Tottenham Hotspur Stadium named one of 10 hosts for EURO 2028

The United Kingdom and Ireland will serve as joint-hosts for the 2028 European Championships, and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will be one of the host stadiums for the competition. UEFA announced the winning bid yesterday and the list of ten host stadiums today.

It’s hardly a surprise. The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is the newest in the UK, at least until the 52k Everton Stadium is completed and opens this summer. Spurs’ home ground was purpose-built to host European events of this magnitude, and it’s notable that it was one of the two London-based stadiums to be chosen along with the 90k-seater Wembley Stadium.

Here’s a list of the ten stadia that will serve as competition hosts along with their seating capacity.

• London — Wembley Stadium (90,652)
• Cardiff — Principality Stadium (73,952)
• London — Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (62,322)
• Manchester — Etihad Stadium (61,000)
• Liverpool — Everton Stadium (52,679)
• Newcastle — St James’ Park (52,305)
• Birmingham — Villa Park (52,190)
• Glasgow — Hampden Park (52,032)
• Dublin — Aviva Stadium (51,711)
• Belfast — Casement Park (34,500)

Because this is a joint bid, naturally you have to have a mix of stadia both in the UK and in Ireland, and representation in England, Scotland, Cardiff, and Northern Ireland. Even so there are some interesting choices here. Wembley and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium make the most sense if you’re only going to pick two stadia in London — one for the capacity and the other for the amenities. Interestingly, Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium gets the nod over the iconic Old Trafford, which has a higher capacity of 74k but is an older ground.

Two national team stadiums were also selected — Cardiff’s Principality Stadium and Hampden Park in Glasgow. Aviva Stadium was the only Irish ground selected, which is also interesting, but there just aren’t very many association football stadiums that meet UEFA standards for hosting a competition of that magnitude.

The one that kind of sticks out like a sore thumb is Casement Park in Belfast with a capacity of only 34.5k, but if you’re going for representation then you’re kind of stuck there — it’s the largest stadium and the home of national team football in Northern Ireland. That said, according to The Athletic it currently sits “derelict” with plans to renovate it for the tournament currently delayed.

And before anyone else asks, no I don’t see the Emirates on that list either. Weird!

EURO 2028 will be the first time that a UK country has hosted the competition since England in 1996. This is the first time that Ireland has hosted the competition in any capacity in the tournament’s history.