UEFA picks 2029 Champions League final venue on Tuesday: Camp Nou or Wembley

The Spotify Camp Nou is aiming to become the stage for the men's Champions League final on Saturday, June 2, 2029. The decision will be made this Tuesday in Thessaloniki, where the UEFA Executive Committee meets between 9:00 and 13:00 to award the venues for several continental finals. The Barça stadium is competing with Wembley, and the Barcelona bid arrives in a position of clear advantage.

• The UEFA Executive Committee decides several European final venues this Tuesday in Thessaloniki.
• The Spotify Camp Nou and Wembley are the two official bids for the 2029 Champions League final.
• Barcelona leads the race with a 104,600-seat capacity, including 9,400 VIP seats.
• The 2027 final will be played at the Metropolitano in Madrid, with the 2028 edition heading to Munich's Allianz Arena.
• San Mamés is also bidding to repeat as host of the 2028 Women's Champions League final.

Thessaloniki hosts the summit that will shape Camp Nou's future

Greece's second city is the setting this Tuesday for a meeting that will shape the European football calendar. The UEFA Executive Committee, led by Aleksander Ceferin, has the task of designating the stadiums for the upcoming continental finals. For Barcelona fans, Thessaloniki brings back memories of the 1980s basketball battles against Aris, led by Nikos Galis and Panagiotis Giannakis, but today the spotlight belongs entirely to football.

What the Spotify Camp Nou offers for the 2029 final

The bid promoted by FC Barcelona, Barcelona City Council, the Catalan government, the Spanish Football Federation and the Spanish government has made a strong impression on UEFA. The European governing body is satisfied with the construction schedule: the roof installation is planned for the summer of 2027, with the finishing touches set for early 2028 at the latest.

Capacity is the strongest argument for the Catalan bid. The Camp Nou projects 104,600 seats, including 9,400 VIP places, a figure UEFA considers an unmatched attraction for its biggest annual event. Barcelona's hotel and airport capacity also leaves no room for doubt. The stadium was already the largest in Europe before the renovation and will reclaim that status once work is completed, surpassing Wembley's current capacity of 90,000.

Wembley, a rival with a crowded calendar

The English bid was officially submitted on June 10, but its schedule works against it. Wembley will host the Euro 2028 final, as well as two semifinals and a quarterfinal. That density of events reduces its margin to also stage the 2029 Champions League final.

The London venue already hosted the 2024 Champions League final, when Real Madrid lifted their 15th European Cup against Borussia Dortmund. Now the Barça stadium hopes to bring the showpiece back to Barcelona after more than three decades.

European finals previously held at the Camp Nou

The Barcelona stadium has a top-level European pedigree. In 1989 it hosted the European Cup final in which AC Milan thrashed Steaua Bucharest 4-0. Ten years later, in 1999, it witnessed one of the most memorable finals in history: Manchester United came from behind to beat Bayern Munich 2-1 with two goals in 102 seconds during stoppage time.

San Mamés bids again for the 2028 Women's final

The Executive Committee in Thessaloniki will also decide whether San Mamés returns as host of the Women's Champions League final in 2028. The Bilbao stadium was the venue in 2024 for a historic clash: Barça beat Michele Kang's Olympique Lyon 2-0 in front of 50,827 fans, an attendance record for a final in this competition.

The Bilbao bid, with a capacity of 53,331, is competing with Lyon's Groupama Stadium (59,186), Basel's St. Jakob Park (38,512) and Istanbul's RAMS Park, owned by Galatasaray (53,978). The 2027 final will take place at the National Stadium in Warsaw, with a capacity of 58,580.

Venue calendar: Madrid 2027 and Munich 2028

The fact that the 2027 final will be played at the Metropolitano in Madrid is not an obstacle to the decisive match returning to Spain two years later. UEFA sees no issue with that move. In fact, the Allianz Arena in Munich, the sole bid for 2028, will be ratified today in Thessaloniki despite having already hosted the final in 2025, confirming the governing body's flexibility in rotating venues.

The Budapest experience in 2026, where mobility problems left mixed feelings among European officials, strengthens the case of a city like Barcelona, accustomed to managing major events with confidence. The good relationship between UEFA and Barça president Joan Laporta also helps consolidate the Catalan project's favorable position.