UEFA changes the rules of European cups. A great chance for the Polish champions

Until now, the Champions League has been the only European competition for women's football. A team from the Polish top league has never advanced to the regular round, which features 16 clubs divided into four groups. In the upcoming edition, the final competition has been expanded to 18 teams, but the group stage will be replaced by a league stage.

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The first and second rounds of the Champions League qualifiers take the form of mini-tournaments with four teams participating. There are semi-finals, a match for third place and a final. The third round will feature two-legged matches, the winners of which will advance to the regular phase.

In the autumn, each team will play six matches in the regular season of the Champions League. The four best clubs will advance directly to the quarter-finals, while the teams from 5th to 12th places will play in the play-offs.

The draw for the first round of the Champions League qualifiers will take place in Nyon on June 24. The matches in this phase will be played on July 30 and August 2. GKS Katowice will compete in the second round, which is scheduled for August 27 and 30.

In the second round of the Champions League qualifiers, there will be 11 mini-tournaments - seven in the "championship" path, in which GKS is located, and four in the "league" path, which is intended for clubs from the higher leagues in the UEFA ranking. The host will be one of the four tournament participants.

If GKS Katowice wins the mini-tournament in the second round of the CL qualifiers, they will advance to the third round and play a two-legged match, with promotion to the elite group at stake. In the event of being eliminated in the third round of the CL qualifiers, the Polish champions will advance to the second round of the European Championship qualifiers.

However, if the GKS players take third place in the tournament, they will play in the two-stage European Championship qualifiers, which will take place in September and October.

The main part of the European Cup will feature 16 teams that will compete in the knockout phase: 1/8 finals, quarter-finals, etc. The European Cup is an additional chance for the Polish champions to make their mark on the international stage.

The Polish men's football league has moved up to 15th place in the UEFA rankings this year. This is mainly due to the fact that in the last three seasons, three Polish clubs: Legia Warsaw, Jagiellonia Białystok and Lech Poznań have advanced to the quarter-finals of the Conference League - the third European cup in the hierarchy, which has been played since the 2021/22 season.

The women's Ekstraliga, on the other hand, is ranked 29th in the UEFA ranking, which is why only the Polish champion currently participates in European cups.

The women's team of GKS Katowice won the Polish Cup in the 2023/24 season, and the national championship in 2023 and 2025. The club's squad includes two players who were called up by national team coach Nina Patalon for the European Championship in July: goalkeeper Kinga Seweryn and midfielder Klaudia Słowińska.

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