CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL 2026 tickets

You will reserve your 2026 Champions League final tickets in our dedicated booking system. Saturday 30 May 2026 the Puskás Aréna, Budapest will be the largest club football night in Europe. Hungary will host the Champions League final for the first time and looks set to be a special event in a high-quality stadium that already demonstrated itself to have a fine reputation as home to the final in the Europa League in 2023. For the players involved, lifting this trophy is something else none could rival — for me the Champions League is the holy grail of club football, and winning it proves to be the moment of any career.

Champions League final — Budapest, Puskás Aréna

The 2025/26 final of the Champions League occurs at the Puskás Aréna, a 67,000-seat (modern) stadium right east of central Budapest. Famed for Hungarian football icon Ferenc Puskás, the arena opened in 2019 on the site of the historic Népstadion and complies with the highest UEFA values. With only a kilometre from Budapest Keleti central railway train station and two kilometres out of the city's historic centre, the venue is very accessible to travelling fans.

In addition, this year's final will start at 18:00 CEST — a far earlier start than previous years — and marks a part of UEFA's move to improve the overall matchday experience for fans, teams and host towns.

Road to the 2026 finals of the Champions League

The route to Budapest starts with qualifying stages in the summer. It opens on 8/9 & 15/16 July 2025 (First qualifying round; 2nd qualifying round 22/23 & 29/30 July). The third qualifying round is on 5/6 & 12 August, and the play-offs will complete the qualification stage on 19/20 & 26/27 August 2025.

League phase

The league phase — which replaced the old structure of the group stage from the 2024/25 season — takes place on an 8-matchday basis from September 2025 to January 2026. The season starts with Matchday 1 (16–18 September 2025), progresses through Matchday 2 (30 September–1 October), Matchday 3 (21/22 October), Matchday 4 (4/5 November), matchday 5 (25/26 November) and matchday 6 (9/10 December). Following the winter period, the league phase ends with Matchday 7 (20/21 January 2026) and Matchday 8 (28 January 2026). Under new rules, the top 8 teams directly go into round 16 and teams coming in 9 and finishing 24 are moved into a knockout round.

Knockout phase

The knockout stage commences in February with knockout play-offs on 17/18 & 24/25 February 2026. Then comes the round of 16 (10/11 & 17/18 March), the quarter-finals 7/8 & 14/15 April and the semi-finals 28/29 April & 5/6 May. And all roads lead to Budapest for the grand final on 30 May 2026.

Key draw dates

Qualifying stages draw schedules will vary; the first qualifying round will be on 17 June 2025, the second will draw on 18 June and the third will be on 21 July and the play-off draw on 4 August. The all-important draw for the league phase is set to take place 28 August 2025. The knockout play-off draw follows the end of the league phase, occurring on 30 January 2026, and the round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final draw on 27 February 2026.

Defending champions: Paris Saint-Germain

Paris Saint-Germain, after their fantastic first Champions League victory in 2025, arrive in the 2025/26 season defending champions. PSG defeated Inter Milan 5-0 at the Allianz Arena in Munich — the biggest winning margin in any Champions League final and, indeed, the biggest in the history of the European Cup. Achraf Hakimi scored in 12th minute before two strikes by Désiré Doué. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Senny Mayulu finished the rout. Luis Enrique's victory made him just the seventh manager to win the Champions League with two different clubs, having previously been with Barcelona in 2015.

Champions League history and records

The Champions League has been around since 1955/56 when it was called the European Cup. The competition began different phases in 1992/93 as "the Champions League," and has changed the old group stage to a new, league stage format since the 2024/25 season.

Over the decades, 24 different clubs have enjoyed the honour of lifting the famous trophy with the big ears.

The most successful clubs

No club can rival Real Madrid in this tournament. Los Blancos have done well under the continental climate since they made it to the Champions League 15 times. The most remarkable run lasted five years from 1956 to 1960, with the same period lasting 20 years. AC Milan are in second place with seven wins; Bayern Munich and Liverpool are tied in third with six each.

Juxtaposed here is Juventus' unwanted number of final losses with all seven losses and Atlético Madrid's three finals with no wins at all.

Individual player records

. For individual finals records, few stars are taller than the immortal figures of Francisco Gento and Paolo Maldini. These soccer greats appeared in 8 finals each. It is unlikely they will be surpassed like this. Gento has won the most with Real Madrid in any single player in the history of the competition, six in total, in the 1950s and 1960s.

Since 1992/93, six Champions League players hold the record, all five in their own: Dani Carvajal, Toni Kroos, Luka Modrić, Nacho Fernández (all mostly with Real Madrid), Cristiano Ronaldo (with Manchester United and Real Madrid). In fact, the oldest player ever to play a final was the Italian goalkeeper Dino Zoff (41 years and 86 days old) when he finished in the 1983 final.

Memorable final scorelines

. The 2025 final between PSG and Inter Milan boasted the largest winning margin in Champions League final history, with PSG taking the title 5-0, breaking all other winning records. Nevertheless, in a single final, Real Madrid defeated Eintracht Frankfurt 7-3 in 1960 for the most goals ever in a legendary match which featured hat-tricks by Alfredo Di Stéfano and Ferenc Puskás. It’s still one of the best matches ever played in any league because of that 10-goal thriller.

For all the drama, the 2005 final in Istanbul is in a league of its own. At half-time Liverpool just trailed AC Milan 3-0, only to stage one of football’s most astonishing comebacks, and to end the match tied at 3-3 they scored the match on penalties. It was a night that gained the nickname “The Miracle of Istanbul” and remains the most dramatic final in the league’s history.

Top final goalscorers

. Ferenc Puskás has the highest total for finals goals in the Champions League with seven, including four in one fixture against Eintracht Frankfurt in 1960 — also an all-time high. His teammate Alfredo Di Stéfano scored in five straight finals from 1956 to 1960, a level of consistency that has yet to be matched. In modern times, Cristiano Ronaldo leads the charge with four goals in multiple finals.

The greatest managers

. Carlo Ancelotti has become the Champions League’s most successful manager, winning 5 titles, including two with AC Milan (2003, 2007) and three with Real Madrid (2014, 2022, 2024). He is the only manager to be in six finals. Bob Paisley, Zinédine Zidane and Pep Guardiola are the trio who followed Ancelotti at 3. Zidane's three consecutive titles with Real Madrid from 2016 to 2018 proved that he won three titles, whilst Guardiola won three with Barcelona (2009, 2011) and Manchester City (2023).

Final venues through the years

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London has hosted more Champions League finals than any other city, with eight finals being held in the English capital across different stadiums. The original Wembley Stadium hosted five finals by itself as its own venue, making it the most used single venue in the competition's history. Germany has given the most diversity of final venues since it has played host to the event with five different stadiums throughout the country. Some of the other iconic venues which have hosted unforgettable finals include the San Siro in Milan, the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid, and the Allianz Arena in Munich.

Which countries dominate the Champions League?

Spain leads the Champions League as the most successful country with 20 victories, with the best teams at the top being just two clubs, Real Madrid (15) and Barcelona (5). England has the most diversity, with six different clubs to lift the trophy: Liverpool, Manchester United, Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa, Chelsea, and Manchester City.

Key milestones in Champions League history

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The competition has changed drastically since Real Madrid won the first European Cup in 1956. Initially open only to domestic league champions, it gradually extended to runners-up from 1997 and third and fourth-place finishers from 1999. The biggest change to come in 2024/25 brought with it a change in the league phase format which eliminates the traditional group stage and, for a wider field of events, led to more of the matches being featured in the most important rounds. The competition, too, has been through rough times. After Heysel in 1985, English sides were banned from European competition for five years (until 1990). Most recently, COVID-19’s pandemic meant that the 2020 final was held behind closed doors; the 2021 final was kept at limited capacity. In 2005 Liverpool were allowed to defend their title, despite finishing outside of qualifying positions in the Premier League (a principle change that was permanently incorporated into qualification rules). Six finals have been determined by penalty shootout (1986, 1988, 1991, 1996, 2001, and 2005), and only three hat-tricks have ever been scored in a final. In 1960, Di Stéfano and Puskás both achieved the feat, while Pierino Prati completed his treble for AC Milan against Ajax in 1969.

Champions League 2025/26 — the road to the finals in Budapest

The 2025/26 Champions League is officially underway, while the path to the Puskás Aréna in Budapest is beginning to narrow. Sixteen teams still face the odds for European football's biggest cup, but the league phase and knockout play-offs have been completed.

Arsenal perfect drama of league season

This was the second round of the format, which had taken place after 2024/25, and replaced the group stage which had been the traditional one. This season also saw a historic first: six English sides entered the Champions League, with Tottenham Hotspur being crowned Europa League holders.

Arsenal went off from the start of the season top of the six-team table, winning a perfect eight-out-of-eight record, scoring 23 goals whilst conceding 4. Bayern Munich were a second close behind, Liverpool finishing top three despite a tough domestic season. Tottenham, Barcelona, Chelsea, Sporting CP, and Manchester City secured automatic qualification for round 16, completing the top eight.

The last matchday on 28 January was a page wallop of drama. Benfica goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin scored a header late into stoppage time against Real Madrid in a 4-2 win that sent shock waves through Europe. That result got the Spanish giants out of the top eight and out into the knockout play-offs, and it also kept Benfica from elimination on goal difference. Manchester City clinched the last automatic qualification position on the final day, finishing eighth. Defending champions Paris Saint-Germain, the winning trophy just months before, finished just a 13th-place finish and had to go through the play-offs.

Not a few high-profile clubs were eliminated. These failed to secure a berth in the top 24, with Marseille, Napoli, PSV Eindhoven, and Ajax ending their European campaigns in January.

In the league phase, too, some remarkable individual performances materialised. PSG’s Kylian Mbappé — was that last season? This season, it was Mbappé at Real Madrid that set a record: He scored 12 goals for the league’s phase, ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo. Northern Norwegian Bodø/Glimt was the next great example of the season's great stories, falling just out of first six rounds from the Champions League but defeating both Manchester City and Atlético Madrid to make it.

Knockout play-offs: big names leave, underdog rises

Knockout play-offs in February saw a round of 8-3 winners. Bodø/Glimt knocked out Inter Milan this year, who were last season's beaten finalists in one of the biggest upsets in recent Champions League history. The Norwegian side won 5-2 on aggregate, a continuation of their strong first-season run. Juventus similarly slipped at this point, vanquished by Galatasaray in a chaotic tie that ended 7-5 on aggregate after extra time in the second leg. Borussia Dortmund were routed by Atalanta (4-3 on aggregate), and Club Brugge, Monaco, Olympiacos and Qarabağ were all heavily bruised.

Champions Paris Saint-Germain, the defending side, played within a tense all-French affair against Monaco, which they achieved — a 5-4 match aggregate. Real Madrid followed up by a 3-1 aggregate victory over Benfica after their league phase disappointments. The most comfortable pass was made by Newcastle United, which defeated Qarabağ 9-3 over two legs. Bayer Leverkusen rounded out the field with a controlled 2-0 aggregate win, Atlético Madrid had also scored liberally in a 7-4 aggregate win.

Round of 16 draw: blockbuster ties for all types

The round of 16 draw happened on 27 February 2026 in Nyon and it yielded a mouthwatering set of ties. The eight league phase top-eight finishers were seeded; they will host the second legs and eight play-off winners unseeded. Here's the eight matchups:

• Paris Saint-Germain vs Chelsea — A match between the defending champions and an in-form Chelsea side that finished sixth in the league phase. The first leg is hosted by PSG on 11 March, the return coming from Stamford Bridge on 17 March.
• Real Madrid vs Manchester City — Two European giants that have developed a contentious rivalry in recent years are back together. 11 March: First leg Madrid, 17 March: second leg Manchester.
• Galatasaray vs Liverpool — Turkish giants are back fresh from their dramatic victory over Juventus and a Liverpool side which topped league phase standings last season. First leg Istanbul on 10 March with return to Anfield on 17 March.
• Atalanta vs Bayern Munich — Gian Piero Gasperini’s team take on a steely Bayern side that placed second in the league phase. First leg in Bergamo on 10 March, second leg in Munich on 18 March.
• Newcastle United vs Barcelona — Eddie Howe’s Newcastle faces one of the tournament favourites in a tie that will yield goals. 10 March: 1st leg at St James' Park; 18 March: 2nd leg at Camp Nou.
• Atlético Madrid vs Tottenham — A reunion of strong contenders, with Diego Simeone's Atlético hosting the first leg on 10 March and Spurs on 18 March.
• Bodø/Glimt vs Sporting CP — The magical story of Bodø/Glimt continues as the two sides head-to-head against a Sporting side that did well in the league phase. First leg in Norway on 11 March; return in Lisbon on 17 March.
• Bayer Leverkusen vs Arsenal — Two of the best-maintained teams in Europe collide. Leverkusen take home the first leg on 11 March, in addition to the Emirates on 17 March.

The bracket: who plays who in the quarter-finals and beyond

Unlike in previous editions, the full bracket from round of 16 to the final has already been drawn. That means we already know the possible quarter-final and semi-final matchups:

The winner of PSG/Chelsea will encounter the winner of Galatasaray/Liverpool in the quarter-finals in the top half of the bracket. Real Madrid/Man City face Atalanta/Bayern Munich on the same side, the winners from those two quarter-finals meeting in the semi-finals.

Newcastle/Barcelona faces Atlético/Tottenham in the quarter-finals in the bottom half, while Bodø/Glimt/Sporting CP takes on Leverkusen/Arsenal. The winners of those ties will compete in the second semi-final.

The "home" team for administrative purposes will be named the winner of the first semi-final at the final in the Puskás Aréna on 30 May 2026.

Key dates to remember

The round of 16 first legs take place on 10 and 11 March, with the return legs on 17 and 18 March. The quarter-finals follow on 7/8 and 14/15 April, the semi-finals on 28/29 April and 5/6 May, and the grand final in Budapest on 30 May 2026. This year's final kicks off at 18:00 CEST — two hours earlier than previous editions — as part of UEFA's initiative to improve the matchday experience.

Tickets for the remaining matches

With 16 remaining squads in play, it is now time to buy your tickets to those remaining Champions League matches. For an opportunity to visit one of the blockbuster round of 16 ties, the quarter-final or semi-final or the grand final in Budapest, check out our comprehensive Champions League ticket selection at the secure booking section.