With the semifinals now behind us, fans of Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain can eagerly anticipate the 2025-26 Champions League final.
For supporters, getting everything organized for the final on May 30 will undoubtedly be a hectic task. Amid the rush of booking flights and securing last-minute accommodations, fans traveling to the event should take a moment to confirm their itinerary and ensure they head to the correct city.
Sound like a joke? This confusion has occurred numerous times in European football, and the host city of this season’s Champions League final has seen its fair share of mix-ups.
This year’s final is set to take place at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest, Hungary—a name that can easily be mistaken for Bucharest, the capital of Romania, located hundreds of miles away.
Here are some notable instances where football fans experienced significant travel blunders while attempting to journey across Europe to cheer on their teams. Hopefully, these cautionary tales will serve as a warning for the Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain supporters making their way to the Champions League final later this month.
From Bilbao to Budapest…or Bucharest?
A classic case of the Bucharest-Budapest confusion occurred in 2012 when hundreds of Athletic Club fans mistakenly ended up missing their team’s match in the Europa League final.
Having seen Athletic triumph over teams like Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United, and Sporting CP on their journey, fans were excited to see if they could claim victory against LaLiga rivals Atlético Madrid.
Regrettably, around 400 fans made a major error by mistakenly chartering a flight to Budapest for the match, despite it being held approximately 530 miles (and one international border) away in Bucharest.
It just goes to show how easy it is to make that mistake…
Bucharest and Budapest: A Repeat Offender
Ignoring past lessons, a small group of French soccer fans faced similar confusion in 2021 when they attempted to attend a match during the delayed Euro 2020.
The tournament was uniquely conducted in 11 cities across 11 different European countries, including London, Rome, Munich, Baku, Seville, Amsterdam, Glasgow, Saint Petersburg, Copenhagen, and, unsurprisingly, Budapest and Bucharest.
The aforementioned French fans aimed to see their team take on Hungary at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest. Instead, they mistakenly navigated to Bucharest and ended up watching the match from a local bar rather than their designated seats in the stadium.
Fortunately, their trip wasn’t a total loss as France advanced to the knockout round, meeting Switzerland for a round-of-16 match at the Arena Nationala… in Bucharest.
Liverpool Fans Go to the Wrong Belgian City
In 2019, two Liverpool supporters saw their travel misadventure go viral after mistakenly pursuing a match in the wrong Belgian city.
With meticulous planning, the duo arrived in the picturesque city of Ghent ahead of time. The only issue was that Liverpool was actually playing in Genk, about 100 miles away.
Realizing their blunder just 30 minutes before kickoff, after presumably struggling to find a stadium not in the vicinity, they managed to locate a bar to watch the game instead. Their humorous mishap quickly spread across social media.
Fortunately for the Liverpool fans, their embarrassment was somewhat alleviated when Racing Genk invited them to attend a match at their stadium the following weekend (assuming they could navigate their way there!).
By an amazing twist, Genk’s opponent that day just happened to be KAA Gent. It was meant to be.
Belgian Fans End Up in the Wrong Wales
In the summer of 2015, a group of Belgian fans set out to see their national team play Wales in a Euro 2016 qualifier.
Taking a relaxed approach to navigation, they simply entered “Wales” into their GPS and set off. It was only when they found themselves in a small village in South Yorkshire, England, that the Belgian fans realized their blunder.
Instead of crossing into the Welsh border, the GPS took them to a village named “Wales” near Rotherham, roughly 200 miles from Cardiff City Stadium.
They scrambled to turn around, making it to Cardiff just in time, only to witness their team suffer a disappointing 1-0 defeat.
A Barcelona Fan’s Unbelievable Journey
The most recent travel mix-up is also one of the most surprising. In March, Barcelona traveled to face Newcastle United at St. James’ Park for their Champions League round-of-16 match. Many fans followed, except for one.
One Spanish supporter accidentally ventured to St. James Park (missing the all-important apostrophe), which is home to third-tier club Exeter City, located over 360 miles and a six-hour drive away.
The League One club even tweeted a photo of the confused Barça fan, generously offering him a ticket for their match that same night. Thus, instead of witnessing Lamine Yamal, Pedri, Robert Lewandowski, and Marcus Rashford, he had the opportunity to watch Exeter take on Lincoln City.