The Final Four of the UEFA Nations League 2027 is already being held off the pitch. With the deadline for submitting bids closed since October 21, Spain and France are emerging as the main contenders to host the tournament’s final phase, which will take place between June 9 and 13 next year. The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has submitted a proposal that includes the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid and the José Zorrilla in Valladolid, while the French Football Federation is betting on Lyon and Saint-Étienne as venues for the matches.
The Spanish bid responds to the RFEF’s intention to once again organize a major international competition and take advantage of the infrastructure of two stadiums with different characteristics. The Santiago Bernabéu, recently refurbished, would be the main venue and would host the final, while José Zorrilla would complete the proposal as the second host site for a competition that brings together the four best national teams in the top category of the Nations League.
The final decision will still have to wait. The UEFA will hold next Friday, November 20, at 12:00 p.m., the draw for the quarterfinals at its headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, an appointment that will make it possible to learn the pairings for the eight qualified teams and map out the path to the final phase. The ties will be played over two legs between March 25 and 30, 2027, while the semifinals, the match for third place, and the final will be held in June.
The November 20 draw, key to choosing the host
The choice of the organizing country is conditioned by the competition format. UEFA prioritizes that the Final Four be held in the territory of one of the four semifinal teams, a criterion that seeks to ensure a greater presence of local fans, facilitate organization, and increase the tournament’s impact.
This means that both Spain and France will have to get past the quarterfinals in order to keep their options to serve as hosts in the usual way. Next Friday’s draw will make it possible to learn their potential rivals, although .
The European body also considers the possibility of resorting to a neutral venue if none of the semifinalist teams can take on the organization. This alternative would make it possible to guarantee the tournament’s holding even if the initially selected bids do not meet the necessary sporting or organizational requirements.
Spain and France arrive at this dispute with experience in major competitions and with teams that have played a prominent role in the most recent editions of the Nations League. La Roja won the title in 2023, after defeating Croatia in the penalty shootout, and returned to the final in 2025, when it lost to Portugal as well, also from the eleven-meter mark. France, for its part, won the 2021 edition after defeating precisely Spain in the final played in Milan.
The competition has held to date four final stages, organized in Portugal in 2019, Italy in 2021, the Netherlands in 2023 and Germany in 2025. The next edition will therefore open up the possibility of adding a new host to the tournament’s history.
Bernabéu seeks to strengthen its bid for the 2030 World Cup final
For the RFEF, securing the organization of the Nations League would have a meaning that would go beyond the competition itself. Spain will be one of the venues for the 2030 World Cup, along with Portugal and Morocco, so hosting a UEFA Final Four would allow two of its stadiums’ organizational capacity to be tested in the face of a top-tier international event.
The project would also have a strategic dimension for the Santiago Bernabéu, which aspires to become the venue for the 2030 World Cup final. Although FIFA has not yet officially designated the venue for that match, the Real Madrid stadium is among the facilities that aspire to host the most important game of the competition.
Organizing the Nations League final in 2027 would mean an opportunity to showcase the Bernabéu facilities, its ability to organize, the access and the services associated with a major sporting event. It would also allow Madrid to gain additional experience in staging international matches under UEFA’s requirements.
The Spanish bid was announced by the president of the RFEF, Rafael Louzán, after the team’s victory over England at Wembley last September. The official explained at the time that the Federation had worked with Real Madrid and Real Valladolid to put forward a proposal with two stadiums of different capacity and separated by a relatively short distance.
"These days we have submitted the documentation to be prepared because Spain should not give up on hosting the final phase of this competition," Louzán said, who confirmed that both clubs had collaborated in the preparation of the bid.
The selection would also give prominence to Valladolid, which could host matches from a top-level national teams competition and benefit from the arrival of international fans, teams and media outlets.
For now, the Bernabéu and the José Zorrilla compete with Lyon and Saint-Étienne to become the venues for the 2027 Final Four. The Nyon draw next Friday will be the next step in the process, although the final resolution will depend both on the decision of the UEFA and on the sporting progress of the candidate teams. The RFEF is seeking for the Nations League to return to Spain and for Madrid and Valladolid to become the protagonists of an event that would also serve as an international showcase before the World Cup in 2030.