September 21 – As few as six English stadiums will feature as a host venue for Euro 2028 should the UK and Ireland win the bid for the tournament with both Liverpool’s Anfield and Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium surprise omissions from the ten-stadium list of contenders.
The Times reports that the number of English stadiums to be used for the 2028 European championship will be limited to six. Liverpool’s Anfield and Leeds’ Elland Road have not made the final cut. MK Don’s Stadium MK has been included.
The ten stadiums on the final selection list are Wembley, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the London Stadium, Villa Park, Stadium MK, Old Trafford, the Etihad, Everton’s planned Bramley Moore Dock ground, Sunderland’s Stadium of Light and Newcastle United’s St James’ Park.
England and Ireland are bidding for the 2028 finals and will be up against a rival bid from Turkey. Mehmet Buyukeksi, the Turkish federation’s president, has insisted that Turkey will not withdraw from the race to focus their efforts on securing the hosting rights of the tournament four years later.
The 2028 European championship might well be played in a 32-team expanded format. In 2016, the tournament was expanded to 24 teams with six groups of four in the first round and 10 venues across nine cities. Last year, eleven cities in eleven host countries hosted a pan-European championship that was delayed because of the global health crisis.
Germany will be the hosts of Euro 2024.
UEFA will require bidders to submit a preliminary by mid-November with a final dossier due in April next year. The confederation will then take a deciding vote on the 2028 hosts in September.
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