Camp Nou chosen over Wembley for 2029
UEFA announced on Tuesday that Barcelona's rebuilt Camp Nou will stage the 2029 Champions League final, beating London's Wembley Stadium for the honour. The award places a major European showpiece in Catalonia one year before Spain shares hosting duties for the 2030 World Cup with Portugal and Morocco. The contest to stage that World Cup final is between Real Madrid's refurbished Santiago Bernabéu and a 115,000-seat stadium under construction in Casablanca.[S1]
The Camp Nou rebuild, designed for 105,000 spectators, remains a work in progress, with its upper tier and roof still being built. Barcelona last welcomed a Champions League final in 1999, when Manchester United scored twice in stoppage time to defeat a Bayern side that had dominated. Wembley has held the final three times since then, in 2011, 2013 and 2024, and eight times overall across the 71-year history of the European Cup. This season's final will be played in Madrid at Atletico's Metropolitano stadium.[S1]
Munich confirmed for 2028 as sole bidder
UEFA's executive committee confirmed that the 2028 Champions League final will return to Bayern Munich's stadium, which was the only candidate. The German venue previously hosted the 2012 final, and the 2025 edition was also staged there, meaning the showpiece returns just three years later. The decisions were taken at a meeting of the executive committee held in the Greek city of Thessaloniki, where UEFA also set out a series of rulings covering continental finals over the next four years.[S1][S2]
Europa League, Conference League and women's finals
For the second-tier Europa League, UEFA selected Romania's national stadium in Bucharest for 2028 and the new Serbian national venue being built on the outskirts of Belgrade for 2029. This season's Europa League final takes place at Eintracht Frankfurt's Waldstadion. The third-tier Conference League will hold its 2028 final in Turin at Juventus's stadium, followed in 2029 by the 67,000-seat Puskás Aréna in Budapest, which hosted the Champions League final in May. Since the Conference League launched in 2021, its final venues have outgrown the 20,000-seat grounds used for the first two title matches in Tirana, Albania and Prague.[S1][S2]
In the women's game, record eight-time Women's Champions League winner Lyon will host the 2028 final at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais in Lyon Decines, and Cardiff's national stadium in the city centre will stage the 2029 final. That Cardiff venue is also set to host the opening match of the men's 2028 European Championship. UEFA additionally awarded the Super Cup to Amsterdam's Johan Cruyff Arena in 2027 and to the Astana Arena in Astana, Kazakhstan, in 2028, a move aimed at extending the event's reach. The 2027 Futsal Champions League final will go to the Biel/Bienne Arena in Switzerland.[S1][S2]
Nations League format change approved
The executive committee approved an adjustment to promotion and relegation in the Nations League for the 2026/2027 season. UEFA said the change is intended to smooth the transition to a new system agreed in May 2026 that will reduce the tournament from four groups to three starting in the 2028/2029 season, with the aim of making matches more competitive. The meeting concluded with the announcement that the executive committee will next gather in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on 7 December, the day after the Euro 2028 qualifying draw is held in the same city.[S2]
The Belgrade venue decision came nine days after players and supporters of the Serbian capital's two biggest clubs, Red Star and Partizan, honoured convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic at a match in the city's current main stadium; Mladic died last month in The Hague. UEFA fined Red Star this month after fans chanted in Mladic's honour at a Europa League game played on the day he died. Serbian soccer has meanwhile built closer ties with UEFA and will co-host the men's Under-21 European Championship next year alongside Albania.[S1]
