October 10 – The UK and Ireland were today confirmed as joint hosts of Euro 2028 following a meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee amid considerable debate over how the qualification process will work.
The ExCo decision took place after a presentation by the UK and Ireland Football Association leaders and was a mere formality since the five-nation bid was unopposed after Turkey withdrew to focus on its merged bid with Italy for Euro 2032 which was also rubber-stamped.
Six 2028 venues are in England, with one each from Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
The question on everyone’s lips is which of the five host associations will qualify automatically as UEFA rules allow only two maximum.
UEFA favours all five countries going through qualification, with two automatic places set aside for any of them who get eliminated, in other words two bites at the cherry.
The English FA is reported to be happy with going through qualifying as it wants the national team to stay competitive and avoid having to play friendlies instead.
But giving all five host federations a backdoor option may not be a scenario that will be universally popular Europe-wide.
Reports suggest therefore that if more than two of the five get knocked out, only the two with the best record will secure host places. Such a scenario would not guarantee all five hosts will be involved in the finals.
With approximately three million tickets available, Euro 2028 will have more tickets available than any previous Euro finals. The average stadia capacity is about 58,000. The bid team also estimated that 2.5 million fans will take part in UEFA Festivals acrossthe UK and Ireland.
The finals are predicted to generate cumulative socio-economic benefits of up to £2.6 billion (€3 billion) for the UK and Ireland with more than £500 million (€567 million) invested between 2019 and 2025 to improve grassroots facilities. Afurther £45 million (€51 million) legacy fund will be invested to develop football.
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