The bidding process for UEFA Euro 2028 was the process by which the location for the 18th European Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2028, has been selected.
Hosting requirements
Bid requirements must contain specific criteria relating to the respect of human rights, based on the United Nations "Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights".[1][2][3]
The tournament is expected to follow the format of the 2016, 2020 and 2024 editions, with a total of 51 matches taking place for a duration of up to 32 days, with 24 teams competing in the tournament.
The required capacities for the ten stadiums were as follows:[4]
England, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales – On 5 January 2022, the football associations of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland announced a joint Ireland and Home Nations bid for the UEFA Euro 2028, which meant their own 2030 World Cup bid would be unsustainable.[8][9] The five associations confirmed on 7 February that they would drop their 2030 interest and would instead focus on Euro 2028.[10] On 5 March 2022, media outlets in Ireland and UK erroneously reported that the Ireland and UK bid would be the sole remaining bid, with Turkey set to withdraw its bid, and Russia barred from applying.[11][12]
On 12 April 2023, the 10 host stadiums were revealed:[13][14]
Italy – In February 2019, Italian Football Federation President Gabriele Gravina told Sky Sport Italia that the federation was considering a bid.[22] The bid was proposed again by Gravina some few days after Italy's win at Euro 2020.[23] In February 2022, the Italian federation announced it would bid for Euro 2032, instead of 2028, as it would allow them more time to redevelop facilities.[24]
Turkey
Turkey – On 15 August 2019, the Türkiye Football Federation announced that Turkey would bid to host Euro 2028.[25] The Federation confirmed the submission of its application on 23 March 2022.[26] Turkey's bid is the sixth consecutive bid of the country, having been unsuccessful on the previous five occasions (2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, and 2024). On 12 April 2023, TFF revealed a list 10 stadiums for both 2028 and 2032 bids:[27]
On 28 July 2023, UEFA received request from TFF and FGIC to merge their 2032 hosting bids into a combined bid. On 4 October 2023 - it was announced that Turkey had withdrawn their bid.[28]
Ineligible bids
Russia – On 12 June 2021, Alexej Sorokin, the organising committee director of Euro 2020 host Saint Petersburg, proposed an application from Russia for Euro 2028 or 2032.[29] This was reaffirmed on 23 March 2022, the deadline for bids.[30] On 2 May 2022, UEFA declared their bids for 2028 and 2032 as ineligible due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, citing that it breaches article 16.2 of the Bid Regulations, which state "each bidder shall ensure that it does not act in a manner that could bring UEFA, any other bidder, the bidding procedure or European football into disrepute".[31]