Europe’s footballing body UEFA has announced that Turkiye and Italy’s joint bid to host the 2032 European Championship has been successful, while the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland will host the 2028 edition.
The news was announced by UEFA chief Aleksander Čeferin at the soccer governing body’s headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, today following UEFA’s Executive Committee meeting earlier this morning, Tuesday 10 October, where the bids for the two tournaments was approved.
Among those present for the big news in Nyon were the legendary former goalkeepers of both nations, Italy’s Gianluigi Buffon and Turkiye’s Volkan Demirel, who posed together, as did Gabriele Gravina and Mehmet Büyükekşi, respectively the President of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) and the President of the Turkish Football Federation (TFF).
Today’s announcement about the 2028 and 2032 tournament hosts was a formality after Turkiye withdrew its bid for Euro 2028 last week, leaving the joint bid from England, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Scotland and Wales as the only proposal on the table.
The Turks instead opted to bid for the 2032 tournament, combining their ambitions to host the European Championship with Italy, which was looked upon favourably by UEFA.
Sharing the news on X, formerly Twitter, TFF President Mehmet Büyükekşi said: “We crowned our [Turkish Republic’s] centenary with the European Football Championship”.
TFF Başkanı Mehmet Büyükekşi:
“100. yılımızı Avrupa Futbol Şampiyonası ile taçlandırdık”
Türkiye uzun yıllardır devam eden Avrupa Futbol Şampiyonası’na ev sahipliği yapma hedefine ulaştı. UEFA Yönetim Kurulu, İsviçre’deki merkezinde düzenlenen törenle 2032 Avrupa Futbol… pic.twitter.com/dlJ7rMZRPK
— TFF (@TFF_Org) October 10, 2023
Germany will host Euro 2024, taking place next summer. Currently, 53 nations are competing for one of 23 places up for grabs, with the tournament hosts qualifying automatically. The next round of group qualifying games are scheduled for this and next week.
