Champions League: Which countries will win additional places next season?

Poland and England are on track to win two additional Champions League places for next season.

Since the start of the 2024-25 season, when the Champions League first round expanded from 32 teams to 36 teams, UEFA has awarded an additional qualification spot to each of the two best-performing nations of the previous season.

Using UEFA’s rankings, where points are earned by winning and drawing matches in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League, the two top-scoring nations receive direct qualification to the following season’s Champions League.

Throughout the season, teams receive two points for each win and one point for a draw in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League. There are also bonus points on offer for each round reached across the three competitions, although more points are awarded to teams competing in the Champions League than in other competitions.

In the qualifying rounds, these points are halved.

The points earned are then divided by the number of teams from that country that participated in European competitions at the start of the season.

In the 2025-26 season, England has nine teams competing in Europe. This means that all points are divided by nine.

Scotland started the season with five teams competing in Europe. Although Hibernian and Dundee United failed to make it out of the qualifying rounds, there are three teams remaining – but Scotland’s points are still split by five.

For this season, England and Spain were awarded an additional place each as they were the two best-performing nations during the 2024-2025 season. This means that entry into the Champions League has been given to Newcastle and the Athletic Club.

For the 2024-25 season, Italy and Germany were awarded the two spots known as European Performance Points (EPS). Bologna and Borussia Dortmund are the two teams that were granted entry.