UWCL is on OneSoccer! Which CanWNT star has best shot at winning it in 2025-26? ✨
The business end of the 2025-2026 UEFA Women’s Champions League campaign is almost upon us, as eight teams remain in the hunt to lift the trophy in Oslo this May.
Now, the quarter-final matchups are set and will get underway this week, as teams vie to be the first winner of this new Champions League format, the ‘Swiss model’ that has earned plaudits on the men’s side of this competition since its implementation there.
For six Canadian players, they’ll hope to be among those who lift the Champions League trophy come May, joining a so-far short list of CanWNT players to have won this tournament - as it stands, Kadeisha Buchanan is the lone player to have done so, having won it a whopping five times with Lyonnes in a six-season span between 2016-2017 and 2021-2022.
It must be noted that Buchanan is among the six players looking to lift that trophy this spring, so *technically* only five Canadians could join her on that list, although Buchanan winning a sixth Champions League would certainly be worth celebrating, especially given that it’d mean a long-awaited win for Chelsea after a decade of close calls despite domestic dominance.
On that note, here’s a look at the five quarter-finalists who have Canadians in their squad, ranked in order by their likely chances of winning.
Arsenal (Olivia Smith)
As long as they remain in this competition, Arsenal will dream of lifting the Champions League, and for good reason, given their status as defending champions.
After their surprising victory last year, in which they defeated powerhouses Lyonnes in the semi-final and Barcelona in the final, the two-time winners will hope they don’t have to wait as long for their third win as they did for their second (their first win came in 2007).
They had a bit of a bumpier road than expected en route to this quarter-final, as they narrowly missed out on a top-four spot in the league phase (and the bye to the quarter-final that came with it), forcing them to play in the knockout phase play-offs.
As expected, though, they cruised through that stage, beating Belgian side OH Leuven 7-1 on aggregate, setting up a matchup against fellow English side, Chelsea, who finished third in the league phase.
On paper, that’s a matchup Arsenal won’t mind at all, given that the alternatives were to play fellow top four finishers Barcelona, Lyonnes or Bayern Munich, as Chelsea have had a bit of a down year domestically. To that point, after winning six WSL titles in a row, Chelsea currently trails Manchester City by nine points in third place - and while Arsenal sits two points behind them in the table, they’ve taken four out of six points off their two meetings with Chelsea in WSL play this year, too.
Of course, from a Canadian perspective, though, the big story to watch will be Olivia Smith, who is having a breakout season for the defending Champions League winners. In her first season at the club after a record move from Liverpool this summer, she hit the ground running in London, scoring nine goals and adding two assists, with two of her goals coming in the Champions League.
MAGIC PASS. MAGIC FINISH 🪄 pic.twitter.com/YDeBtyNi9N
— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) February 8, 2026
Now, she’ll want to play a big role in this quarter-final, especially when considering her form since the start of 2026, with five of her goals coming in her last seven games at the club level since the calendar flipped. Given that both of her Champions League goals came against OH Leuven (once in the league phase, and once in the play-offs), she’ll feel that she’s especially due for a goal against a marquee opponent like Chelsea in a game like this, too.
Four straight games with a goal for Olivia Smith 💫 pic.twitter.com/8Vjt2dpth2
— W Golazo (@WGolazo) February 11, 2026
She’s slightly underperformed her expected metrics in this competition, having generated 2.37 xG and 0.1 xA in just under 400 minutes of action, so she’ll want to continue her strong play with a Champions League breakout performance in this quarter-final.
Given that Arsenal have trusted her to play a bigger role for them over the last few months, she'll certainly get an opportunity to shine - now, it'll be up to her to take it.
Lyonnes (Ashley Lawrence)
Even if they haven’t won since 2022, Lyonnes are always a favourite to win the Champions League, and for good reason, given that they’ve won this competition a record eight times.
Because of that, they’ll hope to build off a strong start to the 2025-2026 edition, as they picked up an impressive 16 points from six league phase games thanks to a record of five wins and one draw.
As a result, they cruised to an automatic quarter-final berth and only missed out on first place via goal difference to Barcelona.
Now, their reward for all of that is a matchup against an always-difficult Wolfsburg team, although it must be noted that they beat them 3-1 in the league phase, so they’ll feel confident about their chances of reaching the semi-finals.
𝐖𝐨𝐥𝐟𝐬𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐠 en ¼ de finale de Champions League. ✨👊
— OL Lyonnes (@ol__lyonnes) February 19, 2026
Un adversaire qu’on connaît bien. ⚔️
Réservez vos places pour le match retour : https://t.co/53yZM1MZxL
Either way, it’s no secret that for this team, their goal is truly ‘Champions League or bust’, as they look to reestablish their European dominance. It speaks to how good they were in the 2010s that this recent run, in which they’ve won one Champions League in the last five editions, feels like a dry spell - that’s what happens when you win five in a row as they did between 2015-2016 and 2019-2020.
To help them do that is someone who is also hungry to win this competition, having long ago come close to tasting glory. That, of course, is Ashley Lawrence, who reached the final in 2016-2017 with Paris Saint-Germain, having since struggled to reach those same heights.
In her first season with Lyonnes, having had a spell with Chelsea in between her stints on opposite sides of the biggest rivalry in French women’s football, she hasn’t played as regularly as hoped, however, but perhaps these can be the sort of big games that can ignite her tenure at the club.
She’s so far made 18 appearances at her new club, so she’s featured regularly, but she’s racked up just 1056 minutes, including just 81 minutes in 3 Champions League appearances.
Therefore, if she does play, look for her to make the most of the opportunity to earn a bigger role going forward. In particular, she’ll look to shine offensively, as she’s been more of a ball progressor than a final third player, as she’s typically been as a full back all of her career.
Perhaps that’s a sign of her evolution as a player now that she’s hit her 30s, but you do wonder if she still has some more to give offensively - although it’s encouraging to see that she’s maintained good defensive metrics this season, which she’ll hope can help her earn a starting role going forward.
Bayern Munich (Vanessa Gilles)
After years of domestic dominance, Bayern Munich are looking to take a big step forward continentally, as they chase their first-ever Champions League title.
Having yet to reach the final of this tournament, with a pair of semi-final appearances sitting as their high watermark in this competition, they’ll want to change that this year.
Certainly, they played like that was the case in the league phase, as they did well to nab a top-four spot thanks to a record of four wins, one draw and one loss. Given that they started the tournament with a 7-1 loss to Barcelona, that’s no small feat, as they did well to bounce back and pick up victories over Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain along the way - the Arsenal win, in particular, is huge given that Bayern finished one point ahead of the Gunners in the table.
Now, a matchup against Manchester United awaits Bayern in the quarter-finals, and they’ll more than fancy their chances against a team that is also looking to establish themselves in Europe. Given that this is just the second time United have ever played in Europe (and the first time they reached the group stages proper), Bayern will hope to use their experience to their advantage.
To help them do that, however, will be Vanessa Gilles, who brings all sorts of experience to the table in this competition. She’s never lifted the Champions League over her head, but she did reach a final during her three seasons with Lyonnes, and made it a habit of putting in big performances in these sorts of games.
Just consider the fact that despite her presence as a centre back, she’s scored eight goals in 33 Champions League appearances, which would be a decent return for a forward, let alone a defender.
🇨🇦 VANESSA GILLES' FIRST GOAL FOR BAYERN BREAKS THE DEADLOCK AGAINST LEVERKUSEN 🔓
— DAZN Women's Football (@DAZNWFootball) September 6, 2025
Watch the Frauen Bundesliga live for free on https://t.co/IJxpPUqHs8#DieLiga pic.twitter.com/N8kSvQaubu
Now, she’ll look to bring similar clutch play to the rest of the tournament for Bayern, especially considering that she is yet to score in the Champions League with her new club. Of course, her priority will be at the other end, where she’ll hope to keep things solid, especially if Bayern gets a rematch with Barcelona in the semi-final, but she wouldn’t mind adding a goal along the way.
At the end of the day, these are the sort of matches she was signed for, so she’ll want to show why that was the case with some strong overall performances.
Chelsea (Kadeisha Buchanan)
Can this be the year that Chelsea finally wins the Champions League after an extended run of success domestically in England?
Ironically, the one year where they’ve struggled to maintain their usual dominance domestically could be their best shot at doing so, as they’ve done well to take care of business in the Champions League despite their aforementioned struggles in the WSL.
In the league phase, they cruised to a third-place finish with a record of four wins and two draws, with one of those draws being a 1-1 draw against Barcelona, setting up this Arsenal matchup in the quarter-finals.
Therefore, while they’ll be frustrated that they drew probably the hardest quarter-final matchup out of any of the top four teams that earned a bye, Chelsea won’t mind that, as they’ll want to build off what they did in the league phase.
At the end of the day, to be the best, sometimes you’ve got to beat the best, and beating the defending Champions League winners in the quarter-final would be a great way for Chelsea to send a message to the rest of the field.
If they’re to do that, though, look for them to rely on the experience of their five-time winner, Buchanan. She is returning from a major knee injury (making her first appearance of 2025-2026 on February 22nd), so it remains to be seen how big of a role she plays, but her leadership off the pitch will be valuable, and you have to wonder if she could be used to help see out games in a depth role even if she isn't tasked to start (she did start two of Chelsea's last three games heading into this week).
The return. 😍 https://t.co/4erYTDJ8AA pic.twitter.com/1bRtTx5Dxl
— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) February 23, 2026
From there, their long-term hope will be that she can start games, while playing close to her top level, later in the tournament if they can get by Arsenal.
Of course, that last point is a lot easier said than done, so they’ll put all of their focus on getting the job done against their English rivals, with Buchanan hopefully playing some sort of part.
Manchester United (Jayde Riviere, Simi Awujo)
For the first time, Manchester United have reached the knockout stage of this competition, as they’ve made the most of their first league phase participation (they previously participated in the 2023-2024 tournament, but didn’t advance past the qualifying round).
Now, they’ll look to surprise by reaching the semi-final, which would be a remarkable achievement for them in their first extended run in this tournament, and it’s an objective they won’t feel is out of reach despite their tough matchup against Bayern Munich.
On paper, Bayern is the lowest-ranked top-four side, and doesn’t have the same pedigree as the other sides, especially Barcelona and Lyonnes, so United can feel like they got a pretty favourable draw, all things considered.
They had a good league phase campaign, just missing out on a top-four spot after amassing 12 points from six games (4W-0D-2L), before cruising past Atlético Madrid with a 5-0 aggregate win in the play-offs.
The one blemish they had was their struggles against bigger teams, as they fell 5-2 to Wolfsburg and lost 3-0 to Lyonnes in the league phase, so they’ll hope a late January win against Arsenal domestically in the League Cup semi-finals is a sign of what they could do in these bigger matches.
Eager to play a role in this run will be a pair of Canadians, too, as Jayde Riviere and Simi Awujo have been key pieces for this United side this season.
Jayde Riviere whips it home 🏠#BarclaysWSL @ManUtdWomen pic.twitter.com/fx2nkiXnGt
— Barclays Women's Super League (@BarclaysWSL) September 14, 2025
Firstly, there’s Riviere, who has already made 27 appearances for United this year, scoring once and adding two assists, including 888 minutes in 10 Champions League appearances (across qualifiers, the league phase and play-offs). The 2024-2025 WSL PFA Team of the Year selection at right back, she’s quietly become one of the best full backs in England in recent years, and will now hope to show that she can be one of the best in Europe, too, playing a big role on both sides of the ball in this tie.
Then, there’s Awujo, who is looking to carve out a bigger role in this United team after a run of injuries. Having already matched (and surpassed) the 17 appearances she made in 2024-2025 (she's now up to 20), which was her first season with the club, she’ll now want to play a bigger role in the Champions League after featuring for just 251 minutes across seven appearances in the competition so far this year.
Simi Awujo’s goal from yesterday!#CanWNT/#CanXNT pic.twitter.com/wkH8B7R290
— Rise Higher (@RiseHigherCa) January 19, 2026
Having scored twice since the start of 2026, after previously never scoring for United, she’ll hope that’s a sign that she could have a bigger role to play going forward as a box-to-box midfielder, one that can shut things down defensively before crashing the box to find goals at the other end.
