The UK and Republic of Ireland have submitted a joint bid to host the Euro 2028 tournament, with a total of ten stadiums included in the final shortlist. These are Wembley Stadium in London, Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, Etihad Stadium in Manchester, Everton Stadium in Liverpool, St James’ Park in Newcastle, Villa Park in Birmingham, Hampden Park in Glasgow, Aviva Stadium in Dublin and Casement Park in Belfast. Of these, Casement Park is yet to be built, with a capacity of 34,500. The other unbuilt stadium is Everton’s Bramley-Moore Dock, which is expected to have a capacity of 53,000 and is expected to be completed by 2024.
The bid has been backed by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf and Wales’ First Minister Mark Drakeford. They claim that the tournament will be the “biggest sporting event our islands have ever jointly staged”. The bid also states that a record three million tickets will be made available, with more than 80% of ticket holders able to travel to matches by public transport. It is also estimated that the tournament will generate £2.6bn combined for the nations’ economies.
Fourteen stadiums were originally on the shortlist submitted to Uefa by the five football associations from the UK and Republic last year, but Old Trafford, the Stadium of Light, the London Stadium and Dublin’s Croke Park have since been dropped from the list. A decision on who will host the 2028 Euro finals is expected to be made by Uefa’s executive committee in September 2021, with work on all potential host stadiums to begin by at least the summer of 2024. Turkey is the other candidate to host the men’s tournament in June and July 2028, while Italy has submitted a bid to host the 2032 edition.