Who will host Euro 2028?
By Euan Burns
The international football calendar is always a few steps ahead of everyone and we are actually not that far away from finding out who will host Euro 2028.
Owing to how long it can take to prepare to host a major football tournament, there is a focus on Euro 2028 despite the qualification campaign for Euro 2024 still taking place.
Here is a breakdown of who has submitted a bid to host the tournament and when we will find out where it will be held.
When is the host of Euro 2028 announced?
On September 27 2021, formal applications were invited by UEFA, meaning football associations were allowed to approach UEFA and make their initial bid to host the tournament. They had until March 23 2022, to register their interest, any later and you would not be allowed to bid.
A week later on March 30, the interested bidders had the hosting requirements put forward to them and on April 5, the bidders were publicly announced to the world. The opening workshop for bidders was April 28 and by November 16, the preliminary bid dossiers had to be submitted.
The submission of final bid dossiers was made on April 12 2023. They will be evaluated by UEFA with the announcement of a host coming in September 2023.
Euro 2028 host bidding schedule
Date | Round |
|---|---|
27 September 2021 | Applications formally invited |
23 March 2022 | Closing date for registering bid interntion |
30 March 2022 | Bid requirements told to bidders |
5 April 2022 | Announcement of bidders |
28 April 2022 | Opening workshop for bidders |
16 November 2022 | Submission of preliminary bid dossier |
12 April 2023 | Submission of final bid dossier |
September 2023 | Presentations and host announcement |
Why Russia can't bid for Euro 2028
Back in June 2021, an application for Euro 2028 and 2032 was put forward by Alexej Sorokin, the organising committee director of Euro 2020 host city Saint Petersburg. That was reaffirmed in March 2022, but UEFA soon declared the Russian bids for both 2028 and 2032 ineligible.
This was because the 2022 invasion of Ukraine breaches Article 16.2 of the Bid Regulations. They state that "each bidder shall ensure that it does not act in a manner that could bring UEFA, any other bidder, the bidding procedure or European football into disrepute."
Which bids have been confirmed for Euro 2028?
United Kingdom and Ireland
A joint bid has been submitted by the United Kingdom and Ireland which would see games held in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The associations dropped their 2030 World Cup bid in order to facilitate this Euro 2028 bid.
A shortlist of 14 stadiums was drawn up and on April 12 the final list of ten was announced.
- Principality Stadium - Cardiff, Wales (73,931)
- Casement Parks - Belfast, Northern Ireland (proposed 34,578 capacity)
- Villa Park - Birmingham, England (redevelopment confirmed for 50,000)
- Aviva Stadium - Dublin, Ireland (51,700)
- Hampden Park - Glasgow, Scotland (51,866)
- Everton Stadium - Liverpool, England (52,888, under construction)
- Tottenham Hotspur Stadium - London, England (62,580)
- Wembley Stadium - London, England (90,000)
- City of Manchester Stadium - Manchester, England (53,000)
- St James' Park - Newcastle, England (52,305)
Turkey
The bid from Turkey was announced in August 2019 and is their sixth consecutive bid to host a European Championship.
They have been unsuccessful for the 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020 and 2024 tournaments but have confirmed their shortlist of prospective stadiums for 2028.
- New Ankara Stadium - Ankara (65,307)
- New Antalya Stadium - Antalya (43,616 after expansion)
- Timsah Arena - Bursa (43,331)
- New Eskisehir Stadium - Eskisehir (34,930)
- New Gaziantep Stadium - Gaziantep (35,219)
- Ataturk Olympic Stadium - Istanbul (92,208 after expansion)
- Nef Stadium - Istanbul (53,611 after renovation)
- Izmit Stadium - Izmit (34,712)
- Konya Buyuksehir Stadium - Konya (37,829 after renovation)
- Senol Gunes Stadium - Trabzon (42,233 after renovation)
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Why did Italy abandon their Euro 2028 bid?
FIGC president Gabriele Gravina first discussed the bid in February 2019 when he told Sky Sport Italia a bid was being considered by the federation. He mentioned it again soon after Italy beat England at Wembley to win Euro 2020.
In February 2022 though, the FIGC announced there would be no bid for Euro 2028 as they are focusing on Euro 2032 instead. This is because they feel they need more time to redevelop many of the stadiums in the country that have not seen development for decades.
Who showed interest in bidding for Euro 2028?
There were three other potential bids for Euro 2028 that did not end up submitting what was needed for the final consideration stage. The Danish FA announced in March 2016 there would be a huge joint bid with Sweden, Norway, Finland, Faroe Islands and Iceland.
Spain announced in September 2018 that they would be bidding with Portugal for either Euro 2028 or the 2030 World Cup.
February 2019 saw the announcement of a joint bid from Romania, Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia for Euro 2028 as well as the 2030 World Cup. All of this interest was shown but it was just the United Kingdom and Ireland and Turkey that submitted actual bids.