The UEFA Europa League is the second-biggest competition in European football behind the UEFA Champions League.
In the last 53 years, some of the continent’s most iconic stadiums have hosted the final in this competition, including Anfield and the Santiago Bernabeu.
Here is a closer look at some of the most iconic stadiums to host the Europa League final over the years and memorable moments in those matches.
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Europa League final stadiums overview
With many stadiums to choose from, we have listed the most iconic venues to host the Europa League final since 1971.
Puskas Arena – Hungary
The Puskas Arena in Budapest hosted the 2022/23 final between Sevilla and Roma. Just under 61,500 people attended the match, which is the highest figure for a Europa League final in the 21st century.
It is an impressive facility that was recently opened in 2019 at the cost of €533 million. In May 2024, UEFA announced that the Puskas Arena will host the upcoming 2025/26 Champions League final.
Westfalenstadion
Before 1997, the Europa League final was split into two legs, with both teams playing at their home stadiums. Borussia Dortmund qualified for the 1992/93 final, where they faced Italian giants Juventus. The first leg was played at Westfalenstadion, with 37,000 fans in attendance. Juventus won 3-1 before winning the return leg in Turin by three goals to nil.
Eight years later, Liverpool met Deportivo Alaves at Dortmund’s stadium, which had been expanded following renovation works in the 1990s. It was a nine-goal thriller, with the English side winning 5-4 after extra time.
Dublin Arena
The latest Europa final was played at the Aviva Stadium in the Republic of Ireland. Bayer Leverkusen faced Atalanta, looking to become the first team in European football history to complete an unbeaten season after winning the Bundesliga without a defeat.
However, Ademola Lookman had other ideas, scoring a hat-trick to secure Atalanta’s first trophy in 61 years.
3 – Ademola Lookman is the third Nigerian player to score in the final of a major UEFA competition, after Alex Iwobi (2019 Europa League) and Joe Aribo (2022 Europa League). Eagles. pic.twitter.com/n1k6MRsTPJ
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 22, 2024
De Kuip
Stadion Feijenoord, more commonly known as ‘De Kuip’, has hosted two Europa League finals. The first of these was in 1974, when Feyenoord hosted Tottenham Hotspur in the second half. After a 2-2 draw at White Hart Lane, the Dutch side won 2-0 in front of 59,000 to secure European silverware.
Feyenoord found themselves in the final of this competition once again 28 years later. They beat Dortmund 3-2 in front of a raucous 45,611 crowd at De Kuip, which is the last time they have won a European trophy.
San Siro
On four occasions, the San Siro has been the host venue for the Europa League – more than any other stadium. Inter Milan beat Roma 2-0 in the first leg of the 1991 final, which they went on to win. Three years later, they were up against Austria Salzburg and were victorious again, winning 1-0 on home turf this time.
In the following season, Juventus faced Parma in the final, and the former played their home leg at the San Siro after facing landlord difficulties and attendance issues at their ground in Turin.
The 1996/97 campaign was the last time that the final was played over two legs. In this campaign. Inter faced Schalke 04 in the final – beating them 1-0 at the San Siro in the return leg to level the tie, but eventually lost the match on penalties.
Santiago Bernabeu
Finally, the Santiago Bernabeu has hosted the Europa League final twice. Given their dominance in the Champions League, it is hard to believe that Real have had many Europa League campaigns. In 1985 and 1986, the Spanish giants won the competition in consecutive seasons, beating Videoton of Hungary and FC Koln, respectively.
Real lost the home leg 1-0 in 1985, but they had already won the away leg 3-0, while in 1986 they beat the Bundesliga side 5-1 at home in the first leg in front of 85,000 spectators.
Recent Europa League final stadiums and results
| # | Champions League finals | Venue | Year | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Atalanta vs Bayer Leverkusen |
Aviva Stadium, Dublin |
2024 |
Atalanta |
| 2 |
Sevilla vs Roma |
Puskas Arena, Budapest |
2023 |
Sevilla |
| 3 |
Eintracht Frankfurt vs Rangers |
Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium, Sevile |
2022 |
Eintracht Frankfurt |
| 4 |
Villarreal vs Manchester United |
Stadion Gdansk, Poland |
2021 |
Villarreal |
| 5 |
Sevilla vs Inter Milan |
Stadion Koln, Cologne |
2020 |
Sevilla |
| 6 |
Chelsea vs Arsenal |
Olympic Stadium, Baku |
2019 |
Chelsea |
| 7 |
Atletico Madrid vs Marseille |
Parc Olympique, Lyonnais |
2018 |
Atletico Madrid |
| 8 |
Manchester United vs Ajax |
Friends Arena, Solna |
2017 |
Manchester United |
| 9 |
Sevilla vs Liverpool |
St. Jakob-Park, Basel |
2016 |
Sevilla |
| 10 |
Sevilla vs Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk |
National Stadium, Warsaw |
2015 |
Sevilla |
Europa League final stadiums – Key records
Record for hosting most finals
The San Siro has hosted the final a record four times. Three of these matches featured San Siro tenants, Inter Milan, while the other saw Juventus use the ground as their home for one of the two legs.
It looks like this record will be safe for a while yet, as the last 10 Europa League finals have been held at different venues.
The club with the most Europa League titles
Sevilla have won the competition seven times, winning in every final they have competed in. Meanwhile, Inter, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, and Liverpool all have three titles, with the latter losing to Sevilla in the 2016 final.
Who will host the next three finals?
The upcoming final in the 2024/25 season will take place at San Mames Stadium in Bilbao, which opened in 2013. A year later, Besiktas Stadium in Istanbul will be the host venue. Finally, Waldstadion in Frankfurt will host the 2026/27 final, which will be the second time the ground has done this since 1980.