UEFA Euro 2028

UEFA Euro 2028
Craobh Peile na hEorpa 2028 (in Irish)
Farpais ball-coise na h-Eòrpa 2028 (in Scottish Gaelic)
Pencampwriaeth pêl-droed Ewropeaidd 2028 (in Welsh)
Tournament details
Host countries England
Northern Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Scotland
Wales
Dates June–July 2028
Teams 24
Venue(s) 10 (in 9 host cities)

The 2028 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2028 or simply Euro 2028, will be the 18th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international football championship. England, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Wales will host the tournament, which is scheduled to take place between June and July 2028.

This will be the third time that the tournament will be hosted in England, who hosted the 1996 tournament and held matches of the 2020 tournament in London. It will also be the second time that the tournament has been hosted in Scotland, who also held matches of the 2020 tournament in Glasgow, as well as the first time it will be hosted in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Wales.

Bid process

On 23 March 2022, UEFA announced that three bids, a joint bid of England, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Wales, Turkey, and Russia (which later had been declared ineligible) had announced their intentions to try and host the tournament.

On 4 October 2023, it was announced that Turkey had withdrawn their bid to focus on their joint bid with Italy for Euro 2032.

The host was selected on 10 October 2023 in Nyon, Switzerland. The joint bid of England, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Wales won unanimously.

Qualification

Per UEFA's bid regulations, the automatic qualification of the hosts can only be guaranteed for up to two host associations. Therefore, it is unclear which host teams may qualify automatically. One plan being considered is that all five host teams may enter qualifying, with two automatic spots held in reserve for a host which fails to qualify. Should three or more host teams fail to qualify, the spots would be awarded to the best-performing hosts. A qualifying tournament will take place to determine the majority of the competing teams.

A revised qualification format was confirmed by the UEFA Executive Committee during their meeting in Nyon, Switzerland, on 25 January 2023. The qualification format was modified from the previous cycle. The qualifying group stage will feature twelve groups of four or five teams. The winner of each group will qualify for the European Championship, while the second-placed teams will either qualify directly or participate in play-off matches.

Venues

On 12 April 2023, the ten host stadiums for the Euro 2028 bid were revealed, with the list being confirmed by UEFA on 10 October 2023. Notable omissions include Anfield, which was ineligible to host games due to its pitch dimensions falling short of UEFA's requirements, and Old Trafford, which was ruled out after Manchester United were unable to guarantee whether the stadium would be ready at that time. The inclusion of Casement Park as the Northern Irish venue has created some controversy. Firstly, due to Casement Park not currently being available due to redevelopment work, and secondly due to its inclusion over Windsor Park. Windsor Park does not have a large enough capacity to comply with UEFA rule for hosting European Championship matches, which led to Casement Park being included as the Northern Irish venue instead. Windsor Park, Northern Ireland's national football stadium, is located in a majority unionist area, whereas Casement Park, Northern Ireland's national stadium for hurling and Gaelic football, is in a majority nationalist area. The stadium is named in honour of Sir Roger Casement, a renowned Irish Nationalist who was hanged in 1916 for his role in the Easter Rising. Some unionist Northern Ireland fans have held protests saying they do not want to attend games at the venue.

London Cardiff Manchester
Wembley Stadium Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Millennium Stadium City of Manchester Stadium
Capacity: 90,652 Capacity: 62,322 Capacity: 73,952 Capacity: 61,000
Liverpool Newcastle
Everton Stadium St James' Park
Capacity: 52,888 Capacity: 52,305
Birmingham Glasgow Dublin Belfast
Villa Park Hampden Park Aviva Stadium Casement Park
Capacity: 52,190 Capacity: 52,032 Capacity: 51,711 Capacity: 34,500
  1. To be renovated.
  2. New stadium.

Broadcasting rights

UEFA

Territory Rights holder(s) Ref
Armenia Armenia TV
Austria ServusTV
  • Estonia
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
Viaplay
Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina BHRT
Bulgaria Nova
Croatia HRT
Cyprus CyBC
Czech Republic ČT
Denmark
Finland Yle
France TF1
Georgia GPB
Germany
Greece ERT
Hungary MTVA
Iceland RÚV
Ireland RTÉ
Israel Charlton
Kosovo Artmotion
Liechtenstein SRG SSR
Malta PBS
Moldova TRM
Montenegro Arena Sport
North Macedonia Arena Sport
Norway
Poland TVP
Romania Pro TV
Serbia
Slovakia Markíza
Slovenia
Sweden
Switzerland SRG SSR
United Kingdom

Rest of the world

Territory Rights holder(s) Ref
Canada TVA Sports
Caribbean C Sport
Central America ESPN
China iQIYI
Indian subcontinent Sony Sports Network
Indonesia MNC Media
New Zealand TVNZ
Pacific Islands Digicel
South America ESPN
South Korea CJ ENM
Sub-Saharan Africa New World TV
United States