Has the UEFA Champions League final gone beyond Europe? Is it only a matter of time before the biggest club football match takes place in the United States, the Middle East or even further afield?
Last week, Juan Emilio Roa, commercial director of South American confederation CONMEBOL, said discussions about holding the Copa Libertadores outside South America had taken place, mainly to take advantage of commercial opportunities. Yet UEFA’s problem becomes a practical one rather than a commercial or financial one.
Despite the prestige of hosting the final, as well as the financial potential for the local economy of the chosen city, UEFA announced last week that only Munich had submitted a bid to host the 2028 final, while only London and Barcelona had entered the race to secure the rights to host the 2029 final.
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Barcelona have not hosted the Champions League final since Manchester United beat Bayern Munich at the Camp Nou in 1999 – in a dilapidated stadium, which was no longer in the final rotation, but which has now been completely renovated and will soon reopen. But Munich’s Allianz Arena hosted the final between Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan this year, while London’s Wembley Stadium hosted the final in 2024 for the third time in 13 years.
With UEFA stripping Milan of its hosting rights in 2027 due to the city’s failure to provide assurance that San Siro would be fit to host the match – Inter and AC Milan this week confirmed plans to demolish the stadium and build a new 71,500-seat arena on the existing site – Atlético Madrid’s Estadio Metropolitano was announced in September as the new host, having recently hosted the final in 2019.
So, are we heading towards a Champions League final in the United States? Could we soon see Real Madrid against Liverpool in New York, or Bayern Munich against Paris Saint-Germain in Chicago?
“If the Champions League final were held in the United States, it would be a resounding success,” Charlie Stillitano, a U.S.-based sports manager and promoter, told ESPN.
“Don Garber, the commissioner of MLS, has publicly stated that the United States is the ATM of the soccer world, and I remember former Manchester United and Chelsea CEO Peter Kenyon telling me 20 years ago that the United States had 50 million soccer fans who have money. There are probably 100 million now, and there is an insatiable appetite for major sporting events in the United States, especially for a high-end product like the Champions League final.
“But UEFA president Aleksandar Ceferin said recently that he wanted European league matches to be played at home, while permission was given for Villarreal’s La Liga match against Barcelona to be played in Miami. That’s why I don’t see UEFA hosting the Champions League final abroad any time soon.”
Barcelona’s Miami clash against Villarreal has since been canceled but plans are still in place for AC Milan to play their Serie A match against Como in Perth, Australia next February. Although Ceferin expressed reservations about league matches being played abroad, he said in 2023 that “it was possible” that the Champions League final would be played in the United States.
It is clear, however, that UEFA is faced with an ever-shrinking number of suitable host cities and stadiums for the match. Between the first edition of the renamed Champions League in 1993 and Liverpool’s victory over AC Milan in Istanbul in 2005, twelve different cities hosted the thirteen finals during this period, with only Munich’s Olympiastadion hosting it twice. Athens, Vienna, Rome, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Paris, Milan, Glasgow (Hampden Park), Manchester (Old Trafford), Gelsenkirchen and Istanbul complete this varied list.
But sources have told ESPN that UEFA now only has four risk-free venues for future Champions League finals due to the requirements each host city must meet to stage the match. It must have a stadium with a minimum capacity of 65,000 and surrounding space for a secure perimeter, but also significant infrastructure, including an international airport and a significant local transport system, as well as hotel room capacity capable of coping with the influx of traveling supporters, sponsors, media and VIPs.
The host stadium must also be able to provide a broadcast complex – an area large enough to accommodate studios, heavy trucks and communications lines – while still having enough corporate entertainment spaces to satisfy the enormous demand.
With its capacity of 90,000, 161 corporate boxes and nine separate banquet halls capable of accommodating 18,000 guests, as well as connections to four major airports, an extensive public transport network and a huge hotel space, sources have told ESPN that Wembley is considered by UEFA as the ideal venue for the Champions League final.
The new Camp Nou, Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu and the Metropolitano have similar advantages, while Munich also meets UEFA’s expectations, albeit with a smaller stadium and hotel room stock.
Budapest will host the 2026 final in the 67,100-capacity Puskás Aréna, but the occasion will push the Hungarian capital to its limits. It has an airport and a Soviet-era metro system, while travel site Booking.com reports that 92% of the city’s accommodation is already unavailable for the Champions League final weekend, May 29-30. If Budapest proves to be a success, it could open the door to cities of similar size applying to host the Champions League final. But for now, UEFA’s options are limited.
Moscow (2008 host) and St. Petersburg (which was due to host the 2022 final before it was moved to Paris) are out of the question due to Russia’s exclusion from UEFA competitions since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Kyiv, host of the 2018 final, is also out of the question due to the ongoing conflict. Rome’s Stadio Olimpico has not hosted a final since 2009, with neither the stadium nor the infrastructure in the Italian capital meeting demands. Paris is unlikely to be considered until UEFA is satisfied that the crowd control issues that overshadowed the 2022 final between Real Madrid and Liverpool will not recur.
Former hosts such as Vienna, Amsterdam and Glasgow no longer have suitable stadiums, while infrastructure and hotel spaces would also work against Athens, Lisbon, Manchester and Cardiff. Berlin would be a potential option if the city submitted a bid, but Baku failed to host the organization in 2027, largely due to difficulties faced by fans traveling in large numbers to Azerbaijan from Western Europe.
“I attended the 2019 Europa League final between Arsenal and Chelsea in Baku,” Stillitano said. “And let me tell you, it would have been easier and cheaper for the fans if the match had taken place in New York rather than Azerbaijan.
“The United States could definitely host the Champions League final, there’s no doubt about that. More than five million fans have already signed up for tickets to the World Cup next year, so the appetite and the money are there, but I think the most likely next step is for the Club World Cup to take place every two years.
“FIFA, UEFA and the Premier League are the three most powerful football organizations/brands in the world and FIFA and the Premier League have already arrived in the American sports landscape. So we’ll see what happens with UEFA, but I think it’s difficult for them to take the Champions League outside of Europe right now.”
Sources have said UEFA has no plans to stage the Champions League final outside Europe, but the organization now has a choice to make: accept a reduced rotation of just a few Champions League final host cities – London, Madrid, Munich, Barcelona – or go global and present the biggest club football match in the world.
