Paris Saint-Germain will meet Arsenal in the 2026 UEFA Champions League final, to be played at the Puskás Arena in Budapest, Hungary, at the end of the month.
PSG are aiming to become only the second club in the Champions League era other than Real Madrid to retain the trophy, having swept the rest of Europe aside to claim last season’s title.
Luis Enrique’s defending champions overcame Bayern Munich to punch a ticket to the final, securing a 6–5 victory over two legs. Ousmane Dembélé and Co. had put five past Bayern in leg one, albeit conceding four, in one of the all-time great European matches. The second leg produced significantly less goalmouth action but was enough to grant PSG’s passage.
Meanwhile, the Gunners have maintained unbeaten status in the Champions League all season and booked their final place with a gritty 2–1 aggregate victory over Atlético Madrid in the semifinals.
PSG and Arsenal faced each other three times in the Champions League last season. Arsenal won a league phase encounter thanks to first-half goals from Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka, but PSG prevailed when it really mattered by knocking the Gunners out at the semifinal stage.
2025–26 Champions League Final
For administrative purposes, PSG is the designated ‘home’ team in the final.
- Paris Saint-Gemain vs. Arsenal
Unlike PSG, Arsenal have never lifted European soccer’s premier trophy, and this marks their first appearance in the final in 20 years—since a painful 2006 defeat at the hands of Barcelona. The club has won the women’s equivalent twice—most recently last season—but never the men’s.
Overall, Arsenal’s record across all UEFA finals is poor, winning only one and losing five.
Arsenal Record—All UEFA Competition Finals
| Season | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|
| 1979–80 | Valencia (p) 0–0 Arsenal | Cup Winners’ Cup |
| 1993–94 | Arsenal 1–0 Parma | Cup Winners’ Cup |
| 1994–95 | Arsenal 1–2 (aet) Real Zaragoza | Cup Winners’ Cup |
| 1999–00 | Galatasaray (p) 0–0 Arsenal | UEFA Cup |
| 2005–06 | Barcelona 2–1 Arsenal | Champions League |
| 2018–19 | Chelsea 4–1 Arsenal | Europa League |
Arsenal won the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup—a sort of precursor to the modern Europa League—in 1970, but the competition was never officially sanctioned by UEFA and usually goes unrecognized.
In contrast, PSG have played in fewer UEFA finals but won twice as many. Their debut continental final was 30 years ago, lifting the now defunct Cup Winners’ Cup after beating Rapid Wien of Austria. This year marks a third trip to the Champions League final in the last seven seasons.
PSG Record—All UEFA Competition Finals
| Season | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|
| 1995–96 | PSG 1–0 Rapid Wien | Cup Winners’ Cup |
| 1996–97 | Barcelona 1–0 PSG | Cup Winners’ Cup |
| 2019–20 | PSG 0–1 Bayern Munich | Champions League |
| 2024–25 | PSG 5–0 Inter | Champions League |
When Is the 2025–26 Champions League Final?
The final is the only Champions League game each season that takes place on a Saturday, rather than midweek. It will be played on May 30, the first time that Hungary has hosted the annual showpiece.
The Puskás Aréna in Budapest is named for legendary Hungary and Real Madrid star, Ferenc Puskás, who rewrote soccer history and redefined its future during a career that spanned three decades—1940s, 1950s, 1960s. He won the European Cup, as it was known back then, three times with Real Madrid, which included scoring four times in a historic 1960 final against Eintracht Frankfurt.
The venue replaced the original Ferenc Puskás Stadium, which was demolished in 2017. The new home of Hungarian soccer was opened two years later and hosted the Europa League final in 2023.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as 2025–26 Champions League Final Confirmed—One Match to Decide European Title.
