UEFA Awards 2029 Women’s Champions League Final to Cardiff
Ireland’s hopes of staging one of the showpiece events in the women’s game have been dashed, with UEFA handing the 2029 Women’s Champions League final to Cardiff’s Principality Stadium ahead of Dublin’s Aviva Stadium.
The decision was signed off at a UEFA Executive Committee meeting on Tuesday, where the host venues for several major finals were settled.
Cardiff lands the prize, Dublin left waiting
The Aviva had made the final shortlist of four, pitched against Cardiff, Parc Olympique Lyonnais in France and Basel’s St Jakob-Park. Dublin’s case was strong on pedigree: Europa League finals in 2011 and 2024 already on the CV, and seven games to come at Euro 2028. The FAI wanted another marquee night on the Liffey.
Instead, the prize crosses the Irish Sea.
For Welsh football, it is a landmark win. For Ireland, it is a reminder that recent hosting success does not guarantee the next big occasion.
“Congratulations to the Football Association of Wales on their successful bid for Cardiff to host the 2029 UEFA Women's Champions League final and thank you to UEFA for its positive feedback on the association's bid," he said.
He underlined that the push to host was part of a bigger picture.
"The FAI's ambition to host this final was part of its ongoing commitment to supporting the development of women and girls' football and that will continue with participation levels at an all-time high, as well as more female coaches, match officials, administrators and volunteers helping to drive the game forward."
The disappointment in Dublin is mirrored by delight in Cardiff – and in Limerick, where Noel Mooney, the Football Association of Wales’ chief executive, hails from. For him, this is more than a calendar entry.
"This is about much more than one night in 2029," Mooney said. "Our ambition is for the UEFA Women's Champions League final to become a catalyst for the continued transformation of women’s and girls’ football in Wales."
Welsh football, he argued, has momentum.
"Welsh football has made incredible progress. We have more than 20,000 women and girls playing the game, a growing domestic structure through the Adran Leagues and a Cymru team that has now competed on the major tournament stage. Bringing this final to Wales gives us another opportunity to accelerate that progress."
Major finals mapped out: Munich, Barcelona, Lyon
UEFA also locked in the destinations for the Men’s Champions League finals in 2028 and 2029. Munich’s Allianz Arena will host the 2028 showpiece, with Barcelona’s Nou Camp – once its vast renovation is complete – set to stage the 2029 edition.
On the women’s side, the 2028 Women’s Champions League final will go to Lyon, at Parc Olympique Lyonnais, the home of the club that has defined the competition more than any other.
Nations League shake-up hits Ireland
Away from the glamour of finals, UEFA’s Executive Committee signed off on a significant reshaping of the Nations League format from 2026/27 onwards – changes that could prove crucial for the Republic of Ireland.
The immediate twist is simple but important: if Ireland finish bottom of their League B group in this year’s Nations League, they will not drop automatically. Instead, they will face a relegation play-off to try to stay in League B.
Stephen Kenny’s side open their campaign against Kosovo on Thursday, 24 September, with Israel and Austria completing a group that offers little margin for error. Every point, every goal, now carries extra weight with a play-off safety net rather than a trapdoor.
The new structure redraws the whole competition. From 2028/29, the Nations League will move from four leagues to three, each containing 18 teams. That means three groups of six, with each nation playing six games against five different opponents: home or away against teams from other seeding pots, and home and away against the side drawn from their own pot.
Promotion and relegation will be driven by a series of play-offs.
At the top end, the four group winners in League B will go up to League A. The two lowest-ranked fourth-placed teams in League A will drop into League B. Between those tiers, the League A/B play-offs will feature the two lowest-ranked third-placed teams from League A and the two highest-ranked fourth-placed teams from League A, who will face the four runners-up from League B. The four winners of those ties earn a place in League A, the four losers play in League B.
A similar mechanism will operate between Leagues B and C. The four fourth-placed teams in League B will meet the four runners-up from League C in the League B/C play-offs. The winners move into League B, the defeated sides line up in League C. The four group winners of League C will be promoted to League B.
League D disappears entirely, with all current League D teams promoted to League C as the competition consolidates into three levels.
For Ireland, the message is clear: League B will be more crowded, more competitive and less forgiving, but not quite as brutal at the bottom as before. Survival, though, may hinge on navigating a high-stakes play-off.
The next chapter in this reshaped landscape will be written in Belfast, where the UEFA Executive Committee meets again on 7 December – one day after the Euro 2028 qualifying draw in the same city.
