2025–26 Champions League Final: Dates, Format, Teams

10 months after the first qualifying round of the 2025–26 Champions League, the showpiece event is finally set.

An arduous journey that began with the preliminary rounds, kicked off properly in the league phase and reached new peaks during a thrilling knockout stage culminates in a one-off shootout for Europe’s ultimate prize this month.

Minnows have upset the odds, behemoths have fallen, and only two teams remain in the hunt for the Champions League trophy, the most coveted individual piece of silverware in club soccer.

Here’s everything you need to know about the 2025–26 Champions League final.

2025–26 Champions League Final Date, Venue

After almost a year’s worth of relentless continental action, the Champions League’s final encounter will be staged on Saturday, May 30.

The Puskás Aréna in Budapest, Hungary will host the event, the 67,000-seat venue having never been previously chosen for the Champions League final. The stadium was in use for the 2020 UEFA Super Cup and 2023 Europa League final, however.

The kick-off time for this year’s final has been brought forward by UEFA, the match commencing at 5 p.m. BST (12 p.m. ET, 9 a.m. PT).

The Champions League final usually kicks off at 8 p.m. BST (3 p.m. ET, 12 p.m. PT), but the time change has been employed to “enhance the matchday experience and benefit fans, teams and host cities”, as per UEFA.

American band The Killers will perform the opening ceremony in Budapest.

2025–26 Champions League Final Format

Champions League ball — A straight shootout for the trophy awaits. | Juanma/UEFA/Getty Images

Unlike previous knockout rounds, the final of the Champions League is a one-legged affair, hence why it’s hosted at a neutral venue. The winner must be decided on the day, with extra time and then penalties in operation should the scoreline be level at the end of regulation time.

It’s been exactly 10 years since extra time and penalties were required to decide the Champions League final, Real Madrid triumphing over Atlético Madrid on spot kicks in 2015–16.

Fortunately for those individuals participating in this year’s final, they cannot be suspended for accumulating too many yellow cards in previous rounds—the quota reset at the end of the quarterfinal stage. A red card is the only route via which a player would be banned for the match.

2025–26 Champions League Final Teams

Arsenal were the first team confirmed for the 2025–26 final, exactly two decades on from their last and only appearance at this stage of the competition. The Gunners lost to Barcelona in 2005–06 and are seeking a first-ever title at the end of the month.

Mikel Arteta’s men have been fortunate with the relative simplicity of their knockout path, but still deserve immense credit for topping the league phase and maintaining an unbeaten run throughout their 14 European matches to date.

Overcoming the likes of Bayern Munich and Inter in winning all eight league phase games, they then navigated knockout ties with Bayer Leverkusen, Sporting CP and Atlético Madrid to reach the final.

Reigning European champions Paris Saint-Germain are their opponents, the French giants reaching successive finals as Luis Enrique’s all-conquering machine continues to purr. Just like last season, they have taken an awkward path to the last two.

PSG only finished 11th in the league phase and were forced into the playoff round, where they beat fellow Ligue 1 outfit Monaco. They were then tasked with toppling Chelsea, Liverpool and Bayern to reach the final, a route littered with significant obstacles.

Having knocked Arsenal out in last term’s semifinal, PSG will be confident heading into another showdown with the north Londoners. By beating them home and away, they secured their first ever victories over the Gunners, having failed to win the previous five battles.

READ THE LATEST CHAMPIONS LEAGUE NEWS, ANALYSIS AND INSIGHT FROM SI FC

Add us as a preferred source on Google