🔗 Share this article

The English squad will commence their 2028 European Championship journey at the the home of Manchester City, provided that they achieve the expected entry for a competition staged throughout the bulk of Britain and the Irish Republic.

City’s stadium has not staged an England men’s match since the spring of 2016, when Turkey were overcome 2-1 in a friendly, but is highly likely to stage the England side for their first match on June 10, 2028.

The English side are planned to play their concluding group fixtures at Wembley, but, in the event of winning Group B, their round of 16 match would be held at the Newcastle stadium. Finishing second would mean beginning the knockouts at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Competition Opening and Demonstration

The tournament was launched at an event in a London landmark on Wednesday evening. High-ranking officials from Uefa and the host FAs were heckled as they entered the venue by around fifty activists, who called for Israel’s national side to be expelled from the sport because of the Gaza crisis.

Signs were held up with messages saying “Show Israel the red card” and “You are complicit”, while demonstrators chanted: “Kick Israel out.”

Championship Timeline

The first match of the tournament will be staged at the Principality Stadium in the Welsh capital, on June 9, 2028, a fixture that will include the Welsh team if they make it.

Wembley will host both semi-finals and the title decider, which will be staged on Sunday 9 July with a commencement at 5:00 PM.

It is hoped that an earlier kick-off, which will also be used for Champions League finals from the following campaign, will attract family audiences and help engage a wider spectrum of audiences.

Participating Countries

The Republic of Ireland are set to play their opening match at the Dublin Arena and Scotland would play similarly at Glasgow’s Hampden Park.

Each host nation’s squad will enter the qualification process; two guaranteed slots will be set aside for any that miss out on the finals through the qualification path.

Stadiums and Elimination Phase

Villa Park and Spurs’ ground finalize the event’s nine venues. All will hold at least one knockout match, with the quarterfinal matches staged at the national stadium of each host.

The qualification draw will be staged in Belfast, which was dropped as a host city last year when it emerged the proposed venue could not be renovated in time, on December 6, 2026.

Official Statement

“It will be a competition for the followers and a festival of everything we love about the football – its emotion and capacity to unite individuals.”

Over 3 million tickets, a record for a Euro tournament, are expected to be made available to fans.