No less than 57 teams, 16 more compared to the 2020/21 season, have registered for the upcoming EHF European Cup Women, the European Handball Federation’s third-tier club handball competition.

50 of them will start their campaign in round 2 which is scheduled for 16/17 (first leg) and 23/24 October 2021.

Based on the seeding list released by the EHF on Monday, seven clubs have the advantage of entering the EHF European Cup Women already in round 3 which is played in the middle of November.

Among them are defending champions Costa del Sol Malaga (previously Rincon Fertilidad Malaga) from Spain who lifted the trophy at the end of 2020/21 season in May following a 60:59 win on aggregate after two legs against Lokomotiva Zagreb from Croatia.

The six additional teams already seeded to round 3 are: Club Balonmano Elche (ESP), ZRK Naisa Nis (SRB), Cabooter Handball Velo (NED), Ankara Yenimahalle BSK (TUR), COR Victoria-Berestie (BLR) and Madeira Andebol SAD (POR).

The draw for all round 2 matches will take place on 20 July at 11:00 CEST at the EHF in Vienna. A live stream will be available on YouTube and Facebook.

The Last 16 will be played right at the start of the new year in January 2022, followed by the quarter-finals in February and the semi-finals in the last week of March and the first week of April.

The two-legged final is scheduled for 7/8 May 2022 and 14/15 May 2022.

Download the EHF European Cup Women 2021/22 seeding list.