United Kingdom Announced to Host 2028 European Championship

By WherestheMatch Team

The European Championships are host to some of the world’s best international football teams with sides from across the continent taking part in a knock-out-style tournament to express the sporting quality of their respective nations. As of the 10^th of October 2023, it has been announced that the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland will feature as hosts for the competition with stadiums across England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and The Republic of Ireland set to host matches. This is the third time that England has hosted the tournament with previous competitions in 1996 and 2020 taking place within several major English cities.

With both Italy and Turkey withdrawing their bids to host the tournament on account of them wanting to focus on domestic development ahead of a renewed joint bid for the Euro 2032, the decision to hold the Euros in the UK seems to have been all but made for UEFA. As major footballing countries, the UK and Republic of Ireland have easy access to numerous historic stadiums that would serve as the perfect backdrop to such an illustrious competition.

Which Stadiums Will Host Euro 2028?

Following the announcement of the hosts, UEFA have also released a list of stadiums where matches will be played:

• Wembley Stadium (London – England International)
• Principality Stadium (Cardiff – Wales International)
• Hampden Park (Glasgow – Scotland International)
• Aviva Stadium (Dublin – Republic of Ireland International)
• Casement Park (Belfast – Northern Ireland International)
• Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (London – Tottenham Hotspur)
• Etihad Stadium (Manchester – Manchester City)
• Everton Stadium (Liverpool – Everton FC)
• St James' Park (Newcastle – Newcastle United)
• Villa Park (Birmingham – Aston Villa)

Many of these stadiums are world-leading sporting venues having previously held Champions League, Europa League, as well as International-level matches. With an average stadia capacity of 58,000 and over 3 million tickets set to be made available, UEFA are projecting Euro 2028 to be more profitable than any other major footballing tournament (including Euro 2032).

When Will Euro 2028 Take Place?

We’ve got a while to wait until Euro 2028 is set to start. Naturally, it will take place in 2028 with June and July set to be the months during which matches are held. Seeing as the UK weather can be somewhat unpredictable during most parts of the year, a summer tournament would certainly help make the visit more pleasant for traveling fans. Additionally, the controversy surrounding the 2022 World Cup being held in November and December had fans, players, and managers expressing their discontent; EUFA would certainly have kept this in mind when making their decision.

How Will Euro 2028 Qualification Work for Host Countries?

It’s standard that the hosting nation is granted automatic qualification to the group stages of their domestic tournament – after all, you wouldn’t want the home nation to not show up to their own competition. However, the situation is slightly different for Euro 2028 as each of England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and The Republic of Ireland have their own competitive team that will be looking to progress in the tournament. Allocating five automatic qualification slots is slightly excessive seeing as next years’ Euro 2024 will have a total of 23 (24 including the hosts – Germany) qualification slots, meaning that giving all of the host countries a free pass will likely lead to some much better nations having to stay home.

It has been announced that all of the UK & Republic of Ireland will enter the qualifying pool in order to make the competition in the more conventional way. You would expect the higher ranked countries such as England and Wales to make the group stages anyway, but this may pose a challenge for Northern Ireland – who have only once in their history reached a European Championship, Scotland – who’s Euro 2020 appearance was their first major tournament since 1988, and Northern Ireland who are currently the 55^th ranked side in the world. However, EUFA are reportedly planning to keep two qualifying spots aside for the best performing host countries that fail to make the group stages.

FA Chief Executive Mark Bullingham has stated: “From our point of view, it’s great to be taking part in qualifying and we want to get everyone (all five nations) there, it is better to play in a tournament where it matters and we have competitive games. We’re looking forward to that.”

Keep up to date with updates around the Euro 2028 tournament as well as all the international football tournaments until then at WheresTheMatch. View our full live football on tv schedule.