UEFA Euro 2028

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 co-host the tournament, which is scheduled to take place from 9 June to 9 July 2028.

This will be the third time that England hosts matches at the tournament, after hosting Euro 1996 and eight matches (including the final) in the pan-European Euro 2020. It will be the second time finals matches are played in Scotland, which also hosted four ties in the 2020 competition. Games are scheduled to be held in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Wales for the first time.

Bid process


On 23 March 2022, UEFA announced that three proposals had been received from countries declaring an interest in hosting the tournament — a joint bid of England, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales; a bid from Turkey; and one from Russia (which was later deemed ineligible).

On 4 October 2023, it was disclosed that Turkey had withdrawn its submission to focus on a joint bid with Italy for Euro 2032. On 23 March, Russia also submitted a bid, despite the current UEFA ban on Russian clubs and the national team due to the country's invasion of Ukraine. On 2 May 2022, UEFA declared both of Russia's bids for 2028 and 2032 ineligible.

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 (England, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Wales) may enter qualifying, with two automatic spots held in reserve for hosts which fail 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.

Northern Ireland Stadium
The inclusion of Casement Park instead of Windsor Park as the Northern Irish venue led to Unionist protests, due to Casement Park not currently being available due to redevelopment work. Windsor Park, however, does not have a capacity large enough to comply with UEFA rules for hosting European Championship matches, resulting in the selection of Casement Park. Windsor Park, Northern Ireland's national football stadium, is located in a majority unionist area, whereas Casement Park, Belfast's stadium for hurling and Gaelic football, in a majority nationalist area. The stadium is named for Sir Roger Casement, a diplomat who was hanged in 1916 for his role in the Easter Rising. Protests have been held regarding the inclusion of Casement Park with the theme being that the protestors do not want to attend games at the venue, due to its history and location.