UK and Ireland to host Euro 2028 as Italy, Türkiye awarded Euro 2032

AFP | London

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland will co-host Euro 2028, while Italy and Türkiye will be joint hosts of the 2032 tournament, UEFA announced yesterday.

Both bids ran unopposed but still needed official approval from European football’s governing body, which they received at a meeting in Switzerland.

Türkiye last week withdrew from the bidding process for Euro 2028, clearing the path for Britain and Ireland, who shelved plans to bid to host the 2030 World Cup to focus on staging the European Championship.

“The UK and Ireland thanks UEFA for its confidence to award UEFA EURO 2028 to the five Association partnership, and congratulates Italy and Türkiye on their appointment for UEFA EURO 2032,” read a joint statement from the five football associations.

FIFA last week announced that Morocco, Portugal and Spain will stage the 2030 World Cup but games will also be played in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay as the footballing showpiece celebrates its centenary.

Saudi Arabia subsequently revealed it plans to bid to host the 2034 World Cup.

Finally for Türkiye, which has bid unsuccessfully to stage every European Championship going back to 2008, was initially a candidate for both Euro 2028 and 2032.

However, in July it agreed to join Italy in a bid for the 2032 edition, without saying at the time if it would pull out of the running for 2028.

England, which hosted the women’s Euro last year, last organised a major men’s tournament in 1996, when the European Championship involved just 16 teams.

It also hosted the final of the 24-team Euro 2020, delayed by a year due to the pandemic and held in venues across Europe, at Wembley.

Between them, England and Scotland hosted 12 games during that tournament. Six of the proposed venues for the 2028 tournament are in England, with two stadiums in London and others in Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle and Birmingham.

Belfast, Dublin, Glasgow and Cardiff are also in line for matches. Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on X, formerly Twitter, that he was “over the moon that Ireland and the UK will co-host Euro 2028”. “It will be the biggest event ever hosted by our two islands working together.”

Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill told BBC Sport it was great to be “part of something special” and that the country has the capacity to put on “a fantastic tournament”.