 clubs are ranked in one table. Each team plays eight matches against eight different opponents — four at home and four away — drawn using four seeding pots (two opponents from each pot). The top eight qualify directly for the round of 16; teams finishing 9th–24th enter two‑legged knockout play‑offs; 25th–36th are eliminated.
- After the play‑offs, the competition continues with round of 16, quarter‑finals and semi‑finals over two legs. The away‑goals rule was abolished in 2021/22, so level ties go to extra time and, if needed, penalties.
- The finalists meet in a one‑off decider at a pre‑selected venue. The winners qualify for next season’s Champions League and contest the UEFA Super Cup. They also feed into FIFA’s club events: the annual Intercontinental Cup (from 2024) and the expanded 32‑team FIFA Club World Cup staged every four years (from 2025).
Champions League records and stats
The cream always rises to the top in the UEFA Champions League. Open the tabs below to find out which powerhouse clubs and star players have shone brightest on the big stage.
- Real Madrid dominated the early years of the European Cup, winning every final between 1956 and 1960. AC Milan, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Liverpool are the only other teams to win it five times or more.
1956 Real Madrid 4-3 Stade de Reims 1957 Real Madrid 2-0 Fiorentina 1958 Real Madrid 3-2* Milan 1959 Real Madrid 2-0 Stade de Reims 1960 Real Madrid 7-3 Eintracht Frankfurt 1961 Benfica 3-2 Barcelona 1962 Benfica 5-3 Real Madrid 1963 Milan 2-1 Benfica 1964 Internazionale 3-1 Real Madrid 1965 Internazionale 1-0 Benfica 1966 Real Madrid 2-1 Partizan 1967 Celtic 2-1 Internazionale 1968 Manchester United 4-1* Benfica 1969 Milan 4-1 Ajax 1970 Feyenoord 2-1* Celtic 1971 Ajax 2-0 Panathinaikos 1972 Ajax 2-0 Internazionale 1973 Ajax 1-0 Juventus 1974 Bayern Munich 4-0^ Atletico Madrid 1975 Bayern Munich 2-0 Leeds United 1976 Bayern Munich 1-0 Saint Etienne 1977 Liverpool 3-1 Borussia Monchengladbach 1978 Liverpool 1-0 Club Brugge 1979 Nottingham Forest 1-0 Malmo FF 1980 Nottingham Forest 1-0 Hamburg 1981 Liverpool 1-0 Real Madrid 1982 Aston Villa 1-0 Bayern Munich 1983 Hamburg 1-0 Juventus 1984 Liverpool 1-1** Roma 1985 Juventus 1-0 Liverpool 1986 Steaua Bucharest 0-0** Barcelona 1987 Porto 2-1 Bayern Munich 1988 PSV Eindhoven 0-0** Benfica 1989 Milan 4-0 Steaua Bucharest 1990 Milan 1-0 Benfica 1991 Red Star Belgrade 0-0** Marseille 1992 Barcelona 1-0* Sampdoria 1993 Marseille 1-0 Milan 1994 Milan 4-0 Barcelona 1995 Ajax 1-0 Milan 1996 Juventus 1-1** Ajax 1997 Borussia Dortmund 3-1 Milan 1998 Real Madrid 1-0 Juventus 1999 Manchester United 2-1 Bayern Munich 2000 Real Madrid 3-0 Valencia 2001 Bayern Munich 1-1** Valencia 2002 Real Madrid 2-1 Bayer Leverkusen 2003 Milan 0-0** Juventus 2004 Porto 3-0 Monaco 2005 Liverpool 3-3** Milan 2006 Barcelona 2-1 Arsenal 2007 Milan 2-1 Liverpool 2008 Manchester United 1-1** Chelsea 2009 Barcelona 2-0 Manchester United 2010 Internazionale 2-1 Bayern Munich 2011 Barcelona 3-1 Manchester United 2012 Chelsea 1-1** Bayern Munich 2013 Bayern Munich 2-1 Borussia Dortmund 2014 Real Madrid 4-1* Atletico Madrid 2015 Barcelona 3-1 Juventus 2016 Real Madrid 1-1** Atletico Madrid 2017 Real Madrid 4-1 Juventus 2018 Real Madrid 3-1 Liverpool 2019 Liverpool 2-0 Tottenham 2020 Bayern Munich 1-0 Paris Saint-Germain 2021 Chelsea 1-0 Manchester City 2022 Real Madrid 1-0 Liverpool 2023 Manchester City 1-0 Inter Milan 2024 Real Madrid 2-0 Borussia Dortmund 2025 Paris Saint-Germain 5-0 Inter Milan * Added extra time
** Penalties
^ Replay Cristiano Ronaldo 141 goals Lionel Messi 129 goals Robert Lewandowski 105 goals Karim Benzema 90 goals Raúl 71 goals Ruud van Nistelrooy 60 goals Andriy Shevchenko 59 goals Thomas Müller 57 goals Kylian Mbappé 55 goals Mohamed Salah 51 goals - The all-time appearance list is dominated by players from Barcelona and Real Madrid. Of the top 10, only Ryan Giggs never played for a Spanish club.
Cristiano Ronaldo 183 games Iker Casillas 177 games Lionel Messi 163 games Thomas Müller 163 games Karim Benzema 152 games Toni Kroos 151 games Xavi 151 games Manuel Neuer 150 games Ryan Giggs 145 games Luka Modrić 142 games Raúl 142 games Sergio Ramos 142 games - Want some more facts and figures? Here are some of our favourites:
- Francisco Gento won the European Cup six times with Real Madrid between 1955 and 1966.
- Gento and Milan legend Paolo Maldini are the only two players to have featured in eight finals.
- Clarence Seedorf won the UCL title with three different teams: Ajax in 1995, Real Madrid in 1998, and Milan in 2003 and 2007.
- Samuel Eto’o won the treble with Barcelona in 2009 and did it again the following season at Inter.
- Edgar Davids, Sergio Ramos and Zlatan Ibrahimovic were each sent off four times in Champions League matches.
- Zlatan is also the only man to play in the UCL with seven different clubs: Ajax, Juventus, Inter, Barcelona, Milan, Paris-Saint Germain and Man United.
- Cristiano Ronaldo has top scored in seven UCL campaigns and has the three highest goal tallies for a season, led by his 17 strikes in 2013-14.
- Ronaldo also holds the all-time record for goal assists with 42, while Liverpool’s James Milner set a new high mark with nine in the 2017-18 campaign.
