Former Welsh footballer Gareth Bale and youngsters attend the Euro 2028 host announcement
Featured image credit: UEFA
Turkey, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are to host a major international football tournament for the first time after UEFA confirmed the hosts of the 2028 and 2032 European Championships.
The 2028 event will be staged jointly by the UK and Ireland with games to be played in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland. The 2032 event will be hosted jointly by Italy and Turkey after the two nations abandoned their individual bids earlier this year.
The announcement, made at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, merely rubber-stamped the hosting rights decisions as there were no other bidders.
Ten venues will be used for both the 2028 and 2032 tournaments. In 2028, six of those will be in England and one each in Northern Ireland, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. For 2032, five Italian and five Turkish venues will be selected as hosts before the end of 2026.
2028 venues
Wembley is set to host the 2028 final – and potentially both semi-finals – with the other English venues included in April’s final bid submission being the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, Birmingham’s Villa Park, Newcastle’s St James’ Park and Everton’s new ground in Liverpool. Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, Hampden Park in Glasgow, Dublin’s Aviva Stadium and a redeveloped Casement Park in Belfast will also host matches.
A spokesperson for the 2028 joint bid said: “The UEFA EURO 2028 bid was successful thanks to its clear and compelling vision to help domestic and European football grow a more diverse and inclusive game, connect with new audiences and inspire the next generation of players, fans and volunteers.
“The UK and Ireland expressed this vision as ‘Football for all. Football for good. Football for the future’.”
Turkey’s success
It was sixth time lucky for Turkey as it was awarded hosting rights to the European Championships having missed out with its bids for 2008, 2012, 2016, 2024 and 228.
A Turkish FA spokesperson said: “We are offering our gratitude to UEFA giving for two countries sharing Mediterranean culture the honour to co-host EURO 2032.
“Italian Football Federation (FIGC) and Turkish Football Federation (TFF) have united their strength with their bid to host the best EURO ever held, establishing new bridges of friendships and leaving a lasting contribution to the football legacy.
“In the coming years, Italy and Turkey will work intensively as we point out in our motto “Play as One” until 2032 with a big passion and commitment to offer the ultimate EURO experience to the fans.”
Evelina Christillin, the Italian FIFA Council member, confirmed an agreement that the two nations will each nominate five host venues.
She said: “Only five cities will be able to host the European Championship. It is an agreement made at UEFA by the Italian and Turkish federations, even if there is not yet a definitive choice on the five cities. There will be a kind of contest: a way to to compete to renovate or make completely new stadiums, which are Italy’s main problem.
“Italy and Turkey are two candidates that UEFA welcomes, the Italian problem concerns the stadiums. There will be a sort of tendering of the 10 cities, which will have to present their projects by the end of 2026.”
In its initial individual bid, the Italian federation picked 10 cities to stage Euro 2032 games. Those selected included Italy’s capital, Rome, and the football powerhouses of Milan and Turin. The remaining seven hosts were Verona, Genoa, Bologna, Florence, Naples, Bari and Cagliari.
Previous hosts
England, Italy and Scotland all hosted games during the pan-European 2020 event. Italy also staged the 1968 and 1980 tournaments, while England was host in 1996.
Ireland was also scheduled to host Euro 2020 games but was eventually dropped because there was no guarantee that spectators could attend games due to COVID restrictions.
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