Everything we know about Euro 2028 so far… as UK and Ireland are officially announced as HOSTS by UEFA, with the event set to be worth £2.6BN

• The UK and Ireland have officially been confirmed as the hosts for Euro 2028 
• A formal decision for the events were taken on Tuesday in Nyon, Switzerland 
• Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s podcast ‘It’s All Kicking Off!’ 

The UK and Ireland have officially been confirmed as the hosts for Euro 2028.

Mail Sport reported how they were set to win the hosting rights after Turkey opted to pull out of the bidding process.

A formal decision for the events were taken on Tuesday in Nyon, Switzerland, after the respective bids made presentations to UEFA’s executive committee.

The UK and Ireland focused on a Euro 2028 bid, with UEFA’s approval, when they ended a plan to be Europe’s preferred candidate for the 2030 World Cup. 

Mail Sport breaks down everything we know about Euro 2028 so far. 

UEFA have confirmed the UK and Ireland will be hosts for the 2028 European Championships 

Gareth Bale, an ambassador for the UK and Ireland bid, was in Nyon for the announcement 

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Qualification

The Independent previously reported that it is ‘unlikely’ UEFA will award five automatic places to those countries for the 24-team tournament. 

According to the Telegraph, England will go through the qualification process as the FA are keen to keep the team competitive in the run-up to the finals.

UEFA has reserved two ‘safety net’ host-nation berths should any of the five UK and Ireland bidders not qualify on merit, but the Football Association is understood to have already told UEFA that England are keen to go through qualification.

If more than two of the five hosts do not make it, only the two with the best record will secure host places. So there are no guarantees all five will be involved in the finals.

As always, the rest of the nations looking to reach Euro 2028 will have to go through the qualification stage.  

Qualifying for Euro 2024 got underway in March 2023, therefore, it is likely that qualification matches for Euro 2028 will get underway roughly a year before the competition starts – but UEFA will confirm dates closer to the time.

It is likely that the qualification stage will get underway around that time seeing as the next World Cup will take place in 2026 in the US, Canada and Mexico. 

Traditionally, teams will been arranged into 10 groups of either five or six – with the top two going on to qualify.

England will go through the qualification process as the FA are keen to keep the team competitive in the run-up to the finals

If more than two of the five hosts do not make it, only the two with the best record will secure host places

Stadiums

Old Trafford will be one of the high-profile stadiums to miss out on staging Euro 2028 games.

Ten stadiums have been proposed to stage matches at Euro 2028 across Britain, including two which have not yet been built – Everton’s Bramley-Moore Dock and Casement Park in Belfast.

Manchester City’s more modern Etihad Stadium has been chosen as the Manchester venue, with its 53,400 capacity set to be increased to 61,000 – still far smaller than the 74,300 of Old Trafford.

United said they ‘mutually agreed to withdraw from the shortlist’ because they could not provide ‘the necessary certainty around the availability of Old Trafford due to potential redevelopment of the stadium’.

Casement Park, a Gaelic games venue in Belfast, was selected even though it has not been used since 2013 and work has yet to start on transforming it into a new 34,500-capacity stadium.

Map showing the ten stadiums that have been selected as part of the UK and Ireland’s bid

Everton’s future home at Bramley-Moore Dock made the UK and Ireland’s bid, with Liverpool’s Anfield stadium not in the running because its pitch size does not meet UEFA requirements

Work on Belfast’s Casement Park will start after the UK and Ireland were announced as hosts

As well as Everton’s future home, other English stadiums including Man City’s Etihad Stadium, Newcastle’s St James’ Park, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Villa Park and Wembley Stadium.

The other grounds picked are Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, Glasgow’s Hampden Park and Dublin’s Aviva Stadium.

According to the BBC, Cardiff’s Principality Stadium is set to host the opening game of Euro 2028. As well the opener, Wales hopes to host five more games, including a quarter-final. 

The average capacity of all these stadiums involved in 58,000 and the UK and Ireland bid outlined its desire to reach as many communities as possible in terms of the geography of the stadiums.

They also outlined how more than 80 per cent of ticket holders will be able to travel to matches by public transport, with the match schedule designed to reduce emissions.

The BBC have reported that the Principality Stadium in Cardiff will host the opening game of the tournament 

Tickets 

While tickets are yet to go on sale, approximately three million tickets will be available to purchase – more than any previous European Championships.

Tickets for Euro 2024 are on sale now – with more than 1.2m up for grabs and over  80% of the total 2.7 million tickets set to be sold to fans of the participating teams and the public.

The application period will run until 26 October, with tickets available from €30. The allocation of tickets will take place via lottery once the application window has closed.

A further one million tickets will go on sale to supporters of the participating teams following the tournament draw in December. 

Therefore, expect tickets for Euro 2028 to be available to purchase a year before the tournament starts. 

Approximately three million tickets will be available to purchase for Euro 2028

IT’S ALL KICKING OFF! 

It’s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football, launching with a preview show today and every week this season.

It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube , Apple Music and Spotify

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