The United Kingdom and Ireland have been confirmed by UEFA as hosts of Euro 2028.
Mail Sport reported last week how they were set to win the hosting rights after their Turkish rivals decided to withdraw from the bidding process to focus on Euro 2032 in a joint bid with Italy – which was later assigned to them.
A formal decision regarding the events was taken on Tuesday in Nyon, Switzerland, after the respective applications were presented to the UEFA executive committee.
Britain and Ireland focused on a Euro 2028 bid, with UEFA’s approval, when they scrapped plans to become Europe’s preferred Cup candidate of the world 2030.
FIFA then named Morocco, Spain and Portugal as joint hosts of the flagship event seven years from now, while the first three matches of the tournament will take place in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay to mark 100 years of the first World Cup.
UEFA has confirmed that the United Kingdom and Ireland will host the 2028 European Championships.
A decision was made after the UK and Ireland bid team presented their case to UEFA officials.
Gareth Bale, ambassador for the UK and Ireland bid, was in Nyon for the announcement.
UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin also revealed that Turkey and Italy would host Euro 2032.
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It is not yet clear whether the five countries involved in the bid – England, Scotland, Wales, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland – will participate in the tournament.
The independent previously reported that UEFA was “unlikely” to award five automatic spots to these countries for the 24-team tournament.
However, according to the Telegraph, England will go through the qualification process as the FA are keen to keep the team competitive heading into the final, which will bring £2.6 billion to the economy.
The UK and Ireland revealed details of their bid in April, including which ten stadiums will host the matches.
Two proposed stadiums have yet to be built: Everton’s Bramley-Moore Dock and Casement Park in Belfast.
Work on Everton’s new stadium has already begun, while Irish FA chief executive Patrick Nelson has insisted construction of the new Casement Park will continue once the bid is successful.
Casement Park, a Gaelic games venue in Belfast, was selected even though it has not been in use since 2013 and work has not yet started to transform it into a new 34,500 capacity stadium .
As well as Everton’s future home, other English stadiums include Man City’s Etihad Stadium, Newcastle’s St James’ Park, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Villa Park and Wembley Stadium.
Other grounds chosen are the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Hampden Park in Glasgow and the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
Manchester United’s Old Trafford Stadium was the most notable venue to miss the selection, with Liverpool’s home Anfield and the London Stadium – home of West Ham which also hosted the London 2012 Olympics – failing to make the cut. no longer part of the UK and Ireland bid.
United said they “mutually agreed to withdraw from the shortlist” as they could not provide “the necessary certainty over the availability of Old Trafford due to the potential redevelopment of the stadium”, while Anfield n has never been in contention because the size of its field is not up to par. UEFA requirements.
A number of matches were played in England in preparation for the delayed Euro 2020 championship – which took place in the summer of 2021.
Wembley hosted the final which saw England reach their first men’s final since the 1966 World Cup.
However, Italy took the upper hand that day, beating Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions after penalties.
The British and Irish bid was supported by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf and Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford.
They said in a statement earlier this year: “This will be the biggest sporting event our islands have ever jointly hosted – a passionate and unforgettable celebration, with long-term benefits for our towns and communities as well as the “all of European football.”
Map showing the ten stadiums selected as part of the UK and Ireland bid
Everton’s future home at Bramley-Moore Dock has responded to the UK and Ireland’s bid, with Liverpool’s Anfield stadium not in the running because the size of its pitch does not meet the requirements of the UEFA.
Work on Belfast’s Casement Park to begin after UK and Ireland announced as hosts
The bid predicts that the 2028 tournament will generate “cumulative socio-economic benefits of up to £2.6 billion for our nations”. Sustainability is placed as a top priority, with the promise that 80 percent of ticket holders will be able to travel to matches by public transport.
Euro 2024 is hosted alone by Germany, which beat Turkey in a vote in September 2018.
Turkey withdrew from the Euro 2028 process as it focused on its bid to host the next European Championships in 2032 – as part of an unopposed joint bid with Italy.
They will be delighted that their bid got them over the finish line, as their failure to secure the rights for Euro 2024 meant they had tried unsuccessfully to host every Euro since 2008.