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European Champions Cup Information
In this Rugby Union Betting Guide, we will be taking a look at the 13th edition of the Champions Cup era, which starts in late 2026 and ends in May 2027.
The tournament has been the Champions Cup since 2014; it was previously known as the Heineken Cup when it was created in 1995.
Below, we are going to look at the upcoming season, look back at past champions and look at betting odds to enhance your betting experience with the Champions Cup.
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European Champions Cup Preview
Who won the European Champions Cup?
The 2025–26 European Champions Cup was won by the Bordeaux Bègles, who defeated Leinster in the final to claim back-to-back titles. The Bègles made their way into the final by defeating Bath in the semi-final, whilst Leinster beat Toulon to secure their spot in the final.
Leinster must have fancied their chances after taking an early lead through O'Brien in the 9th minute; however, that seemed to wake the Bègles up with tries from Lucu, Uberti, Bielle-Biarray (x2), and Moefana, the French side went in leading 35-7 at half-time.
Tries from McCarthy and Ringrose gave Leinster a 12-6 second-half score, but they had no answer to that first-half display with Bordeaux coming out 41-19 winners in Bilbao.
When is the European Champions Cup?
The 2026-27 Champions Cup dates and final location will be announced closer to the start of the new season.
Who are the favourites to win the European Champions Cup?
Six-time winners Toulouse and four-time winners Leinster, as you would expect, will likely be installed as ante-post favourites, with Bordeaux in there too as they look for history to become the first team to win three on the bounce.
Who will win the European Champions Cup?
Head over to the OLBG Rugby Tips to see who they are tipping to win, not only the outright winner but also matches throughout the tournament.
Additionally, if you only want to view the tips from the top tipsters, those who have shown a profit on rugby over the past year, then head over to the Best Rugby Tipsters page.
What is the European Champions Cup Format?
In total, 24 teams will compete in the Champions Cup, which is made up of teams that qualified through various tournaments.
- England - Top 8 from the Premiership
- France - Top 8 from the Top 14
- Other - Top 8 from the United Rugby Championship
The teams are split into four pools of six teams, with the top two from each advancing to the round of 16 as the home team, and those in 3rd & 4th of each pool as the away team in the round of 16.
The teams finishing in 5th place in each of the pools get a second chance at European competition as they head into the Challenge Cup knockout stages, and the team in 6th place is eliminated.
European Champions Cup Broadcast & Scheduling Info
In the UK and Ireland, the Champions Cup matches can be watched live on the Premier Sports channels.
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European Champions Cup Past Winners
The win from Bordeaux Bègles in 2025, which was their first victory in this tournament, made them the fourteenth team to win this tournament, and they went on to back that up in 2026. Six of those teams have been English, five have been French, and the other three have been Irish.
The most successful Champions Cup team have been Toulouse, who have six titles to their name, their last coming in 2024. Leinster are next on the list with four wins, although they only have a 50/50 record in the final, as they have also been beaten in the final four times.
Last Ten Champions Cup Winners
| Year | Winner | Score | Runners-up | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025–26 | Bordeaux-Bègles | 41–19 | Leinster | San Mames Stadium, Bilbao |
| 2024–25 | Bordeaux-Bègles | 28–20 | Northampton Saints | Principality Stadium, Cardiff |
| 2023–24 | Toulouse | 31–22 | Leinster | Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London |
| 2022–23 | La Rochelle | 27–26 | Leinster | Aviva Stadium, Dublin |
| 2021–22 | La Rochelle | 24–21 | Leinster | Stade Vélodrome, Marseille |
| 2020–21 | Toulouse | 22–17 | La Rochelle | Twickenham, London |
| 2019–20 | Exeter Chiefs | 31–27 | Racing 92 | Ashton Gate, Bristol |
| 2018–19 | Saracens | 20–10 | Leinster | St James’ Park, Newcastle |
| 2017–18 | Leinster | 15–12 | Racing 92 | San Mamés, Bilbao |
| 2016–17 | Saracens | 28–17 | Clermont | Murrayfield, Edinburgh |
European Champions Cup Favourite Statistics
Over the last ten seasons of the Champions Cup, the favourites have been successful in 78.75% of the games; there have been 478 winning favourites in 607 games.
If you look at more recent seasons, since 2019, that win rate increases to 81.59% (328-402), with the 2024-25 season being the most productive of the last ten seasons.
From 63 games, 54 of the favourites went on to win in 2024-25, that is a win rate of 85.71%, with only 9 of the favourites failing to win their matches.
Favourite Statistics for the Past Ten Seasons
| Year | Favourites | Winners | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-17 | 67 | 50 | 74.63% |
| 2017-18 | 70 | 51 | 72.86% |
| 2018-19 | 68 | 49 | 72.06% |
| 2019-20 | 67 | 57 | 85.07% |
| 2020-21 | 34 | 28 | 82.35% |
| 2021-22 | 61 | 45 | 73.77% |
| 2022-23 | 63 | 52 | 82.54% |
| 2023-24 | 50 | 41 | 82.00% |
| 2024-25 | 63 | 54 | 85.71% |
| 2025-26 | 64 | 51 | 79.69% |
| Total | 607 | 478 | 78.75% |
Tournament Betting Comparison
Winning Favourites Comparison (10 Seasons)
Here is a comparison between some of the top rugby union tournaments (Knockouts) for winning favourites.
As you can see, the Champions Cup only comes above one of the tournaments we have looked at; the three above all have win rates of over 79%.
| League | Games | Winning Favs | Overall Fav % |
|---|---|---|---|
| World Cup | 195 | 166 | 85.13% |
| Women's World Cup | 85 | 72 | 84.71% |
| European Challenge Cup | 518 | 414 | 79.92% |
| European Champions Cup | 607 | 477 | 78.58% |
| Premiership Cup | 229 | 179 | 78.17% |
European Champions Cup Teams
Here are the twenty-four teams that have qualified for the 2025-26 Champions Cup via the three different tournaments.
Once the 2026-27 teams have been confirmed, we shall update this section.
Premiership Qualifiers
| Team | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Bath ⭐ | Recreation Ground | 14,509 |
| Bristol Bears | Ashton Gate | 27,000 |
| Gloucester | Kingsholm Stadium | 16,115 |
| Harlequins | Twickenham Stoop | 14,800 |
| Leicester Tigers ⭐⭐ | Welford Road Stadium | 25,849 |
| Northampton Saints ⭐ | Franklin's Gardens | 15,200 |
| Sale Sharks | Salford Community Stadium | 12,000 |
| Saracens ⭐⭐⭐ | StoneX Stadium | 10,500 |
Top 14 Quilifiers
| Team | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Bayonne | Stade Jean-Dauger | 14,370 |
| Bordeaux Bègles ⭐ | Stade Chaban-Delmas | 34,694 |
| Castres | Stade Pierre-Fabre | 12,500 |
| Clermont | Stade Marcel-Michelin | 19,022 |
| La Rochelle ⭐⭐ | Stade Marcel-Deflandre | 16,700 |
| Pau | Stade du Hameau | 14,999 |
| Toulon ⭐⭐⭐ | Stade Mayol | 17,500 |
| Toulouse ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Stade Ernest-Wallon | 19,500 |
United Rugby Championship Qualifiers
| Team | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Bulls | Loftus Versfeld | 51,762 |
| Edinburgh | Edinburgh Rugby Stadium | 7,800 |
| Glasgow Warriors | Scotstoun Stadium | 7,351 |
| Leinster ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Aviva Stadium | 51,700 |
| Munster ⭐⭐ | Thomond Park | 25,600 |
| Scarlets | Parc y Scarlets | 14,870 |
| Sharks | Kings Park Stadium | 52,000 |
| Stormers | Cape Town Stadium | 55,000 |
The ⭐ indicates the number of times they have won the tournament.
European Champions Cup Records
Most Champions Cup Appearances
Five players have now made over 100 appearances in the Champions Cup, and at the top of the list is the Leinster prop Cian Healy, who has appeared in 114 games.
Ronan O'Gara (Munster) is not too far behind on 110, and then the others in the top five are Gordon D'Arcy (104), John Hayes (101) and Peter Stringer (101).
Most Tries in the Champions Cup
Chris Ashton tops the list for the most tries in the Champions Cup with 41. They have come from across four teams with Saracens (29), Northampton (8), Toulon (2), Sale (1) and Leicester (1).
He is five ahead of the Frenchman Vincent Clerc (36), and then making up the top five are Simon Zebo (35), Juan Imhoff (33) and Brian O'Driscoll (33).
Most Points in the Champions Cup
This is more clear-cut with one player well out in front of everyone else, and that is Ronan O'Gara, who, for Munster, tallied up a total of 1,365 points.
The closest man to him is Owen Farrell, who, in his time with Saracens, scored 874 in this tournament, some 491 points behind O'Gara.
Stephen Jones (869) is the only other player with over 800 points, and then rounding off the top five are Johnny Sexton (784) and Dimitri Yachvili (661).
Contributor Information
We are blessed with an excellent team of specialists and experts at OLBG. The data in this European Champions Cup Preview & Betting Guide is managed by Andy Powell, who looks after the Rugby Tipsters and results in the Rugby Tips Section. Our Commercial Content Manager, Luke Bradshaw-Lee, is a keen Rugby fan; he fact-checks the article for accuracy and publication. Together, they produce our Rugby Union Previews and Rugby League Previews.
Andy Powell
Expert Guide
Luke Bradshaw Lee
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