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The English squad will initiate their UEFA Euro 2028 journey at the Manchester City’s stadium, on the condition that they achieve the anticipated qualification for a tournament hosted across the bulk of Britain and the Irish Republic.

Manchester City’s home ground has not hosted an English men’s match since the spring of 2016, when Turkey were beaten 2-1 in a friendly, but is highly likely to stage the England side for their opening fixture on a Saturday in June 2028.

The English side are set to play their concluding group fixtures at Wembley, but, in the event of winning their group, their knockout stage opener would be held at the Newcastle stadium. Placing second would mean starting the knockouts at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Championship Launch and Protest

The championship was unveiled at an ceremony in central London on the previous evening. Senior figures from European football’s governing body and the host FAs were heckled as they entered the venue by about 50 activists, who demanded Israel’s national side to be kicked out from the sport because of the conflict in Gaza.

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

Event Timeline

The opening game of Euro 2028 will be held at the the national stadium of Wales in the Welsh capital, on Friday 9 June, a match that will involve the Dragons if they make it.

Wembley Stadium will host the penultimate rounds and the title decider, which will be played on July 9, 2028 with a kick-off time at 5:00 PM.

It is expected that an earlier start, which will also be implemented for European club finals from the upcoming season, will attract family audiences and help engage a wider spectrum of viewers.

Qualifying Teams

The Irish team are due to play their initial fixture at the Dublin Arena and Scotland would do the same at the national stadium of Scotland.

All four host countries’ teams will enter the preliminary stage; two automatic spots will be set aside for any that do not reach Euro 2028 through that route.

Stadiums and Knockout Stage

The Birmingham venue and Spurs’ ground round out the nine tournament locations. Every stadium will hold at least one elimination game, with the quarterfinal matches held at each country’s national stadium.

The qualifying draw will be held in Belfast, which was dropped as a venue city last year when it became clear the proposed venue could not be renovated in time, on 6 December 2026.

Tournament Vision

“This will be a championship for the supporters and a celebration of everything we value about the football – its emotion and power to bring people together.”

In excess of three million passes, a record for a Euro tournament, are anticipated to be made available to fans.