The long-awaited 2026 EuroLeague Women championship is finally here, and the matchup is one that many of us had been secretly hoping for ever since groups were drawn last year. It\u2019s one of the biggest rivalries in pro sports\u2014Fenerbah\u00e7e vs. Galatasaray\u2014and this season, they just so happen to have the two best women\u2019s basketball teams in Europe.<\/p>\n
Fenerbah\u00e7e Opet has looked for all the world like the favorite to win yet another EuroLeague Women title, with a star-studded roster and an impeccable resume filled with dominant group play victories. Fenerbah\u00e7e went 11-1 during the regular season and made short work of their play-in opponents, Spar Girona, to advance to their fourth EuroLeague Women championship game in the past five years.<\/p>\n
Galatasaray \u00c7a\u011fda\u015f Faktoring, meanwhile, has had their most successful EuroLeague Women season since winning it all back in 2014. At 10-2, Galatasaray turned in the second-best record in group play, and they defeated Basket Landes in the play-ins and Casademont Zaragoza in the semifinals to advance to the title game.<\/p>\n
As any international sports fan will tell you, having Fenerbah\u00e7e and Galatasaray compete in Sunday\u2019s championship game makes it mean even more. The Turkish clubs have been bitter rivals for decades, and with incredibly dedicated and passionate fanbases on both sides, you can expect this year\u2019s EuroLeague Women championship to be treated as much more than just a basketball game.<\/p>\n
Incidentally, while the EuroLeague Women finals will feature the two best teams in Turkey, the third-place game will feature the two best teams in Spain. Casademont Zaragoza, the hosts this year\u2019s EuroLeague Women playoffs (or \u201cFinal Six\u201d), will take on Spar Girona, and they, too, are plenty familiar with each other. The crowd should be particularly raucous with the game being played on Spanish soil.<\/p>\n