Euro 2028: UK and Ireland rule out World Cup and announce joint bid to host tournament

England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland have announced a joint bid to host the competition.

The five governing bodies confirmed on Monday morning that they would throw their hat in the ring for the continental finals, rather than the centenary edition of the World Cup.

Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham said both tournaments offered a similar return on investment, but added: “When you look at it for the Euros, we’ve got a very clear bidding landscape and bidding timeline and, when we assess everything for that, we know we can put together a highly-competitive bid.

“I think with the World Cup, there are many areas of uncertainty, in terms of the timeline, in terms of the frequency of the events and so on.”

Russia and Turkey are also reportedly in the running for Euro 2028, when it is expected 32 teams will compete instead of the current 24.

UEFA is running the bidding process for the 2028 and 2032 Euros in parallel, with expressions of interests from associations required by March 23. Final bid dossiers must be submitted by April 12, and UEFA plans to announce the 2028 and 2032 hosts in September next year.

Bullingham believes the five-nation Euro bid would be viewed favourably, as UEFA seeks to rebuild its finances following the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We believe we can put together an incredibly strong tournament in many ways,” he said.

“And we also know we can deliver a really strong commercial return to UEFA and we feel that puts us in a strong position.”

The association chief executives said precise details on which venues would be submitted for the bid were still to be decided, with the decision on how many finalists were involved key to making that call.

The associations say they will also discuss with UEFA how many automatic host qualification places there would be in either a 24 or 32-team finals.

Following an extensive feasibility study, we can confirm we have agreed to focus on a bid to host UEFA EURO 2028 along with the @IrishFA, @ScottishFA, @FAWales and @FAIreland.

Find out more here:

— The FA (@FA) February 7, 2022

UK government issue statement over Euro 2028 bid

A UK Government statement said: “Following a full feasibility study, and in light of the current uncertainty around the future format of the tournament, we accept the conclusion of the five football associations that now is not the moment to proceed with a (World Cup) bid.

“We remain passionate about bringing a World Cup to the UK and Ireland when the time is right.

“Meanwhile, the UEFA European Championships are one of the biggest global sporting events. Hosting the full tournament would be an exciting opportunity, bringing significant benefits to the whole of the UK and Ireland. That is why we have initiated work to explore the possibility of bidding to host Euro 2028.

“We are looking closely at the outcome of this work and, subject to further discussions, hope to be able to confirm Government support for a bid in the coming weeks.”

Croke Park to be part of Euro 2028 bid

Croke Park is in the Football Association of Ireland’s thinking as a Euro 2028 venue (Anna Gowthorpe/PA)

Jonathan Hill, the chief executive of the Football Association of Ireland, said both the Aviva Stadium and Croke Park in Dublin were in its thinking as potential host venues, and that discussions had already been held with the Gaelic Athletic Association over the latter stadium.

Patrick Nelson, the chief executive of the Irish Football Association, said Northern Ireland was “not along for the ride” and wanted to host matches rather than just training camps. He would not rule either Windsor Park or a redeveloped Casement Park in or out of the running at this stage.

Scottish Football Association chief executive Ian Maxwell said his organisation would need to look at what hosting Euro 2028 could bring in terms of the redevelopment of Hampden Park.

Noel Mooney, the chief executive of the Football Association of Wales, expected the Principality Stadium would play a key part in any tournament plan and added: “We know from the feasibility study that we’ve got a great chance of winning this (bid). We are really confident going into this that this will be clearly the best bid out there.”