UEFA Euro 2028

On 23 March 2022, UEFA announced that three proposals had been received from countries declaring an interest in hosting the tournament: one from Russia, one from Turkey, and a joint bid by all five UEFA members from the British & Irish Isles including Northern Ireland.^[3] Russia and Turkey were simultaneously bidding to host Euro 2032.

Russia submitted its bids despite the ongoing ban by UEFA on Russian clubs and national teams due to the country's invasion of Ukraine,^{[4][5][6][7][8]} and in May 2022 its bids for both 2028 and 2032 were declared ineligible.^[9][10][11] In early October 2023, Turkey withdrew its submission to focus on bidding for Euro 2032 together with Italy.^[12]

The joint bid thus remained unopposed, and was selected unanimously on 10 October 2023 in Nyon, Switzerland,^[13] meaning that the tournament would be organised by the Republic of Ireland and the four Home Nations of football, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. By late 2024, the proposed Northern Irish venue of Casement Park in Belfast was dropped, and it was confirmed that Northern Ireland would not host any games as originally planned, nor would it be eligible for automatic qualification.^[14][15]

Euro 2028 will be the fifth European Championship since 2000 to take place in multiple nations, and the second to take place in more than two countries. England will be hosting the tournament for the third time, having previously hosted Euro 1996 and eight matches (including the final) of the pan-European Euro 2020. Scotland will be doing so for the second time, after hosting four matches of Euro 2020. For the first time, matches of the competition will be played in the Republic of Ireland and Wales. The Republic of Ireland was initially selected to host matches in Euro 2020, but due to COVID-19 restrictions it was removed as a host, as the country was unable to confirm spectators could attend.^[16]

Per UEFA's bid regulations, the automatic qualification of the hosts can only be guaranteed for up to two host associations.^[17] Therefore, UEFA decided that all four host teams (England, Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Wales) will enter qualifying, with two automatic spots held in reserve for hosts which fail to qualify via the group stage. Should more than two host teams fail to qualify, the spots will be decided based on qualifying ranking.^[18]

A revised qualification format was confirmed by the UEFA Executive Committee in January 2023,^[19] modified from the previous cycle, with the exact format confirmed in May 2025. The qualifying group stage will feature twelve groups of four or five teams. The winner of each group will qualify for the European Championship, along with the eight best-ranked runners-up. The four remaining runners-up, along with teams from the Nations League, will advance to the play-offs. The exact play-off format is dependent on how many of the host slots are used.^[18] The qualifying group stage draw will take place on 6 December 2026 in Belfast, Northern Ireland.^[20]

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Newcastle

Manchester

London

Liverpool

Glasgow

Dublin

Cardiff

Birmingham

   

Locations of the host cities of the UEFA Euro 2028 in the United Kingdom and Ireland

On 12 April 2023, ten host stadiums for the Euro 2028 bid were revealed, with the list being confirmed by UEFA on 10 October 2023.^[21][22] Notable omissions include Anfield in Liverpool, which was ineligible to host games due to its pitch dimensions falling short of UEFA's requirements, and Old Trafford in Manchester, which was ruled out after Manchester United were unable to guarantee whether the stadium would be ready at that time.^[23] Stadium of Light in Sunderland, London Stadium in London, Celtic Park and Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow, Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh and Croke Park in Dublin were also shortlisted, but were not chosen.^[24][25] Villa Park in Birmingham was planned to be redeveloped in time for Euro 2028, which would see the stadium's capacity increase from 42,785 to 52,500.^[26] In December 2023, the redevelopment plans were indefinitely postponed,^[27] However, renewed plans were announced in April 2025, to redevelop Villa Park's North Stand, in order to raise the capacity to over 50,000 in time for Euro 2028.^[28][29]

Casement Park in Belfast was also included in the bid instead of Northern Ireland's national football stadium, Windsor Park, as the latter does not have a capacity large enough to comply with UEFA rules for hosting European Championship matches.^[30][31][32] With the redevelopment of Casement Park being delayed and budget increased, it was dropped as a host venue; thus the tournament will have nine stadiums.^[14]

More information Country, City ...

List of host cities and stadiums Country City Stadium Capacity Image England London Wembley Stadium 90,000 Tottenham Hotspur Stadium 62,850 Manchester Etihad Stadium (Manchester City Stadium) 61,470 (after renovation) Liverpool Hill Dickinson Stadium (Everton Stadium) 52,769 Newcastle St James' Park 52,264 Birmingham Villa Park 50,000 (after renovation) Scotland Glasgow Hampden Park 51,866 Wales Cardiff Millennium Stadium (National Stadium of Wales) 73,931 Republic of Ireland Dublin Aviva Stadium (Dublin Arena) 51,711

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UEFA announced the tournament schedule on 12 November 2025, which did not include kick-off times. All matches will kick off at 14:00, 17:00 and 20:00 local time, with the exact times to be confirmed following the final draw.^[33][34]

The opening match of the tournament will be played at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on 9 June 2028, to involve hosts Wales should they qualify. Stadiums will host matches in at least two groups in order to "provide local fans with a variety of teams playing in their host city". The round of 16 will be played in all host venues apart from Wembley, while each host country will stage a quarter-final fixture. To ensure sporting fairness and equal treatment, the winners of the round of 16 will play their quarter-final fixtures in a different venue. The semi-finals (4 and 5 July) and final (9 July) will be played at Wembley Stadium in London.^[33]

In each of the groups, position 1 in the schedule is reserved for the "group head", who are scheduled to play their group matches at one or more pre-selected venues. The four host nations and Northern Ireland have a group head position reserved should they be qualified by the time of the final draw. The remaining group head position(s) will be randomly assigned to Pot 1 team(s) in the final draw. The group head positions were allocated as follows:^[33]

•  England: Group B (first match at City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester; last two matches at Wembley Stadium, London)
•  Northern Ireland: Group D (first match at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London; second match at Wembley Stadium, London; third match at Villa Park, Birmingham)
•  Republic of Ireland: Group E (all 3 matches at Aviva Stadium, Dublin)
•  Scotland: Group F (all 3 matches at Hampden Park, Glasgow)
•  Wales: Group A (all 3 matches at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff)

Apart from Group B, should a group head finish first, they will play in the round of 16 at the same venue as their third group stage fixture. Should the Group B head (reserved for England) win the group, they will play their round of 16 match at St James' Park in Newcastle, with any subsequent matches returning to Wembley. Should the heads of Groups A, E or F (reserved for Wales, Republic of Ireland and Scotland, respectively) finish as runners-up of their group, their potential quarter-final fixture would be played at the same venue as their group fixtures.^[34]

Group winners, runners-up and the best four third-placed teams will advance to the round of 16.

In the knockout stage, if a match is level at the end of normal playing time, extra time is played (two periods of 15 minutes each). If still tied after extra time, the match is decided by a penalty shoot-out.

As with every tournament since UEFA Euro 1984, there is no third place play-off.

The specific match-ups involving the third-placed teams depended on which four third-placed teams qualify for the round of 16:

All times are local, BST/IST (UTC+1).