On the 1st of June, 2024, Wembley Stadium will host the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League final. At the time of writing we do not yet know which two teams will be slugging it out for silverware, with the two semi finals yet to be played.
There won’t be any English teams on “home” soil in the final, but barring injury we should have English involvement, with Harry Kane’s Bayern Munich set to face Jude Bellingham’s Real Madrid in the second semi. Borussia Dortmund and PSG play in the other semi in what remains an all-star final four, even without Manchester City, Liverpool or Arsenal.
Playing in the Champions League final is what players dream about but to appear in such a huge game in your home country will make it extra special for Bellingham or Kane (or Eric Dier, on loan at Bayern, or Jadon Sancho, on loan with Dortmund). However, this is not the first time the Champions League final, or that of its forerunner, the European Cup, will have been played in London.
In this article, we take a look back at the previous Champions League finals (including before the competition was rebranded and was still known as the European Cup) held at Wembley. We also consider whether Wembley is the only stadium in the UK to hold the showpiece clash.
Wembley Set to Host for Eighth Time in 2024
In June 2024 Wembley Stadium will host the biggest game in club football for a record eighth time, by which we mean both the “old” and “new” versions of the stadium. It was overlooked for the first seven editions of the European Cup but did the honours for the first time in 1963, when Milan beat Benfica 2-1. Brief details of each of the other six times London, by which we mean Wembley, has held the competition’s key game, can be seen below.
1968: Brilliant Best Beats Benfica
The final of the 1967/68 tournament saw Benfica play Manchester United. Benfica had several excellent players but no star shone as bright as the brilliant Portuguese attacker Eusebio. Eusebio was the top scorer in the tournament but in the final he was outdone by George Best and Bobby Charlton. The Red Devils won 4-1 after extra time, Charlton getting a brace but Best scoring the pick of the goals with a fine solo effort.
1971: Ajax Land First of Three
The great Ajax side of this era were key pioneers of total football and in front of over 83,000 fans they beat Greek outfit Panathinaikos 2-0. They won the next two finals as well, all without conceding, making it four in a row for Dutch teams after Feyenoord’s win over Celtic in 1970.
1977: Liverpool Retain Title
Liverpool beat Borussia Moenchengladbach in 1976 to land their first European Cup but they weren’t finished there. In what was a golden era for English clubs, they retained their crown, beating Brugge 1-0 at Wembley, the second of six consecutive wins for English teams.
1992: Barca Take Glory
Almost 71,000 fans watched on at London’s most iconic stadium as Barcelona beat Italian side Sampdoria 1-0. Ronald Koeman got the extra time winner for the Catalans as their great side, featuring Michael Laudrup, Hristo Stoichkov and a certain Pep Guardiola, got the better of a Sampa side that Roberto Mancini and Gianluca Vialli in attack.
2011: More Wembley Joy for Vintage Barcelona
This was Man United’s second defeat in the CL final against Barcelona in the space of three seasons, with Guardiola now masterminding things from the dugout, although in truth Geoff Boycott’s mum could probably have managed this group to success. With Lionel Messi at his absolute peak, aided, abetted and assisted by the likes of Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets and David Villa, Barca strolled to a 3-1 win, despite a fine goal from Wayne Rooney.
2013: Bayern Edge all-German Affair
Bayern Munich beat Borussia Dortmund 2-1 back in the 2012/13 UCL campaign. This duo could meet again in the 2024 finale and if they do the Dortmunders will be out for revenge after Arjen Robben’s 89th-minute winner for FC Hollywood.
Have Any Other UK Stadiums Hosted the Champions League Final?
,_Commonwealth_Games,_Glasgow_2014.jpg){kind=link}
It may surprise some in the UK, especially those from England, but the first UK venue to host this huge UEFA-sanctioned clash was actually in Scotland! In 1960 Glasgow’s Hampden Park was the venue for one of the all-time great European Cup (as was) finals. A massive crowd of more than 120,000 packed into the famous stadium to see the mighty Real Madrid take on Eintracht Frankfurt of Germany.
The first European Cup was played in the 1955/56 season and Real Madrid headed to Scotland as the four-time defending champions. The brilliant Spaniards had beaten Reims, Fiorentina, Milan and then Reims again in the first four finals but they saved the best till fifth as they put on a seven-star show to dismantle Frankfurt 7-3.
The legendary Alfredo Di Stefano got a hat-trick and his equally vaunted teammate, Ference Puskas, went one better and got four. It was a truly stunning performance and certainly the best final ever seen in the UK. Hampden also played host in 1976 but this time around the tournament decider was a rather more low-key affair. Bayern Munich made it a hat-trick of wins for them after success in 1974 and 1975, beating French side Saint-Etienne 1-0.
Hampden completed its own treble 25 years later when it was the stadium for the 2001/02 final. Once again it was Real Madrid collecting the trophy, this time beating Germans Bayer Leverkusen 2-1. The following season, 2002/03, the Champions League final was held in England, but outside London, for the first and currently only time. Old Trafford saw an all-Italian final, Milan edging past Juve on penalties after a dour 0-0 affair.
The UK has seen one more final and indeed one more country welcome the continent’s finest, with Wales getting in on the act in 2016/17. When it comes to this competition, if you can’t remember who won, guess Real Madrid and you have a pretty decent chance of being right. Los Blancos clearly like playing in the UK because once again they triumphed, this time seeing off Juventus in style, winning 4-1 at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.