Following the EHF Executive Committee's decision in late 2024 to vote in favour of introducing an EHF youth club handball competition from 2025, the first tournaments will be played in April 2025.
The 16-team competition will feature the under-18 sides (players born in 2006 or 2007) of 13 of the clubs competing in the Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2024/25, plus the youth teams of three clubs from this season's EHF European League Men.
Aalborg Håndbold, Fredericia Håndbold Klub and Kolstad Håndball are not participating and have been replaced by GOG, Vojvodina and IK Sävehof, respectively.
The 16 teams have been split into four qualification tournaments to be played in mid-April 2025, which will consist of semi-finals, a third-place match and a final.
Each qualification tournament will be hosted by one of the participating teams and will act as a "Road to Cologne" event, as the winners of each will qualify for the final tournament, to be played on the weekend of the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4, 14/15 June 2025.
The final will be played in the morning of Sunday 15 June at LANXESS arena, ahead of the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 bronze medal match.
The details of the qualification tournaments are as follows, with throw-off times to be confirmed.
Qualification Tournament 1
Host: Veszprem Handball Academy / HUN
Venue: Veszprem Arena (HUN)
Dates: Tuesday 15 & Wednesday 16 April 2025
Semi-final matches (Tuesday 15):
Veszprem Handball Academy (HUN) vs Vojvodina (SRB)
HC Zagreb (CRO) vs OTP Bank – PICK Szeged (HUN)
Qualification Tournament 2
Host: Barça / ESP
Venue: Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper
Dates: Wednesday 16 & Thursday 17 April 2025
Semi-final matches (Wednesday 16):
Barça (ESP) vs HBC Nantes (FRA)
U18 – Paris Saint-Germain Handball (FRA) vs Sporting CP (POR)
Qualification Tournament 3
Host: Füchse Berlin / GER
Venue: MBS Arena (Potsdam, GER)
Dates: Thursday 17 & Friday 18 April 2025
Semi-final matches (Thursday 17):
Füchse Berlin (GER) vs IK Sävehof (SWE)
GOG (DEN) vs SC Magdeburg (GER)
Qualification Tournament 4
Host: CS Dinamo Bucuresti / ROU
Venue: Dinamo Arena
Dates: Thursday 17 & Friday 18 April 2025
Semi-final matches (Thursday 17):
CS Dinamo Bucuresti (ROU) vs Orlen Wisla Plock (POL)
KSS Iskra Kielce (POL) vs HC Eurofarm Pelister (MKD)
