UEFA Women's Champions League · History

The UEFA Women's Champions League has decided its winner in a single match at a neutral venue chosen in advance since 2010, when the competition, renamed a year earlier, did away with two-legged finals. UEFA created the tournament in 2001 as the UEFA Women's Cup, a continental competition for the champions of each national women's league, and the first edition, 2001–02, was won by 1. FFC Frankfurt. Between 2002 and 2026 eight clubs from five countries lifted the trophy: Germany, Sweden, England, France and Spain.

The UEFA Women's Cup years (2001–2009)

The first final, in 2002, was a single match at Frankfurt's Waldstadion, where Frankfurt beat Umeå 2–0 in front of 12,106 spectators. From 2003 to 2009 the title was settled over two legs. Umeå won the next two editions, against Fortuna Hjørring in 2003 and against Frankfurt in 2004 by an 8–0 aggregate. Turbine Potsdam beat Djurgården/Älvsjö in 2005, and Frankfurt regained the trophy in 2006 in an all-German final against Potsdam. In 2007 Arsenal became the first English winners, taking a 1–0 win in Umeå and holding a goalless draw in the second leg at Meadow Park in Borehamwood. Frankfurt collected a third title in 2008, again against Umeå, with 27,640 at the Waldstadion for the return leg. FCR Duisburg closed the period in 2009, beating Zvezda Perm 6–0 in Kazan and drawing 1–1 at home before 28,112.

A new name and a one-off final (2009–2010)

On 11 December 2008 UEFA announced that the tournament would become the UEFA Women's Champions League from the 2009–10 season. The change went beyond the name. Runners-up from the eight highest-ranked associations were admitted, and the final became a one-off match at a venue fixed beforehand. The first final in that format was staged in 2010 at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez in Getafe, where Turbine Potsdam and Lyon drew 0–0 and the German side won 7–6 on penalties. Prize money has been paid since 2010. In 2016–17 entry was extended to runners-up from the associations ranked ninth to twelfth.

Wolfsburg, Frankfurt and Lyon's run (2011–2020)

Lyon won their first title in 2011, beating Potsdam 2–0 at Craven Cottage in London, and retained it in 2012 against Frankfurt at Munich's Olympiastadion before 50,212 spectators. VfL Wolfsburg followed with back-to-back wins: 1–0 against Lyon at Stamford Bridge in 2013 and 4–3 against Tyresö in Lisbon in 2014. Frankfurt took a fourth trophy in 2015 with a 2–1 win over Paris Saint-Germain in Berlin. From 2016 Lyon won five finals in a row: on penalties against Wolfsburg in Reggio Emilia in 2016 and against PSG in Cardiff in 2017, 4–1 after extra time against Wolfsburg in Kyiv in 2018, 4–1 against Barcelona in Budapest in 2019 and 3–1 against Wolfsburg in San Sebastián in 2020, a final played behind closed doors.

Barcelona and the group stage (2021–2024)

Barcelona won their first title in 2021, beating Chelsea 4–0 at Gamla Ullevi in Gothenburg, again without a crowd. For 2021–22 UEFA introduced a group stage and a prize pool of €24 million. Lyon answered with an eighth title in 2022, defeating Barcelona 3–1 in Turin. Barcelona then beat Wolfsburg 3–2 in Eindhoven in 2023 and Lyon 2–0 at San Mamés in Bilbao in 2024, in front of 50,827 spectators, the largest attendance recorded at a final of the competition.

Arsenal's second title and the league phase (2025–2026)

Arsenal won their second title in 2025, eighteen years after the first, beating Barcelona 1–0 at the Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon before 38,356 spectators. For 2025–26 UEFA replaced the group stage with an 18-team league phase followed by knockout rounds, paying €505,000 to every club in that phase and an extra €500,000 to the winner. That season's final was held at the Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo, where Barcelona beat Lyon 4–0 in front of 24,258 spectators. It was Barcelona's sixth consecutive final and fourth title, matching Frankfurt, while Lyon's record stayed at the eight trophies they had reached in 2022.