UEFA has opened the bidding process for Euro 2028, as it continues to battle against FIFA’s ongoing efforts to transform the World Cup into a biennial tournament.
European football’s governing body has announced that its member associations interested in hosting the 2028 edition of its showpiece national team tournament have until March 2022 to declare their interest, with the appointment of the host(s) set to take place in September 2023.
Euro 2028 is set to take place over 51 matches and feature 24 teams, as has been the case for the previous two tournaments. UEFA said joint bids are permitted, provided that the bidding countries are geographically compact.
The postponed special edition of Euro 2020 took place in 11 cities across 11 countries, but UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin stated he would not endorse a repeat of the hosting strategy, as the tournament geared up to conclude with the final between England and Italy at Wembley Stadium on July 11.
UEFA has outlined that interested parties in Euro 2028 will need to provide 10 stadiums, with the following capacities:
Minimum of one stadium with at least 60,000 net seating capacity
Minimum of one stadium, preferably two stadiums, with at least 50,000 net seating capacity
Minimum of four stadiums with at least 40,000 net seating capacity
Minimum of three stadiums with at least 30,000 net seating capacity
National associations will need to confirm their interest to bid by March 23, with UEFA to announce the bidders on April 5. Final bid dossiers are then due by April 12, 2023 before the appointment of the host(s) in September 2023.
UEFA noted that as the competition regulations have not yet been issued, information regarding dates, the number of participating teams and the number of matches are provisional and may therefore change.
UEFA officials said during Euro 2020 that the governing body was assessing whether to expand the tournament from its current 24 teams to 32 of the 55 member nations. FIFA is currently seeking to push through its plans for a biennial World Cup, but it is believed this is unlikely to be in place for a 2028 tournament as this would clash with that year’s summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Germany landed hosting rights to Euro 2024 in September 2018, with the tournament to be held in 10 stadia across the country. UEFA chose Germany over a rival bid from Turkey. Germany gained 12 of the UEFA Executive Committee votes to Turkey’s four, with one abstention.
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