UEFA Euro 2028

[Stuttgart88]

I hadn't realised the bulk of the 135 million was for Croker. That'd be madness.

Edit: having read the article in full I'm not sure where it says that though.

[EalingGreen]

Looking at the list of 14 stadiums to be 10, Casement is a non-runner – it’s the only stadium of the 14 that is not built and it is being built to GAA specs and therefore needing an immediate upgrade if built to host the tournament, don’t see Manchester getting two stadiums (Old Trafford needs upgrading?) or London getting three stadiums, and it’s either Newcastle or Sunderland not both giving their proximity. (And is the Everton stadium fully financed/ has iffy financing?) That’s leaves Dublin with a high likelihood of two hosting venues imo, all the more so given this €135million figure being floated around for Croke Park's upgrading.
Re.Casement, it might just be that come April (14 cut down to 10), it will be included as one of the 10, but with an asterisk beside it. That is, there will need to be a deliverable commitment by a certain date, otherwise that slot reverts to England, which has several ready-made stadia which could be made available at short notice.

As for whether it can meet that commitment must be extremely doubtful, for a whole variety of reasons too complex to go into here.

In which case, I would hope that the IFA had a Plan B, namely that if NI cant host Group games at Casement, then we should get a shiny new National Training Centre as our part of the Euro handout.

Belfast could then be used as a Training base for one of the teams playing in Dublin, while leaving behind a much better long term legacy for the game in NI, than 4 or 5 games at Casement, after which everyone will go home.

While a by-product of such a plan would be that there would be less objection to Dublin getting both Croke and Aviva if those were the only two Euro stadia on ther island

[Eirambler]

I think it's fairly clear what the 10 final stadiums will be - other than working out which Manchester stadium stays in and which one drops out. Sunderland, most likely London Stadium and Casement (short of a miracle) are odds on to drop out. Possibly Casement might just stay in as a provisional 11th stadium just in case the almost impossible somehow happens and it gets done in time.

So then the question is who gets the second automatic qualification spot? Is two stadiums + a need for an Irish qualifier for the sake of the success of the tournament on the island + having a sovereign government backing the bid enough to swing it for Ireland? On the face of it it should be, but no doubt the Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish will try to affect that outcome.

[EalingGreen]

(And is the Everton stadium fully financed/ has iffy financing?)
Yep, already half built, due to open sometime in 2024 and I'n sure the financing is all in place, thanks to their billionaire owner:


https://youtu.be/J1aYVxre72o

Being so much more modern, and with the 53k capacity possibly preferable to Anfield's redeveloped 61k, it may even get the nod - who knows?

[Eirambler]

Anfield can't be involved because the playing field is too small. The new Everton stadium will definitely be one of the 10.

[EalingGreen]

Anfield can't be involved because the playing field is too small. The new Everton stadium will definitely be one of the 10.
Crikey! You're quite right.

I somehow had imagined Anfield was in the running, but looking again at the 14 nominees, its not there. So yes, Everton should be a shoo in.

[elatedscum]

Everton’s stadium is less than 50/50 to be built. They started building without funding. They’re in financial dire straights and they need £500m to complete. They’ve lost all the usmanov cash. And it’s not outlandish to think they could be relegated

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/nov/13/everton-football-club-new-stadium-bramley-moore-dock (stadium issues)

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/oct/12/everton-auditor-considers-walking-away-raising-questions-over-clubs-financing (general finance issues)

[NeverFeltBetter]

From what I've read Old Trafford has been in a bit of a state for a while now, and efforts to improve the place have stalled. In a choice between there and the Etihad it'll be an easy decision, even if one city is allowed two stadiums.

[Bungle]

Can’t understand how Anfield which is one of the most iconic stadiums in the world isn’t deemed suitable, when it has hosted champions league semi finals down the year. Not a Liverpool fan, but just very strange.

Surely, the fairest thing would be that England qualify automatically as hosts and the four others compete for one place, with the remaining three then going into qualification as usual. On paper, we might be decent by then but who knows.

The Scots and Welsh won’t go with us qualifying automatically and the North won’t either imo. To be fair, I would be a bit ****ed off if it was England and say Scotland getting the automatic spots so can’t really blame others for kicking up a ****storm here. It isn’t like we are giving 3 or 4 stadiums.

Hilarious that Saudi is after wc 2030 now - imagine if they get it ahead of the South Americans and I think Spain/Portugal - genuinely could see a breakaway from UEFA and Comebol if that happens.

[Eirambler]

Can’t understand how Anfield which is one of the most iconic stadiums in the world isn’t deemed suitable, when it has hosted champions league semi finals down the year. Not a Liverpool fan, but just very strange.

Surely, the fairest thing would be that England qualify automatically as hosts and the four others compete for one place, with the remaining three then going into qualification as usual. On paper, we might be decent by then but who knows.

The Scots and Welsh won’t go with us qualifying automatically and the North won’t either imo. To be fair, I would be a bit ****ed off if it was England and say Scotland getting the automatic spots so can’t really blame others for kicking up a ****storm here. It isn’t like we are giving 3 or 4 stadiums.

Hilarious that Saudi is after wc 2030 now - imagine if they get it ahead of the South Americans and I think Spain/Portugal - genuinely could see a breakaway from UEFA and Comebol if that happens.

A better way to deal with the qualification issue might be to reserve two qualification spaces for non-qualified hosts. So make everyone (including England) play the qualifiers. But then hold two spaces for any host nations that don't qualify automatically.

So, taking Euro 2020 as an example of how Euro 2028 might work, England, Wales and Scotland qualified on merit for the finals so they don't need to be allocated a host space. That leaves the two host spaces free for the two teams that didn't qualify on merit - which in that case was Ireland and NI. That way everyone might get in. Obviously if fewer than three of the teams don't qualify automatically someone still has to miss out, but that's just the way of it, the worst performing team in qualifying would then have to miss out unfortunately. Just need to make sure it's not us (i.e. make sure Stephen Kenny is long gone by then!).

Having said that I prefer the route where we are just given a qualification spot, but generally nice things don't happen to us so I won't hold my breath.

[third policeman]

Anfield can't be involved because the playing field is too small. The new Everton stadium will definitely be one of the 10.

Good article in The Observer last weekend speculating that it’s quite possible that it won’t be finished due to Everton’s finances. They don’t actually have the money committed to complete the construction. Looks like a nightmare waiting to happen especially if they were to be relegated.

[WexCar.]

A better way to deal with the qualification issue might be to reserve two qualification spaces for non-qualified hosts. So make everyone (including England) play the qualifiers. But then hold two spaces for any host nations that don't qualify automatically.

So, taking Euro 2020 as an example of how Euro 2028 might work, England, Wales and Scotland qualified on merit for the finals so they don't need to be allocated a host space. That leaves the two host spaces free for the two teams that didn't qualify on merit - which in that case was Ireland and NI. That way everyone might get in. Obviously if fewer than three of the teams don't qualify automatically someone still has to miss out, but that's just the way of it, the worst performing team in qualifying would then have to miss out unfortunately. Just need to make sure it's not us (i.e. make sure Stephen Kenny is long gone by then!).

Having said that I prefer the route where we are just given a qualification spot, but generally nice things don't happen to us so I won't hold my breath.

I like that idea, very fair way to do it so therefore it won't happen. ?

[Bungle]

A better way to deal with the qualification issue might be to reserve two qualification spaces for non-qualified hosts. So make everyone (including England) play the qualifiers. But then hold two spaces for any host nations that don't qualify automatically.

So, taking Euro 2020 as an example of how Euro 2028 might work, England, Wales and Scotland qualified on merit for the finals so they don't need to be allocated a host space. That leaves the two host spaces free for the two teams that didn't qualify on merit - which in that case was Ireland and NI. That way everyone might get in. Obviously if fewer than three of the teams don't qualify automatically someone still has to miss out, but that's just the way of it, the worst performing team in qualifying would then have to miss out unfortunately. Just need to make sure it's not us (i.e. make sure Stephen Kenny is long gone by then!).

Having said that I prefer the route where we are just given a qualification spot, but generally nice things don't happen to us so I won't hold my breath.

Very good point that. I mean that could be the fairest and one that all five nations buy into - really us, Wales, the North and Scotland because hard to see England not qualifying for a 24 team euros.

Would be lovely if they gave us an automatic spot but if I was one of the other three FAs I’d be telling the FAI and the FA to do one and threaten to vote for Turkey if us and England got the two spots.

[SkStu]

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/65245224

https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2023/0412/1376537-uk-ireland-euro-2028-bid-submitted-as-croke-park-cut/

Lansdowne Road and Casement Park represent the two Irish stadiums that have made the cut for the application in 2028. Croke Park was cut due to the "one stadium per city" rule. Two Stadia for Ireland, one for Wales, one for Scotland and the other six from England.

Up against the Turkey bid and an announcement expected later this year.

[NeverFeltBetter]

I wonder what the alternative to Casement Park is down as? In the event it isn't ready I mean. Presumably the needed venue will not resort to Ireland.

[Eirambler]

Casement won't be done. So there will either be another stadium - either Croker or even more games in England - or maybe more likely the Casement games will just be spread around the other nine venues as needed. So maybe one extra game for Dublin in that event.

[Fixer82]

Is Windsor Park not fit for purpose?

[sidewayspasser]

It's too small.

[TonyD]

It's too small.

You’d wonder could they not redevelop Windsor for what they are talking about spending on Casement Park. Or is it that they have already committed to the spend on Casement, and they’re not going to spend the money on two stadia ? Of course, as with everything in the North, there is probably a political element.

[nigel-harps1954]

You’d wonder could they not redevelop Windsor for what they are talking about spending on Casement Park. Or is it that they have already committed to the spend on Casement, and they’re not going to spend the money on two stadia ? Of course, as with everything in the North, there is probably a political element.

Windsor Park is in a fairly tight residential area. It would be a struggle to fit a 30k seater stadium in there.

[JR89]

Casement won't be done. So there will either be another stadium - either Croker or even more games in England - or maybe more likely the Casement games will just be spread around the other nine venues as needed. So maybe one extra game for Dublin in that event.

Croke Park was probably picked originally in case Casement falls through. Keeps two stadiums in Dublin and NI might then just be used as a base for some teams.

[geysir]

Considering that there is a complete impasse on the Casement park redevelopment, Belfast should have been wiped off the screen as a city venue. What were the architects of the application thinking, that there would be an miraculous intervention of sorts inside 2 years to transform the Casement morass into a magical stadium wonderland?

[weldoninhio]

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/65245224

https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2023/0412/1376537-uk-ireland-euro-2028-bid-submitted-as-croke-park-cut/

Lansdowne Road and Casement Park represent the two Irish stadiums that have made the cut for the application in 2028. Croke Park was cut due to the "one stadium per city" rule. Two Stadia for Ireland, one for Wales, one for Scotland and the other six from England.

Up against the Turkey bid and an announcement expected later this year.

How did Wembley/White Hart Lane get around the rule?

[NeverFeltBetter]

All I have read has just said London was exempted. It's not like England doesn't have other stadiums.

[Kingdom]

Only one city can have more than one stadium. It's sort of like the "no Homers" rule in the Stonecutters.

[elatedscum]

as part of Euro 2020, we were due 4 games. as part of this, we're probably due 5 games (51 games across 10 stadia). kinda feels disappointing. if we had 2 stadia, it'd be 10 games which i think would feel like a real hosting event.

[toffeejay84]

Thats pretty standard in a lot of UEFA or FIFA competitions.
The national stadium (most likley based in the capital) as the final but also including a the largest club stadium in the capital. France 98 for example had Stade de France and Parc des Princes. South Africa had FNB and Ellis Park

[elatedscum]

qatar had 8 stadia within a space a little bit larger than cork... seems there's flexibility when there's enough cash involved

[Diggs246]

You’d wonder could they not redevelop Windsor for what they are talking about spending on Casement Park. Or is it that they have already committed to the spend on Casement, and they’re not going to spend the money on two stadia ? Of course, as with everything in the North, there is probably a political element.

https://mydup.com/news/dunne-casement-park-cannot-jump-the-queue-over-public-services

This is what we are dealing with..they could hand the bid to turkey single handedly....

That would go down well with their "friends" in the uk !!

[JR89]

https://mydup.com/news/dunne-casement-park-cannot-jump-the-queue-over-public-services

This is what we are dealing with..they could hand the bid to turkey single handedly....

That would go down well with their "friends" in the uk !!

Probably more chance of Casement being redeveloped than Turkey getting the bid.

[pineapple stu]

I don't know - Turkey's a big place with a great football culture that's never hosted a finals and that knows how to throw a few million about to get what it wants; wouldn't surprise me at all to see them win. The English - and this is an England bid ultimately - tend not to know how to play UEFA's game, hence their really poor showing at the 2018 bid for example

[NeverFeltBetter]

It's being reported that Turkey are turning attention to a EURO 2032 bid, maybe co-hosted with Italy: https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2023/0728/1397010-joint-euro-2028-bid-strengthened-as-turkey-look-to-2032/

October 10th is the day of decision.

[Eirambler]

No decision to be made now, they might as well just go ahead and announce it.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Pretty much confirmed: https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2023/1004/1408882-uk-and-ireland-set-to-be-confirmed-as-euro-2028-hosts/

[Bungle]

Read somewhere that UEFA want the five nations to go through the usual qualification, but are looking at putting protections in place to reduce the likelihood of a lot of the five missing out.

England will be there regardless barring a failure of epic proportions. Scotland are very decent right now and should be there, but you wouldn’t say it’s definitive, we should on current projectory have a very decent bunch of players but if we have a poor manager we may still be mediocre and battling to qualify, Wales will be competitive and I guess the North will face a big fight to qualify because they don’t seem to have a good talent pool coming through to replenish the lads that made them competitive for a few years.

Of course the current cluster**** performances are likely to put us as a low fourth seed in draws pretty soon so unless we have a good nations league and wc26 campaign, we’ll likely be massively up against it in groups from the get go.

My feeling is that they’ll reserve one or two places for non-qualified host teams to playoff against each other. Let’s say Wales and the North didn’t qualify maybe a home and away game between them. If we didn’t as well, they might grab the next team through nations league performance (for arguments sake Bosnia) and do Ireland Bosnia for one place and Wales vs the North for the other place. That would probably be the fairest.

[tetsujin1979]

Confirmation of joint Ireland/UK tournament will come today at 11
1711637744584139257

https://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/livestreaming/

[osarusan]

Officially confirmed as joint hosts: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/67062742



Also from the BBC:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/live/football/67062519

"The FA wants England to reach Euro 2028 via the formal qualifying process, rather than be handed an automatic slot by Uefa, the BBC understands. This is because they think it would provide the team with better preparation for the tournament than a series of friendlies.

With five nations in the UK and Ireland bid - which will today be confirmed as unopposed hosts of the tournament at a Uefa ExCo meeting in Nyon, it is expected that Uefa will offer two ‘back-up’ berths for any host teams that fail to qualify on merit.

If more than two teams fail to qualify, it would mean the two teams with the best records would be handed those slots. It is therefore possible that as many as three teams from the UK and Ireland may not play in their own tournament if none reached the finals through qualifying."

That sounds blatantly unfair on countries other than the UK and Ireland.

[pineapple stu]

The host selection for these tournaments is getting farcical tbh.

Realistically, what do Scotland/Wales/Ireland/the North add to the bid? And you've got that stupid qualification caveat as a result.

The 2030 World Cup was last week awarded to Argentina/Uruguay/Paraguay/Spain/Portugal/Morocco - all six qualify by rights. FIFA even considered environmental and sustainability issues before creating a tournament where teams would be flying half way around the world between matches

Utter nonsense

[JR89]

Also announced is that Italy and Turkey will co-host Euro 2032.

[ColourfulPeanut]

Officially confirmed as joint hosts: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/67062742



Also from the BBC:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/live/football/67062519

"The FA wants England to reach Euro 2028 via the formal qualifying process, rather than be handed an automatic slot by Uefa, the BBC understands. This is because they think it would provide the team with better preparation for the tournament than a series of friendlies.

With five nations in the UK and Ireland bid - which will today be confirmed as unopposed hosts of the tournament at a Uefa ExCo meeting in Nyon, it is expected that Uefa will offer two ‘back-up’ berths for any host teams that fail to qualify on merit.

If more than two teams fail to qualify, it would mean the two teams with the best records would be handed those slots. It is therefore possible that as many as three teams from the UK and Ireland may not play in their own tournament if none reached the finals through qualifying."

That sounds blatantly unfair on countries other than the UK and Ireland.
Can you explain what's unfair about it? Euro 2008 and Euro 2012 had multiple hosts and 2/16 qualifying spots filled up. There's still 22 qualifying slots available for everyone either way.

Could see a weird scenario where 2 hosts qualify and 2 get playoff spots though. The playoff games would essentially mean nothing to the host teams, as they'd be guaranteed a spot as a fallback with the 5th team cheering them both on.

[pineapple stu]

It means two teams who didn't emerge from qualifying will get priority over teams who did qualify, but really these "hosts" are going to host what - half a group and maybe a knockout game? They can't host a full group as one venue (which is all everyone bar England is providing) can't host simultaneous group matches in the final round

And the North have nominated Casement Park and I don't know if it's yet clear if that'll get to host a game when the time comes

[backstothewall]

It means two teams who didn't emerge from qualifying will get priority over teams who did qualify, but really these "hosts" are going to host what - half a group and maybe a knockout game? They can't host a full group as one venue (which is all everyone bar England is providing) can't host simultaneous group matches in the final round

And the North have nominated Casement Park and I don't know if it's yet clear if that'll get to host a game when the time comes

It almost certainly won't be ready. There's too much opposition.

It wouldn't be the worst idea in the world to start building a new stadium at NUI Galway and be prepared to step in when Belfast inevitably falls through. Worst case scenario is that there's a miracle in Andytown, but it would still be an excellent resource for the university and a new home for Connacht Rugby and Galway United.

[Stuttgart88]

I'm totally underwhelmed by this. We bid for a tournament and the GAA gets a new stadium. The reported gains to the FAI wouldn't fund a RTE barter account's expenditure on rugby tickets.

[osarusan]

Can you explain what's unfair about it? Euro 2008 and Euro 2012 had multiple hosts and 2/16 qualifying spots filled up. There's still 22 qualifying slots available for everyone either way.
In those tournaments, the hosts qualified automatically. Everybody knew where they stood from the start of qualification. If you finish in X position in your qualification group, you qualify for the tournament/for a playoff.

In this process, they don't. It'll also depend on how host nations are doing in qualification. If Wales (for example) are the only team that fail to qualify on merit, then they get given a back-up berth, which means that 1 team who would otherwise have qualified get dropped.

You could end up with a farcical situation where, if Ireland win on the last day and qualify on merit, then (for example) Turkey's second place finish in another group earns them a spot in the finals, but if Ireland lose on the last day and consequently need the back-up berth, then Turkey's second place is no longer enough.

[elatedscum]

In those tournaments, the hosts qualified automatically. Everybody knew where they stood from the start of qualification. If you finish in X position in your qualification group, you qualify for the tournament/for a playoff.

In this process, they don't. It'll also depend on how host nations are doing in qualification. If Wales (for example) are the only team that fail to qualify on merit, then they get given a back-up berth, which means that 1 team who would otherwise have qualified get dropped.

You could end up with a farcical situation where, if Ireland win on the last day and qualify on merit, then (for example) Turkey's second place finish in another group earns them a spot in the finals, but if Ireland lose on the last day and consequently need the back-up berth, then Turkey's second place is no longer enough.

You could end up with the realistic scenario where for example, England and Scotland qualify automatically. Say we're neck and neck for a place, Wales are third in their group and NI are 4th/5th. If we win, the Nordies qualify, if we lose, we get the bonus slot and they don't go to the euros...

[EalingGreen]

It almost certainly won't be ready. There's too much opposition.
Casement may not be ready (suitable, more like), but for other reasons, not because of "opposition". On the contrary, politicians from Stormont, Westminster and even the Dail are falling over themselves to promise money for it.



It wouldn't be the worst idea in the world to start building a new stadium at NUI Galway and be prepared to step in when Belfast inevitably falls through. Worst case scenario is that there's a miracle in Andytown, but it would still be an excellent resource for the university and a new home for Connacht Rugby and Galway United.It wouldn't be the "worst idea" only if eg you considered awarding Israel a host spot, with the proviso that they play their games somewhere on the Gaza strip.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, should Casement not turn out to be suitable, then there are several suitable stadia already existing in England, which could step in at a moment's notice.

[EalingGreen]

I'm totally underwhelmed by this. We bid for a tournament and the GAA gets a new stadium. The reported gains to the FAI wouldn't fund a RTE barter account's expenditure on rugby tickets.Tbf though, at least Leo gets to divert some of your hard-earned taxes towards a GAA stadium in Northern Irela... er, I mean The North.

And what better measure could there be to ensure National Reunification?

[osarusan]

You could end up with the realistic scenario where for example, England and Scotland qualify automatically. Say we're neck and neck for a place, Wales are third in their group and NI are 4th/5th. If we win, the Nordies qualify, if we lose, we get the bonus slot and they don't go to the euros...
In that situation, we'd still be less unworthy of a spot than NI or Wales, so NI's elimination wouldn't bother me as much as the fact that some other, non-host nation who qualified on merit would be eliminated.

[NeverFeltBetter]

I really shouldn't be surprised that the legacy of this co-hosting will be a GAA stadium in another country. And yet.

[yurt]

You'd think that we actually lost the bid given how much negativity there is on here. We all know that we are massively lacking in football infrastructure at every level and every corner of the country. Hosting major tournament games wouldn't have been anywhere near my mandate for the FAI but now that we have it I'm delighted. Qualification is now massively weighted in our favour and I for one am happy to take any advantage that's going. If it wasn't use it'd be someone else.

The Aviva was only ever going to be the one non-GAA stadium in Ireland capable of hosting major tournaments within the decade. The way I see it we are getting an awful lot in return for very little.

A more realistic bid for building a legacy would be for an under-21 Championship in 10-15 years time with NI providing 4 stadiums with 20K+ each.

The Nations league now comes into even sharper focus. Where we finish in the 26/27 version will likely be what's used to determine the rankings of the host nations. If we can get promoted in the next version it'd guarantee a top 16 finish in 26/27, if we were to get relegated (much more plausible) there's a decent chance we could be the only host nation in league C come the important iteration and we'd be completely dependent on 3 of the other 4 doing it proper to qualify.