European Football Championship
Many hosts, no losers: EM 2028 and 2032 awarded
The hosts of the European Football Championships for 2028 and 2032 have been determined. photo
© Mike Egerton/PA Wire/dpa
Unsurprisingly, Great Britain and Ireland are the only applicants to be awarded the 2028 European Football Championship. EURO 2032 will also have several hosts.
In the simple ceremony in fast forward waived Aleksander Čeferin on an artificial build-up of tension.
Within just a minute and without a fake poker face, the President of the European Football Union announced what was already virtually certain before the Executive Committee meeting in Nyon: The 2028 European Football Championship will take place in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland as well as in Ireland, Italy and Turkey will host the 2032 tournament together. The award was considered a formality for only one application at a time.
“But when I saw the presentations today, I really enjoyed it,” said Čeferin at the beginning of the 20-minute ceremony addressed to the future European Championship hosts. Within a second he felt “as if the European Championship had already started”.
Turkey had previously withdrawn its candidacy for 2028 against the United Kingdom’s favored bid with Ireland. The next European Championship will take place in Germany next year – the German Football Association clearly won against Turkey with its application.
Joy on the island
“It will be celebrated across the United Kingdom and Ireland that players, fans and local communities can look forward to an outstanding summer football festival at Euro 2028,” said a joint statement from the five football associations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and Ireland. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the event would inspire an entire generation to enjoy the sport.
In any case, it will be a tournament of superlatives: According to official information, a total of more than three million tickets will be available for the tournament – more than ever before at a European Championship.
The ten stadiums for the European Championship in five years have already been determined: In addition to London’s Wembley Stadium – the largest venue with a capacity of 90,000 spectators – there will also be games in England at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (London), Etihad Stadium (Manchester), which is not yet the completed Everton Stadium (Liverpool), St. James’ Park (Newcastle) and Villa Park (Birmingham). Wales is represented by the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Scotland by Glasgow’s Hampden Park and Ireland by Dublin’s Aviva Stadium. In Northern Ireland the game is played at Casement Park in Belfast.
UEFA moves away from the directive
The Turkish association had already failed in several attempts and would have only been an outsider in an open competition with Italy. However, since the 1990 World Cup host was unlikely to have ten European Championship-ready arenas built or renovated, both associations decided to run together. To achieve this, UEFA also moved away from its actual guideline that only neighboring countries can host a European Championship together.
“We are very excited and proud,” said Turkish association head Mehmet Büyükeksi, according to the Anadolu news agency. New bridges of friendship will be built and a lasting contribution will be made to the legacy of football. The Italian Sports Minister Andrea Abodi was looking forward to a “fascinating event” that could also “contribute to improving political relations in favor of peace.” The ten stadiums for the 2032 European Championship are scheduled to be presented in October 2026.
The double awarding trend continues
With the double award, the trend continues that there are increasingly fewer applications for the expanded tournaments and hardly any candidacies from individual countries. The 2030 World Cup is expected to start with three games in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay and will then be played in Morocco, Spain and Portugal. This still has to be confirmed by the congress of the world association FIFA. The 2026 world tournament will take place in the USA, Mexico and Canada.
Due to the expansion of the European Championship to 24 participants and 51 games, there are fewer and fewer candidates in Europe who can manage the tournament on their own. Two years ago, the continental tournament took place in a total of eleven countries during the Corona crisis.
The UEFA decision-making body includes, among others, Hans-Joachim Watzke and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge as representatives from Germany.