As we close in on the semi-finals of the 2021/22 Europa League, the four teams left in the competition will be eyeing a place in the showpiece final.
With the last-four matches taking place on April 28 and May 5, the two teams through to the final will have less than two weeks to wait before the main event.
With the COVID-19 pandemic having caused a reshuffle in the European football calendar, the hosts of the major finals have undergone some changes.
The Sporting News has compiled all the details on the 2022 Europa League final.
Where is 2022 Europa League final?
The Europa League final will take place in Seville, at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan. The stadium will be best known by most fans as the home ground of Sevilla, a club with a strong association with the Europa League, having won the competition more than any other side.
The stadium seats approximately 43,000 spectators, making it the ninth largest in Spain by capacity. Sevilla won’t have the opportunity to compete for the trophy on home turf, having been knocked out by West Ham at the last-16 stage.
Initially, the stadium was set to host the 2021 Europa League final. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 final was relocated to Cologne and Gdansk was granted hosting rights for 2021. The Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan will therefore stage this year’s event.
This will be the first Europa League final held here, but the stadium has played host to a European Cup final before. In 1986, Steaua Bucharest beat Barcelona 2-0 on penalties to lift the trophy, the precursor to the modern Champions League. The stadium also hosted matches during the 1986 World Cup, including a group game where Brazil beat the team from USSR 2-1. It also hosted an action-packed semi-final, where France were edged out by West Germany 5-4 on penalties after a 3-3 draw.
The city of Seville has also hosted a UEFA Cup final before, the old version of the Europa League, but that took place in a different stadium. Estadio La Cartuja saw Porto beat Celtic 3-2 after extra time to win the 2003 edition of the competition.
When is the 2022 Europa League final?
The final will take place on Wednesday, May 18, kicking off at 9 p.m. local time.
| Timezone | CEST | UK (BST) | ET | AEST |
| Time | 9 p.m. | 8 p.m. | 3:00 p.m. | 5:00 a.m. |
The Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary, will host the 2023 final. It will return to Spain in 2025, with the final taking place at San Mames in Bilbao.
How to buy tickets for the 2022 Europa League final
Unlike the other stages of the competition, tickets for the Europa League final are sold and managed by UEFA. The governing body of European football runs an official ballot to sell tickets to the final, with each team receiving an allocation for fans.
The Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium can house approximately 43,000 fans, with most Europa League finals being held in stadia between 40,000 and 50,000.
More information on ticketing for the final is expected in due course, as the event gets closer.
Where is the next Europa League final?
As mentioned, there has been a reshuffle in the hosts of the Europa League final over the next few years, after the 2020 event was relocated to Cologne due to the pandemic:
- 2022: Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium – Sevilla, Spain
- 2023: Puskas Arena – Budapest, Hungary
- 2024: Aviva Stadium – Dublin, Ireland
- 2025: San Mames – Bilbao, Spain
UEFA Europa League final host cities and stadiums
The first UEFA Cup final took place in the 1971/72 season, when Tottenham beat Wolves 3-2 on aggregate. Until 1997/98, the final was a two-legged affair, with each team playing home and away. The 2022 showpiece will be the 25th edition since the change to a single-leg format.
As mentioned, the city of Seville has hosted the final before, but that took place in the larger La Cartuja. That’s the only occasion since 1997 that the final has been held in Spain. The single-legged finals have taken place across 24 different cities, in 17 different countries.
The final with the highest attendance since the format change was in 1998/99 at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, where 61,000 spectators watched Parma beat Marseille 3-0. Excluding those affected by COVID-19, the final with the lowest attendance was in 2005/06, held at the PSV Stadion in Eindhoven, Netherlands. There were 33,100 fans present as Sevilla achieved the first of their six triumphs in this competition, beating Middlesbrough 4-0.
