The 2026 Adidas NextGen EuroLeague qualifying phase will feature 28 of the top under-18 programs from across Europe and beyond, competing in four three-day tournaments between February and March.
Teams representing 12 countries will take part in the qualifying events as they pursue a place in the season-ending NextGen EuroLeague Finals, where the continental junior club champion will be crowned alongside the EuroLeague Final Four.
Nineteen of the participating teams are junior sections of EuroLeague clubs, while six represent BKT EuroCup organizations. Three additional teams have been invited, and each tournament will also include a host NextGen Team.
Ulm Qualifying Tournament (February 6-8)
The first qualifying tournament will be hosted by ratiopharm ulm in Ulm. The participants are:
Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne
Mega Super Belgrade
NextGen Team Ulm
Occident Basket Manresa
Olympiacos Piraeus
Abu Dhabi Qualifying Tournament (February 27-March 1)
The second event will be held in Abu Dhabi and will feature:
Aris Thessaloniki
AS Monaco
Dubai Basketball
NextGen Team Abu Dhabi
London Lions
Real Madrid
Valencia Basket
Zalgiris Kaunas
Bologna Qualifying Tournament (March 13-15)
The third qualifying tournament will take place in Bologna, hosted by Virtus Bologna, with the following teams in the field:
Dolomiti Energia Trento
FC Barcelona
FC Bayern Munich
Fundacion Baskonia-Alaves
NextGen Team Bologna
Panathinaikos Athens
Paris Basketball
Belgrade Qualifying Tournament (March 20-22)
The fourth and final qualifying tournament will be staged in Belgrade and hosted by Crvena Zvezda Belgrade. Competing alongside the hosts will be:
Anadolu Efes Istanbul
FMP Belgrade
Hapoel Tel Aviv
Maccabi Tel Aviv
NextGen Team Belgrade
Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade
Pole France INSEP Paris
Across the four tournaments, teams from Spain (5), Serbia (4), France (4), Greece (3), Italy (3), Germany (2), Israel (2), Lithuania (1), Slovenia (1), Turkiye (1), the United Arab Emirates (1), and the United Kingdom (1) will be represented.
The qualifying tournaments will determine the teams advancing to the NextGen EuroLeague Finals, completing the field for the competition’s championship phase.