The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round:[1] The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws were held at the EHF headquarters in Vienna, Austria):[2] The qualification stage consists of three rounds, which are played as two-legged ties using a home-and-away system.

A total of 30 teams entered the draw for the first qualification round, which was held on Tuesday, 18 July 2017.

On 27 November 2017, EHF announced the composition of the group stage seeding pots:[4] SKA Minsk Chambéry Savoie Füchse Berlin Frisch Auf Göppingen Bjerringbro-Silkeborg Helvetia Anaitasuna Riihimäki Cocks KS Azoty-Puławy RK Nexe Našice Fraikin Granollers Saint-Raphaël SC Magdeburg RD Koper 2013 Wacker Thun Lugi HF Tatran Prešov Because the German side SC Magdeburg, the organizers of the Final 4 tournament, finished on top of their group they qualified directly to the final tournament and only the top three second-placed teams qualified to the quarter-finals.

The draw for the quarter-final pairing was held on Tuesday 3 April at 11:00 hrs in the EHF headquarters in Vienna.

The sixth edition of the EHF Cup Finals in 2018 was hosted by SC Magdeburg after the EHF Executive Committee decided to award the hosting rights to the German club at its meeting on 16 December in Hamburg.