Biggest Sports Events in Europe in 2026 (With Dates)

Are you a sports lover? Do you like travelling? There is no better way than to combine visiting new places with watching sports competitions live!

Year 2024 in sports was spectacular. UEFA Euro and Olympics made it remarkable, especially Paris Olympics. In 2026, the situation will repeat, as we will have Winter Olympics and FIFA Worldcup (although football will not take place in Europe).

But even if the year is not Olympic, it doesn’t mean that nothing happens. There is always a lot going on in sports.

In this article, I will tell you which sports events will take place in Europe in 2026 and when. I will also give you some tips on how to attend them.

My experience with sport travels

Event travelling, so travelling for sports or concerts, is one of the recent trends in tourism.

Personally, I love this type of travel and have been actively doing it for over 10 years now. I’ve been to many sporting events all around Europe, including Olympics, European or World Championships in different sports. Sometimes as a volunteer, sometimes as a supporter. In summer 2024, I spent 3 weeks in Paris. I was volunteering during Olympics at volleyball venue, but also took the chance and participated as a supporter for few other sports and venues. It was an amazing experience, the atmosphere in the city was so special that it’s really hard to even describe it.

Now, I want to share this experience with you and help you organise your perfect sports trip.

So, where can you go to see the biggest sports events in 2026? Let’s review.

Biggest Sports Events in Europe: Football

When it comes to the biggest football events, it will be World Cup male tournament in 2026. It’s not event that takes places in Europe, as will take place in USA, Mexico and Canada, with 16 host cities and venues (11 in USA, 3 in Mexico and 2 in Canada). The final will take place in MetLife Stadium.

I’m mentioning this event briefly anyway, as it will be huge and will have big impact at all sports fans.

FIFA World Cup dates: 11.06-19.07.2026

UEFA Champions and Europa League Finals

There are two important events that take place every year at the end of May and beginning of June: the Finals of UEFA Champions League and Europa League. Last year, both Leagues were modified, but the idea of the finals stay the same. It’s just one match day, but as the biggest European clubs participate, it’s a huge event for all sports lovers. It’s not easy to get tickets for games, but you can always try. Or try to apply as a volunteer.

(If you want to know more about sport volunteering, check out this section on my blog.)

UEFA Champions League Final will take place on Puskas Arena in Budapest. Date: 30.05.2026

(Check out this blog post for practical tips regarding Budapest.)

Women’s Champions League Final will take place in Oslo. Date: 23.05.2026.

UEFA Europa League Final (men) will take place in Turkey, in Instanbul. Date: 20.05.2026.

For any news regarding tickets, reach the UEFA official website. At the moment, there is no information about tickets yet.

All hosts seem as great destinations for a short holidays, especially around this time of the year, so think about staying a little big longer if you are planning to see the games.

Biggest Sports Events in Europe: Athletics

Athletics European Championships take place every second year. Two years ago, the tournament took place in Rome, and for 2026 championships is coming to UK, exactly to the stadium in Birmingham.

Here you can find details and tickets.

Dates: 10-16.08.2026

There is one more big athletics event this year:

World Athletics Indoor Championships in Toruń, in Poland. Date: 20.03-22.03.2026.

Details and information about tickets you can find on this website. Many tickets are already sold out, so speed up if you are planning to attend. Toruń is a pretty interesting town to visit, and close you have another nice city, Bydgoszcz (where the international airport is).

Check out where to stay in Toruń here.

2025 was the year of the World Athletics Championships, so the next one will take place in 2027 (in Beijing).

Tennis

Important grand slam annual tournaments dates for 2026 are:

Australian Open in Melbourne, Dates: 12.01-01.02.2026

Roland Garros French Open, Dates: 24.05-07.06.2026

Wimbledon, Dates: 29.06-12.07.2026

US Open, Dates 30.08-13.09.2026

Tickets are not cheap and easy to get for all these tournaments, but participating in these major tennis tournaments is an unforgettable experience for all sports lovers.

Additionally, Melbourne, Paris, Wimbledon in London and New York are one of the greatest tourist destinations in the world.

Cycling Events

Dates for the most famous cycling events in 2026:

Giro d’Italia, Dates: 08-31.05.2026

Tour de France, Dates: 04.07-26.07.2026

Vuelta a Espana, Dates: 22.08-19.09.2026

Sports events in 2026: Multi-Sports

Olympics

Year 2024 was Summer Olympic year. In 2026, we will have Winter Olympics (and Paralympics). It’s a bit smaller event than summer edition, but the Olympic spirit is already rising.

Winter Olympics will take place in Italy, in Milan and Cortina, however many competitions will also take place in different towns.

The opening ceremony will be held on iconic stadium San Siro in Milan, the closing in Verona (in historic Arena).

New tickets still appear once for some time, so you can still try to get and tickets and accommodation. Unfortunately, you have to prepare for very high prices for hotels.

Usually during Olympics there is official resale platform where you can buy tickets from the people who can’t make it, so it should be also good source for the tickets. Just make sure, you would enter the official platform, best to do it directly from the main Olympic website. Never buy tickets from other sources and be careful for websites that have very similar names.

Others

In 2026, Commonwealth Games will take place. The event comes back to Glasgow, and will take place between 23rd July and 2nd of August 2026.

It’s less known event worldwide, but can be interesting especially for people from the UK. Glasgow is quite specific, but interesting city, review your accommodation options here.

Biggest Sport Events in Europe 2026: Other Sports Dates

In previous chapters, I’ve tried to cover sports and events that are most known in Europe or even worldwide. But it’s not very easy, as sports interests depend on the country and obviously, personal preferences.

Here you can find a few more sports events that will take place in 2026, with dates:

Six Nations Rugby Man, Dates: 05.02-14.03.2026

Super Bowl American Football: Date: 08.02.2026

Euro Handball Championships, men: Dates: 15.01-01.02.2026 (Sweden/Denmark/Norway)

World Handball Championships, women: Dates: 03.12-20.12.2026 (Poland/Romania/Czech Republic/Slovakia/Turkey)

Ice Hockey World Championships: Dates: 15.05-31.05.2026 (Switzerland)

World Ski Flying Championships Dates: 22.01-25.01.2026 (Germany)

Summary

That’s not all the event, but it’s obviously impossible to mention all the major events in one post. I focused mainly on Europe, with a few others. Anyway, I hope this article has helped you plan your sport travel in 2026. Sport tourism is getting more and more popular, so the number of supporters, and sports tourists is also raising. Remember about it when planning your trips, and just try to book as much as possible in advance. Although I have to admit that there were times when I planned my trips at the last moment and it worked well.

More tips regarding sports travels you can find here.

Interested in participating in sports events as a volunteer?

Check out articles about Sports Volunteering here.

Do you like ski-jumping? Here, you can read everything you need to know about going to Planica!