The UK and Ireland set to host Euro 2028 after bid unopposed

Reports say Wednesday's deadline will only feature the one submitted bid

Hampden Park
Author: Gabriel AntoniazziPublished 22nd Mar 2022

The UK and Ireland's bid to host Euro 2028 is set to be unopposed, according to reports.

The deadline set by UEFA is 5pm on Wednesday, with the Times and other outlets reporting that no other bidders have come forward to declare an interest.

UEFA said that the bidders would be announced on April 5, with the official host announcement set for September 2023 but with no other countries set to come forward, the five-nation bid is set to be confirmed on April 7.

If successful, it means there will be no UK based bid to host the 2030 World Cup, as had previously been mooted by the FA.

Italy had been interested in staging the tournament but now look set to bid for the edition four years later, Euro 2032.

Speaking last month, Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham said: "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."

It is widely expected that the 2028 tournament will be the first to feature 32 teams rather than the current 24 and it will run from June to July that summer.

If UEFA does declare the UK and Ireland bid successful, the issue of which countries, if any, qualify automatically will have to be resolved.

UEFA said last October, when it announced the bidding process for 2028: "In order to ensure compatibility with the competition's sporting and commercial format, the automatic qualification of the host team(s) shall be guaranteed only for a single host or a maximum of two joint host associations, as always implemented in the past.

However, with the tournament set to expand, the situation could be reviewed by UEFA.

The bid must contain at least 10 stadiums to host matches, with a minimum capacity of 30,000.

Wembley hosted seven games at Euro 2020, including both semi-finals and the final, whilst Hampden hosted four.