UEFA has set September 2 as the deadline for clubs to submit List A squads for the 2026/27 Champions League league season, with each club allowed to register a maximum of 25 players.
According to UEFA’s website on Monday, List A must be submitted by clubs and then confirmed and validated by their respective associations by 23:59 CET on Wednesday, September 2, 2026.
UEFA stated that clubs must comply with the squad-size limit and locally trained-player quota when submitting their lists for the competition.
“Clubs are entitled to register a maximum of 25 players on List A during the season, of whom at least two must be goalkeepers.
“As a minimum, eight of those 25 places are reserved exclusively for ‘locally trained players’ and no club may have more than four ‘association-trained players’ listed among those eight places,” UEFA said.
UEFA also mentioned that clubs with fewer than eight locally trained players would have their maximum List A squad size reduced accordingly.
The governing body defines locally trained players in two categories: “club-trained players who have been registered with a club for three entire seasons, or 36 months, between the ages of 15 and 21; and association-trained players who have spent the same period registered with a club or clubs affiliated to the same national association.”
Clubs will also be permitted to register an unlimited number of List B players throughout the season, subject to UEFA eligibility restrictions.
“List B can be amended throughout the season and must be submitted no later than 23:59 CET on the day before the match in question,” UEFA said.
A player can be added to List B if he was born on or after January 1, 2005, and has been eligible to play for the club for an uninterrupted period of two years since his 15th birthday, or for a total of three consecutive years with a maximum one-year loan spell at another club in the same association.
UEFA stated that 16-year-old players might also qualify for List B if they had been registered with the club for the preceding two years without interruption.
The rules also allow players who participated for another club throughout the qualifying stages of UEFA’s three men’s club tournaments to play for a different team in the Champions League beginning with the league phase.
“A player who has been fielded in the first, second or third qualifying round, or in the play-offs of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League or UEFA Conference League, is entitled to play in the UEFA Champions League for another club as from the league phase,” UEFA stated.
Clubs who proceed to the knockout stage will have the ability to make additional changes to their rosters.
UEFA stated that such clubs may register a maximum of three new players by 23:59 CET on February 4, 2027.
“Any or all of those players may have been fielded for another club in the qualifying phase, play-offs or league phase of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League or UEFA Conference League,” it said.
The overall List A limit of 25 players and the requirement for eight locally trained players will remain in effect.
UEFA also allows for substitutions in exceptional instances including long-term injury or illness.
A team may temporarily replace up to one outfield player suffering from a long-term injury or illness lasting at least 60 days during the league phase, up to and including Matchday 6, if the replacement was registered with the club before to the September 2 List A deadline.
Goalkeepers are subject to unique replacement policies. A goalkeeper with a long-term injury or illness that lasts at least 30 days may be temporarily replaced at any time during the season.
According to UEFA, a goalkeeper can be replaced after Matchday 6 and before the end of the league phase if he leaves the club permanently.
The league phase of the 2026/27 Champions League begins on September 8, with the final scheduled for June 5, 2027, at Madrid’s Metropolitan Stadium.
