When will the 2022-2023 UEFA Champions League begin?

As one UEFA Champions League season draws to an end, the focus shifts to the next. All of the other clubs have been vying to win the championship in 2021-22 while only one will have already done it. Second opportunities for teams competing in the Champions League every year are only a few months away.

The uropean soccer flagship competition, will celebrate its 68th season in 2022-23, and its 31st since it was changed to reflect its rebranding from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to its current moniker, the UEFA Champions League.

The new UCL campaign features 78 teams from 53 of UEFA's 55 member countries. The exceptions are teams from Russia, who are banned from participating, and Liechtenstein, who do not organise a domestic league.

2022-2023 UEFA Champions League: Start date

As early as June 21, 2022, certain teams will begin their quest for UEFA Champions League qualification when the preliminary qualifying stages are contested in the form of semi-finals and the tournament's final.

Before the group round begins in early September, three further rounds of two-leg, aggregate-goal qualifications will be place in July and August. The Champions League Group Stage, which starts on Semptember 7, will be shortened to less than two months because of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

The Qatar 2022 takes place at the conclusion of the year. Meanwhile, the highest European competition will then have a three-month vacation until the Knockout Round resumes in mid-February. The final of the 2022-23 Champions League will take place in Istanbul, Turkey, on June 10, two weeks later than normal.