Cliff Notes – The team with the most Women’s Champions League titles is Olympique Lyonnais, having won the tournament multiple times.
- The Women’s Champions League quarterfinals are underway, featuring traditional powerhouses like Chelsea, Lyon, and Barcelona, alongside challengers such as Real Madrid and Arsenal.
- The tournament has evolved since its inception in 2001-02, transitioning from the UEFA Women’s Cup to the Women’s Champions League, with significant format changes including the introduction of a group stage in 2021-22.
- Lyon holds the record for the most titles, having won the competition eight times, while Arsenal remains the only English team to have claimed European success, winning the tournament in 2007.
Who has won the most Women’s Champions League titles?
The Women’s Champions League is firmly in the business end, with the second leg of the quarterfinals set to take place this week.
The usual contenders — Chelsea, Lyon, Barcelona — are in the mix while the likes of Real Madrid and Arsenal are also in the hunt for European glory.
ESPN takes a look at the teams that have tasted success in the competition in the past.
A brief history of the Women’s Champions League:
The first iteration of the tournament, called the UEFA Women’s Cup, was held in the 2001-02 season with 33 teams competing. The following year saw the introduction of a two-legged final and by the 2007-08 season, the number of competing teams had risen to 45, although entry was restricted only to league champions.
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It was rebranded as the Women’s Champions League in the 2009-10 season, with doors opened up to league runners-up. The two-legged final was disbanded and the qualifying round was replaced by a group-stage format. The winners from each of the four groups then progress to the knockout rounds.
The tournament was revamped in the 2021-22 season, with the introduction of a 16-team group stage.
The Women’s Champions League is scheduled to change again as of next season to be brought in line with the men’s format that sees one extended league table followed by seeded knockout rounds.
Who won the first edition?
The 2001-02 final was played at the Waldstadion between Sweden’s Umeå and FFC Frankfurt (now Eintracht Frankfurt). The German side ran out as 2-0 winners.
Who won it last season?Barcelona won the third Champions League in their history after beating Lyon in the final. Getty
Barcelona. The Liga F side won their second successive title after beating Lyon 2-0 in the final. Ballon d’Or Féminin winner Aitana Bonmatí and captain Alexia Putellas scored in the second half to secure the club’s third Champions League.
Who has won it the most times?Sonia Bompastor led Lyon to their first-ever Women’s Champions League triumph in 2011. Getty
Lyon have won the Women’s Champions League a record eight times.
Their first win came in 2011, when they beat Turbine Potsdam 2-0 at Craven Cottage — Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor was Lyon’s captain that night.
The French side repeated that feat the following season, beating Frankfurt 2-0 in the final on way to sealing the first treble in their history. The final in Munich drew 50,212 fans, setting a new attendance record in women’s club football, which has since been repeatedly broken.
Between 2016 and 2022, Lyon won the competition six times in seven years, the last of those coming under the stewardship of Bompastor. She remains the only person to have won the Women’s Champions League as a captain and coach.
Which other teams have won the competition?
Frankfurt are the second-most successful side in the history of the Women’s Champions League and have won it four times.
Barcelona lie behind them on the winners’ leaderboard with three titles while Turbine Potsdam, Umeå and Wolfsburg have all won it twice each.
Meanwhile, German side Duisburg’s sole triumph came in 2009.
Has an English team won it?Arsenal are the only English side to have tasted European success. Getty
Arsenal’s triumph in the 2007 UEFA Women’s Cup remains the only English success in the tournament. They beat Umeå 1-0 across two legs in the final and secured a historic quadruple that also saw them unbeaten in the FA Women’s Premier League.
Their feat has since been immortalised by a wraparound artwork at the Emirates Stadium.
The only other English side to have made an appearance in the final are Emma Hayes’ Chelsea in 2021. However, it was a game that the west London side will want to forget after losing 4-0, with all four goals coming in the first 36 minutes of the game.