The United Kingdom and Ireland’s combined candidature to host Euro 2028 currently has no competitors after Turkey withdrew from the bidding process, UEFA announced on Wednesday.
Britain and Ireland abandoned plans to bid for the 2030 World Cup in order to focus on hosting the European Championship, despite the fact that their candidature was already the favourite for the 2028 tournament.
The hosts of the 2028 and 2032 Euros will be announced by European football’s governing body at a meeting of its executive committee next Tuesday, October 10.
Turkey, which has unsuccessfully tried to host every Euro since 2008, was originally a candidate for both 2028 and 2032.
However, in July, it agreed to join Italy in a bid for the 2032 edition, without indicating whether it would withdraw from the 2028 race.
UEFA announced on Wednesday that Turkey would devote all of its efforts to the joint candidature with Italy.
“As indicated by the FA of Turkey with its submission of the request for a joint bid, their bid to stage UEFA Euro 2028 is consequently withdrawn,” the organisation announced.
That means the choice on both rounds should be a formality, with the United Kingdom and Ireland unchallenged in 2028 and Italy and Turkey unopposed in 2032.
England, which hosted the women’s version of the last year, previously hosted a men’s major tournament in 1996, when just 16 countries competed.
It also held the final of the 24-team Euro 2020, which was postponed a year owing to the epidemic, at Wembley Stadium.
During the tournament, England and Scotland hosted 12 games.
Italy also hosted 2020 edition matches in Rome, but has not hosted a tournament on its own since the World Cup in 1990.
In 1968, it held the final stages of the four-team Euro, and in 1980, it hosted the final stages of the eight-team event.
Turkey has never been awarded a major international competition, despite hosting this year’s Champions League final in Istanbul in June.
Russia initially expressed interest in hosting either the 2028 or 2032 edition, however UEFA later stated that any bid from the Russian Football Union would be rejected.
Due to the conflict in Ukraine, Russian clubs and national teams were barred from participating in any UEFA competitions.
Next year’s Euro will be held in Germany, from June 14 to July 14.
