Cardiff has been selected to host the 2029 UEFA Women’s Champions League Final, bringing one of the biggest occasions in women’s club football to the National Stadium of Wales.
The Football Association of Wales (FAW) submitted its successful technical bid to UEFA with support from the Welsh Government, Cardiff Council and the National Stadium of Wales.
The FAW said the event would provide a platform to accelerate the continued growth of women’s and girls’ football across Wales, while showcasing Welsh football, culture, language and identity to supporters from across Europe.
Hosting the final will build on a period of significant growth for the women’s game in Wales, with participation having doubled to more than 20,000 registered players.
The country has also seen record attendances across domestic and international football, the continued development of the Genero Adran Leagues and Cymru’s historic qualification for UEFA Women’s EURO 2025.
Legacy programme planned across Wales
A comprehensive legacy programme will begin ahead of the final and continue beyond 2029, focusing on participation, facilities, the football workforce and growing audiences for the women’s game.
Among the ambitions is for 100 per cent of secondary schools in Wales to provide curricular and/or extracurricular football opportunities for girls.
The programme will also target a 25 per cent reduction in the number of teenage girls leaving football, with a particular focus on those aged 12 to 16.
Plans include increasing participation among teenage girls from ethnically diverse communities by 25 per cent and doubling the number of women playing recreational football.
Four full-size artificial pitches with protected access for women and girls are planned, alongside 15 female-friendly facility development projects.
The FAW also wants to increase the number of women volunteering across Welsh football by 25 per cent and create more opportunities for women in coaching, refereeing, governance and leadership.
The profile generated by the final will also be used to grow support for the Cymru Women’s National Team and Adran Leagues, with the legacy programme targeting a 30 per cent increase in Adran Leagues ticket sales and attendances.
Communities across Wales will be connected with the final through grassroots activities, school and club programmes, fan experiences and a UEFA Women’s Champions League trophy tour.
Cardiff returns to the European stage
The National Stadium of Wales will host the final in the heart of Cardiff city centre, close to Cardiff Central railway station, hotels, restaurants and cultural attractions.
It will not be the first time the Welsh capital has hosted the UEFA Women’s Champions League Final.
Cardiff staged the final in 2017, when Lyon defeated Paris Saint-Germain at Cardiff City Stadium. Days later, the National Stadium of Wales hosted the men’s UEFA Champions League Final between Real Madrid and Juventus.
The 2029 final will form part of a significant period for international football events in Wales.
Following the UEFA European Under-19 Championship in 2026, Cardiff will welcome UEFA EURO 2028 to the National Stadium of Wales, including the tournament’s opening match and a quarter-final.
Wales could also play a role in hosting the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2035. The FAW has joined the Football Associations of England, Northern Ireland and Scotland in submitting the UK’s joint bid, with Cardiff and Wrexham among the proposed host cities.
Noel Mooney, FAW Chief Executive Officer, said:
“This is about much more than one night in 2029. 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.
“We want a young girl watching the best players in Europe at the National Stadium of Wales to see a place for herself in our game – whether that is as a player, coach, referee, volunteer, supporter or future leader.
“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.
“The National Stadium of Wales, in the heart of Cardiff, provides a fantastic stage for one of the biggest matches in women’s club football. We want supporters travelling here from across Europe to experience not only a world-class final, but everything that makes Cymru such a distinctive football nation – our people, our culture, our language and our passion for the game.
“Most importantly, we want the legacy of 2029 to be visible for years afterwards – in better facilities, more opportunities, stronger clubs, bigger audiences and many more women and girls feeling that football belongs to them.”
Bethan Woolley, FAW Head of Women’s & Girls’ Football, said:
“Hosting the UEFA Women’s Champions League Final in Wales provides us with an incredible opportunity to build on the momentum we have created across the women’s and girls’ game.
“We’ve seen significant growth in participation in recent years, but our ambition goes much further. We want to create more opportunities for women and girls to play, improve the environments and facilities they experience, strengthen pathways through the game and ensure that more women can see a place for themselves in football – whether as a player, coach, referee, volunteer or leader.
“Having some of the best players and clubs in the world competing at the National Stadium of Wales will be hugely inspirational, particularly for the next generation. Our challenge now is to harness that excitement and turn it into lasting involvement in the game.
“The real measure of success will not just be what happens on the night of the final in 2029, but the opportunities it creates for women and girls throughout Wales for many years afterwards.”
The legacy programme will be delivered by the FAW alongside partners including the Cymru Football Foundation, Welsh Government, Sport Wales, local authorities, the Adran Leagues and grassroots clubs.
Further details about the final, including ticketing, supporter activities and the nationwide legacy programme, will be announced in due course.
