Almost 50 clubs to learn their opponents in the EHF Cup

Almost 50 clubs to learn their opponents in the EHF Cup

When the sixteen teams seeded directly for the third qualification round in the Men’s EHF Cup enter the new 2019/20 season there will have already 64 matches been played in the previous rounds.

The European Handball Federation has released the seeding for the new season of the Men’s EHF Cup and the two time winners Füchse Berlin alongside other three German participants and 12 other clubs have been seeded directly to the third qualification round – the last before the group phase.

Without the defending champions but with four former winners

In total 64 clubs (five more than the last year) will be in action in the new season and the draw on Tuesday 16 July at 11:00am at the EHF Office in Vienna will determine all pairings in the first two playing rounds.

Although the four-time and also reigning EHF Cup winners THW Kiel together with the third team of the previous season FC Porto Sofarma will play in the VELUX EHF Champions League this season, there are still two out of four participants of the last EHF Cup Finals in Kiel - runners-up and the two-time winners Füchse Berlin (2015 and 2018) and TTH Holstebro.

There are three more former winners of the EHF Cup - the trophy holders from the maiden EHF Cup Finals tournament in 2013 Rhein-Neckar Löwen, 1999 and 2001 winners SC Magdeburg (both seeded for the third round) and Ademar Leon (1999 and 2005).

The first leg of the opening round will mark the first game action in the 2019/20 European club competitions on 31 August/1 September, while the second leg will be played on 7/8 September with 32 teams involved at this stage.

In the second qualification round the 16 winners from the first round will join 16 other teams. The first leg is scheduled for 5/6 October, while the reversed fixtures will follow one week later.

Farewell to the current format

The upcoming season in the Men's EHF Cup will be the last one played in the current format. From 2020/21 there will be just two qualification rounds preceding the group phase which will be played with 24 teams (four groups of six teams). Also, the Last 16 phase will be introduced before quarter-finals and the final tournament.

The competition will be named the European Handball League, while the current Challenge Cup will take over the EHF Cup name.

Check the season’s overview here