UEFA Euro 2028

 

On 23 March 2022, UEFA announced that three proposals had been received from countries declaring an interest in hosting the tournament: a joint bid from England, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales; a bid from Turkey; and one from Russia.^[4]

Russia submitted their bid despite the current UEFA ban on Russian clubs and the national team due to the country's invasion of Ukraine.^{[5][6][7][8][9]} On 2 May 2022, UEFA declared both of Russia's bids for 2028 and 2032 ineligible.^[10][11][12]

On 4 October 2023, it was disclosed that Turkey had withdrawn its submission to focus on a joint bid with Italy for Euro 2032.^[13]

The host was selected on 10 October 2023 in Nyon, Switzerland.^[14] The joint bid of England, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales won unanimously.

In September 2024, UEFA warned England that they could be banned from the tournament despite being the hosts after the British government proposed the Football Governance Bill, which would stop English and Welsh clubs from joining breakaway competitions while ensuring financial stability for all clubs, which was deemed by UEFA as "government interference".^[15] In the same month, Casement Park was dropped as a proposed venue, and therefore Northern Ireland will not host any games as originally planned.^[16]

Per UEFA's bid regulations, the automatic qualification of the hosts can only be guaranteed for up to two host associations.^[17] Therefore, it is unclear which host teams may qualify automatically. One plan being considered is that all four host teams (England, Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Wales) may enter qualifying, with two automatic spots held in reserve for hosts which fail to qualify. Should three or more host teams fail to qualify, the spots could be awarded to the best-performing hosts.^[18][19][20]

A revised qualification format was confirmed by the UEFA Executive Committee during their meeting in Nyon, Switzerland, on 25 January 2023. The qualification format was modified from the previous cycle. The qualifying group stage will feature twelve groups of four or five teams. The winner of each group will qualify for the European Championship, while the second-placed teams will either qualify directly or participate in play-off matches.^[21]

On 12 April 2023, ten host stadiums for the Euro 2028 bid were revealed, with the list being confirmed by UEFA on 10 October 2023.^[22][23] Notable omissions include Anfield, which was ineligible to host games due to its pitch dimensions falling short of UEFA's requirements, and Old Trafford, which was ruled out after Manchester United were unable to guarantee whether the stadium would be ready at that time.^[24] Stadium of Light, London Stadium, Celtic Park, Ibrox Stadium, Murrayfield Stadium and Croke Park were also shortlisted, but were not chosen.^[25][26] Casement Park was included in the bid, but was later dropped as a proposed venue.^[16]

London		Cardiff	Manchester
Wembley Stadium	Tottenham Hotspur Stadium	Millennium Stadium	City of Manchester Stadium[A]
Capacity: 90,652	Capacity: 62,322	Capacity: 73,952	Capacity: 61,000
Liverpool	London   Cardiff   Manchester   Liverpool   Newcastle   Birmingham   Glasgow   Dublin class=notpageimage| Location of the host cities of the UEFA Euro 2028.
Everton Stadium[B]
Capacity: 52,888[27]
Newcastle
St James' Park
Capacity: 52,305
Glasgow	Dublin	Birmingham
Hampden Park	Aviva Stadium	Villa Park
Capacity: 52,032	Capacity: 51,711	Capacity: 42,640

The inclusion of Casement Park instead of Windsor Park in Belfast as the Northern Irish venue led to Unionist protests, due to Casement Park being a hurling and Gaelic football stadium, traditional nationalist sports. Northern Ireland's national football stadium, Windsor Park, however, does not have a capacity large enough to comply with UEFA rules for hosting European Championship matches, which led to the selection of Casement Park. Windsor Park is located in a majority unionist area (with football being a traditional unionist sport), whereas Casement Park is located in a majority nationalist area. The stadium is named after Sir Roger Casement, a diplomat who was hanged in 1916 for his role in the Easter Rising. Protests had been held regarding the inclusion of Casement Park with the theme being that the protestors do not want to attend games at the venue, due to its history and location.^{[28][29][30][31]}

Casement Park has been derelict since 2013. The stadium's inclusion as a host venue as such was dependent on renovation work being completed in time for the tournament. Redevelopment work on the ground was being funded by the Northern Irish Devolved Government and the Gaelic Athletic Association.^[32]

On 13 September 2024, the British Government announced it would not contribute to the redevelopment of Casement Park, with the redevelopment being delayed and budget ballooned to £400 million, putting hopes of Northern Ireland hosting any matches at the tournament in jeopardy.^[32] On 16 September 2024, Casement Park was dropped as a host venue,^[16] with Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork initially proposed as an alternative.^[33] On 26 November 2024, Northern Ireland was dropped from host status, leaving them without matches to host and a chance at automatic qualification for the tournament.^[20] While there were attempts to replace Belfast's venue with another one in Ireland, the decision was made to remain at nine venues as UEFA did not accept Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) venues as replacement options.^[34]

• UK–Ireland 2028 bid website