The decision was taken on Tuesday at a meeting of the Executive Committee in the Greek city, UEFA said. Munich was the only city that put its name forward for 2028, so the real contest was for the year after, and Camp Nou beat Wembley to it.
Camp Nou’s 30 years away
The Catalan return is the headline. Camp Nou last hosted a Champions League final in 1999, when Manchester United’s late comeback sank Bayern Munich 2-1 with two stoppage-time goals. Thirty years on, the competition’s biggest night is set to return.
The venue is still in the middle of a much-delayed rebuild that is expected to lift the ground to around 105,000 seats, which would make it the largest stadium in Europe. The upper tier and the roof are yet to be finished, and Barcelona will need those works signed off well before the tie is played.
Munich’s third final in less than two decades
The Allianz Arena is a familiar backdrop for UEFA. It staged the 2012 final on Bayern Munich’s own pitch, where Chelsea won a shootout, and hosted the most recent edition in 2025. Awarding it 2028 as well means the arena will have taken the biggest game in the European club calendar three times in a short window.
Read also: A blonde haircut, a cooling-break smile: the Ronaldo-as-Homelander joke is back at full volume
Wembley, the other candidate for 2029, has hosted eight Champions League finals in total, three of them since 1999, most recently in 2024.
The 2027 final is already booked for Atlético Madrid’s Metropolitano Stadium, which sets up a three-year sequence in Madrid, Munich and Barcelona.
The same meeting also set the rest of UEFA’s club finals across the two years. The Europa League final goes to Bucharest’s National Arena in 2028 and Belgrade in 2029, the Conference League final to Turin’s Juventus Stadium in 2028 and Budapest’s Puskás Aréna in 2029, and the Women’s Champions League final to Lyon in 2028 and Cardiff in 2029.
Read also: Nairobi to host 2029 World Athletics Championships
Read also: Mourinho vs Simeone is back: Old rivals meet again after 13 years
