Bucharest’s National Arena will host the 2028 UEFA Europa League final, UEFA has confirmed. Romania’s capital thus again receives one of the most important matches in European club football, 16 years after the same competition’s final was played at the stadium in 2012.

UEFA has announced the hosts of the 2028 and 2029 Europa League finals. Bucharest has been awarded the 2028 edition, while National Stadium Serbia in Belgrade will host the 2029 final.

The National Arena hosted the 2012 Europa League final, when Atlético de Madrid beat Athletic Club. The stadium was also used at EURO 2020, a tournament actually played in 2021 after the postponement caused by the pandemic, when four matches took place in Bucharest.

The 2028 final will follow the 2027 edition, scheduled at Stadion Frankfurt. The sequence confirmed by UEFA is Frankfurt in 2027, Bucharest in 2028 and Belgrade in 2029.

For Romania, awarding the final means the return of a top-tier continental football event to the country’s largest stadium. The National Arena is used for numerous matches of the national team and important games of Bucharest clubs, and UEFA’s communication also identifies it as FCSB’s home stadium.

A European final involves much more than the match itself. The host city must manage large flows of supporters, transport, security, fan zones, media operations and UEFA’s logistical requirements.

Bucharest will be able to draw on experience gained both in 2012 and at EURO 2020. The identity of the two teams that will contest the 2028 final is, of course, unknown and must not be anticipated: the participants will be decided solely by the results of that season.

UEFA announced other hosts at the same time. The 2028 Champions League final will be held at Munich Football Arena and the 2029 final at Camp Nou in Barcelona. The Conference League will have its 2028 final at Juventus Stadium in Turin and the 2029 final at Puskás Aréna in Budapest. The Women’s Champions League finals have been awarded to Lyon for 2028 and Cardiff for 2029.

The National Arena was opened in 2011 and has more than 50,000 seats, but the exact operational capacity for the final and the allocation of tickets will be set later. There is no reason to publish estimates now of prices or of the number of tickets for the public.

Hosting can generate economic activity through the arrival of supporters, delegations and staff associated with the event, but any concrete financial estimate must be supported separately.

From a sporting point of view the decision is already certain: the 2028 UEFA Europa League final will be played at Bucharest’s National Arena. Sixteen years after Atlético–Athletic, the Europa League trophy will again be lifted in Romania’s capital.

Image: Marius Mandache / Pixabay. Interior of Bucharest’s National Arena. Pixabay Licence. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: OFICIAL | Finala UEFA Europa League vine la București! Arena Națională va găzdui ultimul act al competiției, în 2028 | FRF.