UK & Republic of Ireland named as Euro 2028 co-hosts

The United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland have succeeded in their bid to host the 2028 European Championships.

UEFA have confirmed that Euro 2028 will be held in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland after their bid for hosting rights went unopposed.

Turkey had considered entering the process but ultimately decided against doing so last week - they will instead host Euro 2032 alongside Italy.

Other potential joint-bids from the Nordic countries, Spain and Portugal and a quartet of south-eastern nations in Greece, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria failed to gain momentum and were not submitted to UEFA.

The UK and Ireland considering making a bid for the 2030 World Cup before instead refocusing their attempts to host Euro 2028 - a decision which has now proven successful.

The 2030 World Cup, meanwhile, is set to be held across six countries on three continents. The opening three games will take place in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay before the bulk of the tournament takes place in Spain, Portugal and Morocco.

Euro 2020 - held in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic - was held in 11 cities across Europe, including London (Wembley Stadium) and Glasgow (Hampden Park).

The stadiums put forward in the proposal for Euro 2028 include Wembley Stadium and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, Everton's new stadium in Liverpool, St James' Park in Newcastle, Villa Park in Birmingham, Casement Park in Belfast, the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Hampden Park in Glasgow and the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

In an unusual twist, the five host nations will not be guaranteed a spot at the tournament and will instead go through qualifying. However, UEFA will still reserve two automatics slots for any of the countries that do not make it through the traditional route.

Those with the best records will earn the last spots in the event that more than two host nations do not qualify.