Euro 2028: Which stadiums will host matches?

UEFA today confirmed that the UK and Ireland will hosts the European Championships in 2028, with Türkiye and Italy co-hosting the 2032 edition.

For 2028, ten venues have been chosen to stage matches, with this your complete guide to these stadiums.

Wembley Stadium, London- 90,000

Wembley Stadium is the second-largest stadium in Europe and, given that it’s the biggest in the UK, is widely-expected to stage the Euro 2028 Final, as well as many other high-profile fixtures.

The old Wembley hosted the finals of both World Cup 1966 and Euro ‘96, while the new stadia, which opened it’s doors in 2007, saw Italy defeat England on penalties in the Euro 2020 Final.

This season’s UEFA Champions League Final will also take place in north-west London, the third-time the new Wembley has hosted this fixture, also doing so in 2011 and 2013.

With supporters in attendance, England have only lost one competitive game at Wembley, excluding penalty shootouts, since 2007, so the Three Lions will be hoping to make home advantage count.

Principality Stadium, Cardiff- 73,952

The second-biggest venue at these finals is actually not in England, with the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff boasting a capacity of over 73,000.

English football fans will know this venue best for staging FA Cup, League Cup and EFL play-off finals between 2001 and 2007, during the new Wembley’s construction.

The Principality Stadium also staged football matches during the 2012 Olympics, and saw Real Madrid beat Juventus in the UEFA Champions League Final of 2017.

After opening in the late 1990s, it was also the home of the Welsh football team until 2009 when the Dragons, due to low attendances, switched to the Cardiff City Stadium, which has around half the capacity.

So, since 2011, Wales have only played one match at the Millennium Stadium, this a 4-1 friendly defeat to Spain in October 2018, a match which saw the ground only two-thirds full.

Expect this to change in the months and years leading up to the Euros, but playing games back at Cardiff’s ginormous stadium will be a potentially disruptive adjustment for Wales.

Hampden Park, Glasgow- 65,000 (following proposed reconstruction)

We turn our attention north to Scotland’s national stadium Hampden Park.

Hampden previously staged four matches at Euro 2020, as well as the European Cup Finals of 1960 and 1976 and the 2002 Champions League Final.

Scottish football fans aren’t particularly pleased with the fact they only get one stadium, which is less than London, but the silver lining for the Tartan Army could come if planned reconstruction gets the go-ahead.

Hampden is an out-dated stadium, with supporters a very long way from the pitch, especially behind both goals.

The plans are to change this, as well as expanding the capacity from 51,000 to 65,000, which would benefit all involved.

Right now, the Scotland national team are unbeatable in Mount Florida, winning each of their last six competitive fixtures there, so no one will want to face the co-hosts at Hampden come 2028.

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London- 62,322

There are plenty of secondary London venues to choose from, with Emirates Stadium not even shortlisted and West Ham’s London Stadium cut from the final ten.

Nevertheless, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is the obvious choice, not only because it is the largest of the three, but is also the newest and most-spectacular.

To date, it’s never hosted a football match not involving Spurs, but has staged plenty of other events including NFL, rugby, boxing and concerts, with Lady Gaga and Beyoncé amongst those to perform in N17.

Etihad Stadium, Manchester- 61,598 (following expansion)

You might be surprised to see the Etihad chosen as the Manchester venue, with Old Trafford, which is larger in capacity, snubbed.

The home of Manchester United previously hosted matches during World Cup 1966, Euro ‘96 and the 2012 Olympics, but the derelict state in which it is currently rotting away saw Man City’s stadium chosen instead.

Right now, the City of Manchester Stadium has a capacity of 53,400, but the Sky Blues have planning permission to expand this to almost 62,000 in time for these Euros.

England are frequent visitors to Manchester, smashing North Macedonia at Old Trafford as recently as June.

However, since the Etihad opened for the 2002 Commonwealth games, England have only played there on three occasions, all in friendlies.

Prior to Euro 2004, they drew 1-1 with Japan and then smashed Iceland 6-1, before their only subsequent visit to East Manchester, a 2-1 victory over Türkiye in May 2016.

Everton’s new Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium, Liverpool- 52,679 (following construction)

Just an hours drive down the M62 from Manchester will take one to Liverpool, where another iconic venue has, in tabloid terms, been ‘snubbed’.

Anfield hosted matches at Euro ‘96 but will not be doing so in 2028, because the pitch size does not meet UEFA regulations, currently 101m-long, four meters short of the minimum.

Instead, as was the case for the World Cup in 1966, Everton will get to host on Merseyside’s behalf, although this time their new stadium, currently under construction at Bramley-Moore Dock, staging games.

The Toffees are scheduled to move into their new home for the start of next season in August 2024, although ongoing financial issues mean this may be delayed.

With a planned capacity of 53,000, this venue, located on the banks of the River Mersey, should be spectacular.

St James’ Park, Newcastle- 52,305

The most northerly of England’s six venues is St James’ Park in Newcastle, which will host European Championships football for the second time.

Back in 1996, two group stage games were played in Tyneside, with France beating Romania 1-0 and then Bulgaria 3-1 eight days later.

Currently with a capacity of 52,000, Newcastle United are aiming to expand both the Gallowgate End and East Stand, taking this up to 65,000, although it’s unknown if this’ll happen in time for this tournament.

Villa Park, Birmingham- 52,190 (following proposed expansion)

Given that Wembley has been demolished and rebuilt, Villa Park is technically the only venue on this list that also previously hosted matches at World Cup ‘66 and Euro ‘96.

The venue has also staged 16 England matches, the first in 1899, although the most-recent of those was a goalless draw with Netherlands in 2005.

It’s current capacity is around 42,000, although Aston Villa are planning to expand this by around 10,000 in time for the European Championship Finals, increasing the size of the north stand.

Aviva Stadium, Dublin- 51,711

Major international tournament football is coming to Ireland for the very first time, after the Aviva Stadium withdrew from hosting Euro 2020 matches due to Covid-19.

Opened in 2007 on the site of the old Lansdowne Road, the Aviva is one of the most eye-catching and beautiful stadiums around, with one stand, iconically, significantly smaller than all the others.

The home of Irish football and rugby will host this season’s UEFA Europa League Final in June, having previously staged the 2011 final, in which FC Porto beat Braga 1-0.

With no co-hosts automatically qualifying, the Republic of Ireland will be desperate to qualify for Euro 2028, which would represent their first appearance since 2016, and have the backing of a huge home crowd.

Casement Park, Belfast- 34,500 (following rebuilding)

The most interesting and controversial of the ten venues has been saved for last, as we travel over the boarder to Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland’s home stadium Windsor Park, even after very recent redevelopment, has a capacity of just 18,500, which is way short of UEFA’s minimum requirements, so an alternative had to be found.

Instead, the IFA have put forward Casement Park, which is located a mere 2.4 miles, or an 11 minute drive, away on the other side of Belfast.

This though is controversial because Casement Park has only ever hosted Gaelic Games, Antrim GAA and hurling, so for it to be used for football has not gone down well.

Also, as the picture above demonstrates, the stadium is currently closed and in a state of dereliction, so a lot of redevelopment will be necessary, which won’t be easy in a populated area.