Football will come to UK , the home nations and the Republic of Ireland as a joint bid to host the men’s Euro Championship in 2028 will proceed unopposed, confirmed by UEFA. Turkey, which had shown interest in hosting the tournament, withdrew its bid, giving a clear path to the UK and Ireland joint offer.
Many had anticipated this outcome, as the UK and Ireland emerged as the frontrunners for the 2028 bid, especially after the English Football Association announced its decision not to submit a bid for the FIFA World Cup in 2030. UEFA sought a mature football market to host the 2028 tournament to recover revenues lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s disruption of the 2021 tournament. Turkey’s interest in hosting both the 2028 and 2032 editions had complicated matters, but they have chosen to focus on a joint bid with Italy for the 2032 event.
For Euro 2028, 10 venues across the five host countries have been proposed to UEFA. Six of these venues, including Villa Park, St James’ Park, and Everton’s Bramley Moore Dock stadium (which is still under construction), will be in England. Hampden Park in Glasgow, the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Dublin’s Aviva Stadium, and Casement Park in Belfast complete the list.
UEFA
UEFA has proposed that England, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales should go through the standard qualifying process for the tournament, with two host nation places reserved for teams that fail to qualify. If more than two teams fail to qualify, the two best-performing nations will take those spots.
Debbie Hewitt, the FA’s chair, described the bid in April as “pioneering” and highlighted the benefits for the domestic game. She emphasized their commitment to grassroots football development, investing £50 million annually across the five associations.
UEFA officially confirmed this development in a statement, mentioning that the Italian and Turkish Football Associations had submitted a joint bid to host UEFA Euro 2032. The UEFA administration confirmed the receipt of their joint bid, which will undergo assessment and consideration by the UEFA executive committee. Consequently, Turkey withdrew its bid to host UEFA Euro 2028. The final decision on the award of both tournaments is pending approval by the executive committee, with an important presentation scheduled for their meeting in Nyon on 10 October. This presentation will play a crucial role in the decision-making process after evaluating the content of the bid submissions.
