Nineteen teams competed across the five tournaments, with the winners — PAOK, Mitrovica, Riga FC, Czarni Sosnowiec and Spartak Myjava — advancing to the second qualifying round in August.
There were four European debutants: Hapoel Jerusalem, Mġarr United, Wrexham AFC and Zimbru Chişinău. KÍ Klaksvík, meanwhile, made their 23rd appearance in UEFA women’s club competition, behind only SFK 2000 Sarajevo’s record 24 campaigns.
As we have done for many years, this is also an opportunity to look beyond the results and examine how clubs from smaller leagues build their European squads, particularly through the use of international players.
This year, the most widely followed story was undoubtedly Wrexham, whose women’s team made their European debut after winning the 2025-26 Welsh league title.
Wrexham put women’s team on European stage
Wrexham hosted the third mini-tournament and immediately produced one of the stories of the opening round.
The Welsh champions defeated Armenian powerhouse Pyunik 4-2 in their semi-final, coming from behind to make history as the first Welsh team to progress through a stage of UEFA women’s club competition.
Pyunik actually took the lead when Armenian international Susanna Badalyan capitalized on a poor clearance from Wrexham goalkeeper Liz Craven and lobbed her from distance.
Wrexham responded only two minutes later.
Faye Hillier-Knox created the opening for Katie Barker, who scored the equalizer and became part of an important piece of Welsh European history.
It was the first goal scored by a Welsh women’s team in European competition for more than five years. Chloe Chivers had previously scored for Swansea City against CSKA Moscow in a 4-1 defeat in the 2021-22 competition.
Wrexham then took control after half-time.
Local product Lili Jones, who was born and raised in Wrexham and joined the club in 2021 after spending time in Everton’s academy, chipped the Pyunik goalkeeper after she had come off her line.
Jones then turned provider, crossing from the right for another local player, Ava Suckley, to make it 3-1.
Pyunik responded through a spectacular long-range strike from Armenian international Luiza Ghazaryan, setting up a tense closing period.
Wrexham were eventually able to seal the win when Jamaican international Natasha Thomas scored in the 90th minute.
Thomas, born in England, had scored 175 goals in 260 appearances for Ipswich Town before joining Wrexham for 2026-27. She had also scored three times in her first six appearances for Jamaica since making her international debut in October 2024.
Her first Wrexham appearance therefore produced a goal and a historic European victory.
The result was particularly notable because Wrexham were facing a fully professional Pyunik side that had won the Armenian championship for three consecutive seasons.
Wrexham’s squad, meanwhile, is semi-professional.
A global club with a growing women’s operation
The attention surrounding Wrexham AFC Women is impossible to separate from the extraordinary rise of the club as a whole.
The men’s team has become a global sporting brand since Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds and American television actor Rob McElhenney took over the organization in 2021. The men have risen from England’s fifth tier to the Championship after three successive promotions, while the increased investment and visibility has also helped transform the women’s operation.
Wrexham Women had actually been shut down in 2016 for financial reasons after difficulties retaining a full squad.
The team was relaunched in 2018 and eventually incorporated into the wider Wrexham organization.
They reached the Adran Premier for the 2023-24 season and became the first Welsh women’s team to sign players to semi-professional contracts.
The club also purchased the Rock, the former 3,000-capacity home of Cefn Druids, as a permanent home for the women’s team.
That made Wrexham the first Welsh women’s club to own its own stadium.
They also became the first Welsh women’s club to pay a transfer fee for a player from a domestic rival when Welsh defender Maria Francis Jones joined from The New Saints.
Head coach Jenny Sugarman, an English native, arrived from Leicester City Women, where she had been head of academy, after previously managing West Bromwich Albion Women.
Sugarman led Wrexham to the 2025-26 Adran Premier title and then into Europe.
Eight international players in Wrexham’s European squad
Wrexham’s Champions League squad reflected the club’s increasingly international outlook.
Their imports included English goalkeeper Liz Craven, defenders Lydia Sallaway and Jodie Bartle, Canadian defender Sarah Harvey, English midfielder Natalie Clark, Jamaican international Natasha Thomas and forwards Katie Barker and Mariam Mahmood, who represents Pakistan internationally.
Mahmood is particularly interesting from the diaspora perspective that has become such an important part of international women’s football.
Born in England, she joined Wrexham for the 2025-26 season after four years with West Bromwich Albion and had already made an impact for Pakistan, scoring three goals in six appearances since her debut in 2025.
Pakistan have been particularly active in recruiting players from the diaspora, with Mahmood among a group of English-born players brought into the national team setup.
Sarah Harvey provides another fascinating international pathway.
The Canadian defender joined Wrexham from Lewes in England after a career that included Ontario Tech University, Prostars FC in League1 Ontario, Puskás Akadémia in Hungary, FC Samegrelo in Georgia and Stockton Cargo in California’s USL W-League.
Her career illustrates how players can move through several different levels and countries before eventually finding themselves competing in the Champions League.
Riga’s international recruitment pays off
Wrexham’s historic run ended in the final against Riga FC.
Lili Jones again scored first, putting the Welsh champions ahead in the eighth minute.
Riga, however, produced three goals between the 50th and 65th minutes before adding a fourth to win 4-1 and reach the second qualifying round for the first time.
The Latvian champions were one of the most international squads in the tournament.
Riga had nine imports, including five players from Japan, two from Sierra Leone and one each from Azerbaijan and North Macedonia.
Sierra Leone international forward Kumba Brima was particularly important, scoring three goals across Riga’s two matches.
Goalkeeper Hanna Juana, also a Sierra Leone international, joined her compatriot in Riga.
The Japanese contingent included Minami Oi and Shiori Kato, who both arrived after spending the previous two seasons with PK-35 in Finland.
Wakana Mitani arrived from INAC Kobe Leonessa after winning the WE-League title in Japan in 2025-26 and wanting to test herself abroad.
Azerbaijan international defender Milana Rahimova is another player whose career demonstrates the importance of European opportunities.
Rahimova played for Neftçi in Azerbaijan before moving to Türkiye, North Macedonia and eventually Riga.
When she moved to North Macedonia, she explained her thinking to Sportsnews of Azerbaijan.
“My goal and desire has always been to play in European teams.”
She had received offers from several countries but believed North Macedonia could provide a route into European football.
“Nevertheless, I made such a choice because I thought the North Macedonian team was a way to Europe.”
Rahimova also saw the growth of women’s football in North Macedonia as an important factor.
“Women’s football is getting better here year-by-year.”
“Despite being new, I see the interest of this country in football. There are age groups consisting of both women and men. You can see their love for football.”
She also felt that increasing numbers of foreign players were helping raise the level.
“The championship is better than in previous years. The number of legionnaires in teams is increasing year-by-year.”
“There are national team members representing each country. This further raises the level of the championship.”
Rahimova joined Riga in January and helped the Latvian champions make their breakthrough into the second qualifying round.
PAOK and the strength of experienced imports
PAOK advanced from the first mini-tournament after beating Neftçi 3-0 in the final.
The Greek champions had earlier defeated Hapoel Jerusalem 3-1 before completing the tournament with six goals scored and only one conceded.
Their roster included five imports from five different countries.
Brazilian goalkeeper Dani Neuhaus has three senior international appearances for Brazil and is now in her fourth season with PAOK, having already won two league championships.
Spain’s Marta Llopis Alvarez arrived after playing with Sampdoria in Italy and Espanyol in Spain.
Cyprus international Eirini Michail was also involved in both games.
Bosnia and Herzegovina international Minela Gacanica was particularly influential. After playing with Beşiktaş in Türkiye, she moved to PAOK and scored 23 goals in 24 matches last season.
She scored twice in the opening game of the qualifying tournament and added a penalty in the final.
North Macedonia international Lence Andreevska also contributed heavily, having scored nine goals in eight matches for PAOK last season.
Neftçi, meanwhile, had only two imports, both from Türkiye.
Beyza Kocaturk had represented Türkiye at senior level and had won league titles at several levels of the Turkish pyramid before moving abroad for the first time.
Derya Arhan had scored three times in 19 senior internationals for Türkiye and subsequently moved from Neftçi to Poland’s Pogoń Szczecin.
Neftçi’s progress to the final was notable in itself: they became the first Azerbaijani club to progress through a round of UEFA women’s club competition since 2003-04.
Mitrovica dominate in Kosovo
Mitrovica were the most emphatic winners of the first qualifying round.
The Kosovo champions defeated Moldova’s Zimbru Chişinău 10-0 before beating Ludogorets 2-0 in the final, scoring 12 times without conceding.
Zimbru’s squad was almost entirely home-based, with Belarusian goalkeeper Kamila Butkevich and Kazakhstan midfielder Kamila Sovet the two exceptions.
Mitrovica, meanwhile, had three foreign players: Albanian goalkeeper Rajmonda Spahiu, Albanian forward Ambra Gjegji and Turkish forward Eda Nur Özbay.
Gjegji was making her fifth Champions League campaign with Mitrovica and had previously played for Vllaznia in Albania.
Her career has taken an extraordinary path, including a period in Spain where she was arrested and imprisoned for drug trafficking. While incarcerated, she played futsal in a men’s prison league before returning to football after her release in 2024.
She returned to Mitrovica in 2026 having already won four league and cup titles with the club.
Czarni Sosnowiec and Athlone’s contrasting approaches
Czarni Sosnowiec won the fourth mini-tournament after beating Athlone Town 3-1 in the final.
The Polish side were overwhelmingly home-based, with Latvian international Karlina Miksone their only foreign player.
Miksone arrived in Poland in 2021 after winning multiple domestic titles in Latvia and added another championship with Czarni last season.
Poland international Klaudia Milek was the star of the tournament, scoring five of Czarni’s 10 goals across the two games, including two penalties.
Milek had led the Polish league in scoring in 2025-26 with 21 goals.
Athlone Town, meanwhile, went in the opposite direction, using eight imports.
Their roster included players from England, the United States, Cyprus, Germany and Northern Ireland.
Cyprus international goalkeeper Maria Matthaiou has now won five consecutive league titles between Cyprus and Ireland.
American players Madison Gibson and Alexis Strickland were also part of the Athlone squad, while German midfielder Hannah Waesch grew up in the United States and played collegiately at Auburn and Texas after being involved with a U.S. U-16 camp.
Athlone have now established themselves as one of the more interesting Irish clubs in European competition after making their debut last season and progressing through two rounds before playing in the inaugural UEFA Women’s Europa Cup.
Spartak Myjava end Mġarr’s dream
The fifth mini-tournament produced another debutant story.
Mġarr United of Malta defeated Estonia’s Flora 4-0 in the semi-final, with American midfielder Carlyn Presley scoring a hat-trick.
Presley then scored again in the final, but Spartak Myjava of Slovakia won 6-1 to advance.
Presley played college soccer at Tennessee and UAB and comes from a football family: both of her parents played professionally, while her brother played in MLS for New England Revolution.
Mġarr’s international roster also included players from Colombia, Argentina, France, Ghana and Uganda.
Spartak Myjava had four imports, including American forward Madelyn Dougherty.
Dougherty grew up in Hawaii and played collegiately at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Sacramento State before beginning her professional career in Serbia with ŽFK Vojvodina.
Her move to Europe represents another pathway for American college players into the European club game.
Five clubs survive the opening test
The first qualifying round has once again shown why the early stages of the Women’s Champions League remain so valuable.
PAOK, Mitrovica, Riga FC, Czarni Sosnowiec and Spartak Myjava will continue into the second qualifying round, where they will face a considerably stronger field in the Champions Path mini-tournaments from August 4 to 8.
For Wrexham, the European adventure ended with defeat by Riga, but the club achieved something more significant than simply advancing to the next round.
A semi-professional Welsh side, playing its first European matches, defeated a fully professional Armenian champion and became the first Welsh women’s team to progress through a stage of UEFA women’s club competition.
The tournament also showed the increasingly global nature of the women’s game.
Players from Japan, Sierra Leone, North America, South America, Africa and across Europe were represented in clubs from leagues that traditionally receive little attention outside their own countries.
That is what makes these opening rounds so compelling.
Behind the headline clubs and the glamour of the Champions League, they continue to provide a window into how women’s football is developing — and how players from around the world are using smaller European leagues as stepping stones to something bigger.
- Read the full version at Tim Grainey's Substack. His latest book is Beyond Bend it Like Beckham on the global game of women’s football. Get your copy today. Follow Tim on Twitter: @TimGrainey