March 22 – The UK and Ireland are set to be named as the joint hosts of Euro 2028, with no rival bid having come forward before tomorrow’s deadline for “expressions of interest”, according to reports.
Barring a surprise last-minute entry, UEFA will make a formal announcement in early April to appoint England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and will set a deadline of the end of the year to receive all the necessary government guarantees.
The five associations only announced their intention to bid for the tournament last month, opting to abandon their campaign for the 2030 World Cup which seems likely go to South America.
That is the centenary of the tournament – first held in Uruguay – and a joint bid from Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Paraguay is currently the favourite.
Russia had been in contention for Euro 2028 but abandoned interest following the invasion of Ukraine while Turkey’s keenness has apparently cooled.
It is widely expected that the 2028 tournament will be the first to feature 32 teams rather than the current 24. One immediate issue would be whether UEFA allows all five hosts to qualify automatically.
When it announced the bidding process for 2028 last October, UEFA said: “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.
“In case of more than two joint host associations, the automatic qualification of all the host teams cannot be guaranteed and shall be subject to a decision to be made in conjunction with decisions concerning the qualifying competition.”
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