UK and Ireland confirmed to host Euro 2028
The UK and Ireland’s bid to host Euro 2028 has been approved after Turkey dropped out of the running.
Turkey’s withdrawal to focus on a joint bid with Italy to host the following Euro 2032 leaves the five-nation bid unopposed to host Euro 2028, though it always appeared to be the favourite.
It emerged on Monday (9 October) that England had requested to go through qualification for Euro 2028.
UEFA has reserved two ‘safety net’ host-nation berths should any of the five UK and Ireland bidders not qualify on merit, but the Football Association is understood to have already told UEFA that England are keen to go through qualification.
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The FA wants the Three Lions to remain competitive for the competition in the run-up to the tournament itself.
It is not guaranteed that all of England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland will be able to compete in Euro 2028, however.
With only two 'safety net' places for qualification should three or more host nations fail to qualify through normal means they will have to sit out of the competition while hosting it.
A total of 10 stadiums were part of the bid from the UK and Republic of Ireland to secure the tournament.
Six of them are in England and they are Wembley, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the Etihad Stadium, St James’ Park, Villa Park and Bramley-Moore Dock which will become Everton's new home stadium from next season onwards.
Another stadium from each of the other host nations was also part of the bid, with Casement Park in Belfast, the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Hampden Park in Glasgow and the Principality Stadium in Cardiff all part of the effort.
Wembley will host the final of the competition, while Belfast's Casement Park still needs work to be ready for the tournament with officials confident it will be complete, despite an agreement not yet being secured over who will fund the work.
The five host nations declared they had a 'compelling' and 'ground breaking' proposal for UEFA to consider, saying hosting Euro 2028 would lead to 'lasting legacies' across the UK and Ireland.
It's estimated that the successful bid will generate about £2.6 billion in revenue for the host nations.
Turkey and Italy's joint bid was also announced to have secured the opportunity to host Euro 2032, while next year's Euros will be hosted by Germany.
Italy are the current holders of the Euros, having defeated England in the final of Euro 2020, which was played in 2021 due to delays caused by the pandemic.
Joe Harker