EFC Champions League

EFC Champions League

Organising body	Euronia Football Confederation
Founded	1997 (1997)
Region	Nortua
Number of teams	32
2024 EFC Nations League

The EFC Champions League is an annual international football competition organized by the Euronia Football Confederation, and contested by top-division Euronian clubs, deciding the competition winners through a round robin group stage to qualify for a double-legged knockout format, and a single leg final. It is the most-watched club competition in the world, and the third most-watched football competition overall behind the NFC Nations Cup and the World Cup. It is one of the most prestigious football tournaments in the world and the most prestigious club competition in Euronia football, played by the national league champions (and, for some nations, one or more runners-up) of their national associations.

In its present format, the Champions League begins in late February, usually following the World Cup, with a preliminary round, three qualifying rounds and a play-off round, all played over two legs. The six surviving teams enter the group stage, joining 26 teams qualified in advance. The 32 teams are drawn into eight groups of four teams and play each other in a double round-robin system. The eight group winners and eight runners-up proceed to the knockout phase that culminates with the final match in mid-late May. The winner of the Champions League automatically qualifies for the following year's Champions League.

Format

Qualification

The EFC Champions League begins with a double round-robin group stage of 32 teams, which is preceded by two qualification 'streams' for teams that do not receive direct entry to the tournament proper. The two streams are divided between teams qualified by virtue of being league champions, and those qualified by virtue of finishing second or third in their national championship.

Four of the remaining six qualifying places are granted to the winners of a six-round qualifying tournament between the remaining national champions, within which those champions from associations with higher coefficients receive byes to later rounds.

In addition to sporting criteria, any club must be licensed by its national association to participate in the Champions League. To obtain a license, the club must meet certain stadium, infrastructure and finance requirements.

Group stage and knockout phase

The tournament proper begins with a group stage of 32 teams, divided into eight groups of four. The draw to determine which teams go into each group is seeded based on teams' performance in EFC competitions, and no group may contain more than one club from each nation. Each team plays six group stage games, meeting the other three teams in its group home and away in a round-robin format. The winning team and the runners-up from each group then progress to the next round.

For the next stage – the last 16 – the winning team from one group plays against the runners-up from another group. From the quarter-finals onwards, the draw is entirely random, without association protection.

The group stage is played from February to April, whilst the knock-out stage starts in late-April or early May. The knock-out ties are played in a two-legged format, with the exception of the final. The final is typically held in the middle two weeks of May.

Results

Season	Final			Third place play-off
	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Third	Score	Fourth
1997	Pretesia FC	2-0 Solbakken Stadium, Viitaniemi, Caspiaa	Titania FC	Basseterre Union	score stadium, city, country	Tariel Aces
1998	Fladstad FC	score stadium, city, country	FC Ruiz Caura	Futbol Corqui	score stadium, city, country	Wingerton Wildcats
1999	San Beausoliel Suns	score stadium, city, country	Sohava Skii	Vilanja FC	score stadium, city, country	Porte-Lyon FC
2000	Lerbin FC	score stadium, city, country	FC Auvergne	FC Kolkesburg	score stadium, city, country	Capaba Lakers FC
2001	Santara-Hett Football	score stadium, city, country	SKV Kydrov	Portopesia FC	score stadium, city, country	Porte-Lyon FC
2002	Torport United	score stadium, city, country	Tayan FC	Ciudad Acadre FC	score stadium, city, country	Futbol Corqui
2003	Lundgården IF	score stadium, city, country	Périnnois FC	Vastmanland Club	score stadium, city, country	Chocaster United
2004	Capaba Lakers FC	score stadium, city, country	White Rock Sounders	FK Týl-Fjásj	score stadium, city, country	Goose Harbor United
2005	FC Cholinas	score stadium, city, country	FC Samuelton	FC Meguén	score stadium, city, country	FC Berteni-Arna
2006	Viitaniemi FC	score stadium, city, country	FC Kolos Korogarsk	Stade Vessalia	score stadium, city, country	FC Mönusÿnthys
2007	AIF Sjedal	2-1 stadium, city, country	Lerbin FC	Ilhaevia Club	score stadium, city, country	Sunkhatten FC
2008	Alsace United	score stadium, city, country	Granhättan FC	Osmino City FC	score stadium, city, country	Ste Marie FC
2009	Lamstin Hawks	score stadium, city, country	Alolis FC	Basseterre Union	score stadium, city, country	FC Meguén
2010	FC Meguén	score stadium, city, country	Lanaine FC	Luthsenburg FC	score stadium, city, country	Emerald Union
2011	Stade Vessalia	score stadium, city, country	Augsenburg Club	Coretas FC	score stadium, city, country	Odiola FC
2012	FC Ruiz Caura	score stadium, city, country	Runner-up	Roksa Athletic	score stadium, city, country	Fourth
2013	FC Ciudad Turania	score stadium, city, country	FC Mönusÿnthys	Osipovgrad FK	score stadium, city, country	San Beausoliel Suns
2014	Granhättan FC	score stadium, city, country	Emerald Union	FC Kolkesburg	score stadium, city, country	United Port FC
2015	Haute City FC	2-1 Bezteca Stadium, Mirinu, East Chanchajilla	FK Týl-Fjásj	FC Thornharbor	score stadium, city, country	Périnnois FC
2016	Moulins FC	score stadium, city, country	Alolis FC	Haute City FC	score stadium, city, country	BK Aalslund
2017	Porte-Lyon FC	score stadium, city, country	FC Cholinas	Augsenburg Club	score stadium, city, country	Osipovgrad FK
2018	Lerbin FC	score stadium, city, country	Alanis United	Saone FC	score stadium, city, country	Mountaineer FC
2019	FC Ciudad Turania	score stadium, city, country	Osipovgrad FK	Ponamu FC	score stadium, city, country	Emerald Union
2020	Alanis United	score stadium, city, country	Asrett-Tannerline FC	Lerbin FC	score stadium, city, country	Alikan SK
2021	Alanis United	score stadium, city, country	FC Bytom-Porro	Saint Lapopie FC	score stadium, city, country	Capaba Lakers FC
2022	AIF Sjédal	4-1 stadium, city, country	Vilanja FC	Ilhaevia Club	3(3)-(1)3 stadium, city, country	Tofino United FC
2023	Pedeit FC	3-2 Orchestra Bell Stadium, Alanis, Zamastan	Alanis United	Lundgården IF	2-0 Trondheim Stadium, Viitaniemi, Caspiaa	Vastmanland Club
2024	winner	score stadium, city, country	Runner-up	Third	score stadium, city, country	Fourth