The joint hosting bid from the UK and the Republic of Ireland for the men's 2028 UEFA European Championships, the top national teams' competition for European soccer, has today (October 10) been approved.
The constituent nations of the UK, (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland), as well as the Republic of Ireland, will all contribute at least one stadium towards the hosting effort.
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The bid was unopposed after Turkey – which had initially expressed interest – pulled out of the running in order to focus on staging Euro 2032 alongside Italy. Those countries have now also been confirmed as the hosts for that tournament today, following a meeting of European soccer's governing body UEFA.
England will put forward six stadia – Wembley Stadium and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, Etihad Stadium in Manchester, Everton Stadium in Liverpool, St James’ In Newcastle, and Villa Park in Birmingham.
Elsewhere, Scotland’s Hampden Park in Glasgow, Northern Ireland’s Casement Park in Belfast, Wales’s Principality Stadium in Cardiff and the Republic of Ireland’s Aviva Stadium in Dublin will also all host games.
It has been reported that Wembley will host the final, while the Principality Stadium will put on the tournament's opening match.
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By GlobalDataIn its bid, the UK stated that the average stadium capacity for the tournament will be around 58,000, with the semi-finals and final to take place at London’s 90,652 Wembley Stadium.
Casement Park, scheduled to be a 34,500-seater stadium, and Everton Stadium, with a planned capacity of 52,679, are both still under construction.
Following the announcement, the UK & Ireland 2028 Bid Partnership statement stated: “This is a milestone day for UK and Ireland sport. Together, as a pioneering partnership between our Football Associations with full Government support, we are delighted to be appointed hosts of UEFA EURO 2028.
The partnership continued: “Our vision is to develop football, increase participation, and grow a more diverse and inclusive game. We promise to stage an innovative and sustainable tournament that is also the most accessible EURO ever – with a record-breaking three million tickets for fans. UEFA EURO 2028 across the UK and Ireland will also help to drive forward positive social impact, helping communities thrive by creating economic and social legacies.”
While host countries usually qualify for the European Championships automatically, given that there are five host countries for a 24-team tournament, UEFA is only providing two automatic qualification spots for the hosts of the tournament.
UEFA has reserved the two "safety net" qualification berths should two of the host nation countries fail to qualify through the regular means, meaning if a third country also fails to qualify it may miss out entirely.
It means that all five hosts will have to go through qualifying, with at least three needing to qualify on merit for the tournament for each host to be represented.
It has been reported that the Football Association of England supports this plan, with the English national team specifically stating it wishes to go through qualification in order to warm up for the tournament itself.
The UK & Ireland’s confirmation as hosts was a formality, after Turkey, pulled out of the race last week (October 4).
The quadrennial tournament was partly hosted in England and Scotland during the 2020 edition, which took place in 2021 because of delays caused by Covid-19, while its 2024 edition is set to take place in Germany.
England hosted seven matches at Euro 2020, including both semi-finals and the final, at Wembley, while Hampden Park in Scotland hosted a further four.
England alone has hosted the tournament once before, in 1996, and more recently hosted the 2022 Women’s European Championships, which the national team won.
In the past, England has also played host to the FIFA World Cup once, in 1966. In terms of future bids, meanwhile, the country is also vying to host the 2031 Women’s World Cup.
The soccer federations of Italy and Turkey, meanwhile, merged their individual bids for Euro 2032 in late July.
Italy previously hosted the men's Euros in 1968 and 1980, while this will represent the first time Turkey does so.
