England to Begin the European Championship 2028 Campaign at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium
The English squad will embark on their 2028 European Championship campaign at the Etihad Stadium, assuming they achieve the relatively straightforward entry for a competition taking place in most of the United Kingdom and the Ireland.
Manchester City’s home ground has not hosted an Three Lions game since eight years ago, when Turkey were defeated 2-1 in a friendly, but is almost certain to welcome the national team for their first match on Saturday 10 June 2028.
The team are scheduled to play their concluding group fixtures at Wembley, but, if they top the preliminary round, their last-16 tie would be held at the Newcastle stadium. Securing the runner-up spot would mean commencing the knockouts at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Tournament Kickoff and Rally
The tournament was unveiled at an event in central London on the previous evening. Senior figures from European football’s governing body and the host football associations were heckled as they arrived the site by about 50 activists, who called for the Israeli team to be expelled from international football because of the situation in Gaza.
Banners were raised with messages saying “Show Israel the red card” and “You are complicit”, while demonstrators chanted: “Kick Israel out.”
Event Timeline
The inaugural fixture of the European Championship will be staged at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, on Friday 9 June, a match that will feature Wales if they qualify.
Wembley Stadium will host both semi-finals and the championship match, which will be staged on July 9, 2028 with a kick-off time at late afternoon.
It is expected that an afternoon start, which will also be used for Champions League finals from the following campaign, will appeal to family audiences and help reach a more diverse set of audiences.
Participating Countries
The Irish team are due to play their initial fixture at the Dublin Arena and the Scottish team would do the same at the national stadium of Scotland.
The national sides of all four hosts will take part in the qualification process; two guaranteed slots will be set aside for any that miss out on Euro 2028 through the standard process.
Locations and Knockout Stage
The Birmingham venue and Spurs’ ground complete the event’s nine venues. Every stadium will hold at least one knockout match, with the quarterfinal matches played at each country’s national stadium.
The qualifying draw will be staged in Belfast, which was removed as a tournament location last year when it emerged the proposed venue could not be redeveloped in time, on a date in late 2026.
Leadership Comment
“It will be a tournament for the supporters and a festival of everything we cherish about the game – its passion and ability to foster unity.”
Over 3 million admissions, a unprecedented number for a UEFA European Championship, are expected to be made available to supporters.