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The England national team will embark on their UEFA Euro 2028 journey at the Manchester City’s stadium, assuming they achieve the anticipated entry for a competition taking place in the majority of the UK and the Ireland.

City’s stadium has not staged an Three Lions game since eight years ago, when the Turkish team were defeated 2-1 in a friendly, but is expected to stage the Three Lions for their first match on June 10, 2028.

England are set to play their concluding group fixtures at Wembley, but, if they top their group, their knockout stage opener would take place at St James’ Park. Finishing second would mean starting the knockouts at Everton’s ground.

Competition Launch and Demonstration

The event was inaugurated at an ceremony in a London landmark on Wednesday evening. Senior figures from the tournament organizers and the host football associations were barracked as they arrived the site by approximately 50 pro-Palestine demonstrators, who demanded Israel to be removed from the sport because of the situation in Gaza.

Banners were displayed with messages reading “Show Israel the red card” and “You are complicit”, while demonstrators chanted: “Kick Israel out.”

Championship Timeline

The inaugural fixture of Euro 2028 will be staged at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, on Friday 9 June, a fixture that will involve the Welsh team if they secure a place.

Wembley Stadium will host the penultimate rounds and the title decider, which will be staged on a Sunday in July 2028 with a kick-off time at 5pm.

It is hoped that an earlier kick-off, which will also be used for European club finals from next season, will cater to families and help engage a wider spectrum of fans.

Qualifying Teams

The Irish team are set to play their first game at the Dublin stadium and Scotland would play similarly at the national stadium of Scotland.

Each host nation’s squad will take part in the qualification process; two automatic spots will be set aside for any that fail to qualify for Euro 2028 through that route.

Venues and Knockout Stage

Villa Park and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium round out the event’s nine venues. Every stadium will hold at least one knockout match, with the quarterfinal matches staged at the national stadium of each host.

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

Tournament Vision

“It will be a championship for the fans and a celebration of everything we love about the football – its emotion and power to foster unity.”

Over 3 million admissions, a unprecedented number for a Euro tournament, are anticipated to be offered to supporters.