Bid leaders have promised Euro 2028 will be accessible and affordable after UEFA officially awarded the tournament to the UK and Ireland.
The five-nation bid was formally approved on Tuesday, having gone into decision day unopposed following the withdrawal of Turkey.
Politicians including British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hailed the announcement, with the tournament set to bring £2.6billion in benefits to the host economies, according to analysts.
Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham said it was vital that the tournament be open to as many people from the five nations as possible.
Ten venues in nine cities were included in the final bid document submitted to UEFA in April – Wembley, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the Etihad Stadium, Villa Park, Bramley-Moore Dock, St James’ Park, Hampden Park, the Aviva Stadium, a redeveloped Casement Park and the Principality Stadium.
Along with fan-zone sites and training grounds in other locations, Bullingham said the task was to ensure no-one feels cut off from the action, regardless of location or financial means.
“You’ve seen the selected stadia are spread throughout the whole of the country, so everyone has an event within touching distance,” he said in Nyon on Tuesday.
“It is critical that the whole country feels they are involved and we have that excitement throughout every part of the country.”
Bullingham confirmed all five countries would enter qualification, with UEFA having reserved two ‘safety net’ places for any that miss out.
Tickets for Euro 2024 start at 30 euros (£26) and, asked about how important it was to ensure affordability, Bullingham said: “We will absolutely always do that.
“We want the whole country to be engaged and experience being part of the Euros.”
Football Association of Wales chief executive Noel Mooney said hosting a major championship in the country was “pure gold” and revealed that the bid proposal was for Cardiff’s Principality Stadium to host the opening match, subject to UEFA approval.
Mooney said: “Cardiff would be perfect for the opening match. Look, we could be greedy and say we’d love the final as well, but then you’re denying 15 to 20,000 people the chance to be at a final.
“I think the way we’ve done the stadiums is very, very good. We’re hoping to get a quarter-final as well.
“The association’s job is to grow the game, to promote the game, to get more boys and girls involved, that’s our job. To have a major championship come to our country for the first time is pure gold.”
Mooney added that the proposal was for Wembley to host the semi-finals and final as things stood.Bullingham said the awarding of Euro 2028 to the UK and Ireland vindicated the decision by the five nations to turn away from the 2030 World Cup.
The countries had originally scoped out the feasibility of hosting the 2030 finals, but switched focus in February 2022. At the time Bullingham had spoken of the “uncertainty” surrounding a bid for the global event.
FIFA announced last week that a proposal for a three-continent, six-nation hosting of 2030 had been approved by its Council, opening the door for Saudi Arabia to likely stage the following tournament in 2034.
Asked whether he felt that was evidence the UK and Irish FAs had gone down the correct path, Bullingham said: “We have never doubted we made the right decision.
“We were choosing between two tournaments, one we felt we had a really good chance of winning, one we felt we at best would have been a real long shot to win.
“We chose to go for 2028 and we are delighted we did. We think the announcement helps vindicate the decision and we think we will put on a brilliant tournament that will make a massive impact on all parts of the country on our facilities, on the economic impact on the country, on fans and the feel-good factor.
“So we are delighted we have secured the tournament.”
Sunak, who had been at England’s training base at St George’s Park on Tuesday, welcomed UEFA’s announcement, saying: “I grew up with Euro 96 being one of the most amazing memories of my childhood.
“And we have a chance to do that all over again for lots more people, just like we did last year with the Lionesses.
“We host tournaments better than anyone else. It’s going to be a massive boost for the economy.
“We’re going to welcome millions of people to the country and it’s going to inspire a whole new generation.”
Gravenberch ready to show off Liverpool form ‘to the world’, says Gakpo
Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo expressed his pride in seeing compatriot Ryan Gravenberch show off his qualities ‘to the whole world’ after a fine start to the Premier League season.
Though the Netherlands pair did not become teammates at Liverpool until late summer of 2023, Gakpo knew well Gravenberch’s talents from their respective Eredivisie spells with PSV Eindhoven and Ajax.
Now in his second season at Anfield, Gravenberch has drawn widespread plaudits for his form in a new deeper-lying midfield role under new head coach Arne Slot, having largely been used as a substitute under Jurgen Klopp.
Gravenberch is the only midfielder in Europe's big-five leagues to both make 30+ tackles (30) and 30+ interceptions (33) in all competitions this season, and Gakpo insisted that his Netherlands team-mate can continue to go from strength to strength, starting against Southampton this Sunday.
“We [the Dutchmen at Liverpool] knew Ryan already from the Eredivisie when he played at Ajax, and I think everybody knew already that he is this good,” Gakpo recently told Men in Blazers.
“After that, he made a move to Bayern Munich, and maybe he didn’t play that much over there, but still everybody in Holland knew how good he could be when he was playing.
“And I think maybe the manager [Slot] also knew this. At the beginning of the season, he put him in a slightly different position, but he gave him the confidence to play there.
“Ryan showed his quality in that position, grabbed his chance as well and turned out to be a good match. He is playing outstandingly for us this season.
“I’m very happy that we can see Ryan, as we Dutchmen already knew, but now he can show it to the whole world. I’m very proud of him.”
Southampton, meanwhile, welcome the Reds to St. Mary’s on the back of a 2-0 defeat to Wolves ahead of the international break, leaving them bottom of the table after 11 games of the season.
The Saints are the lowest scorers in the Premier League this season (seven), while only Crystal Palace (5.1%) have a lower shot conversion rate than Russell Martin’s side (6.2%). Just 30.1% of Southampton’s shots have been on target this term (34/113), a league-low ratio.
However, the Southampton head coach is relishing the opportunity of facing Liverpool, with his players performing well against the likes of Arsenal and Manchester City already this term.
"I'm really excited about Sunday. We're playing the best team in the country at the moment, on their current form and what they have been doing with their manager, built on an incredible foundation from the previous manager, so I'm really looking forward to it,” Martin said.
"I think we showed the guys the Premier League table last season and how much it changed by the end and by the end of December. But it's honestly such an exciting month.
"People talk about the difficulty of the game and every competition we face in the next four or five games, but it's what we all worked so hard for. We should be excited about the challenge.
“I think teams have shown in the last few weeks that you can pick up big results against big teams, good opposition, and we are going to have to. Our level of performance against teams at the top end of the table has been good on the whole."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Southampton – Mateus Fernandes
Fernandes has become a mainstay in the Southampton team, starting the last eight Premier League games in a row, and has been one of Martin’s standout performers in a lacklustre start to the campaign.
In the Saints’ 2-0 defeat to Wolves last time out, the Portuguese contributed a team-high expected goals (xG) tally of 0.22 from his three shots, while only Yukinari Sugawara (10) and Flynn Downes (12) have created more chances in the top-flight than Fernandes (eight) this season.
Liverpool – Mohamed Salah
Salah has both scored and assisted in the same match 35 times in the Premier League (including four already this term), just one shy of Wayne Rooney’s record of 36 games with both a goal and an assist in the competition. The Egyptian has been directly involved in 11 goals (seven goals, four assists) in 11 Premier League appearances against Southampton.
He has also been directly involved in 67% of Liverpool’s Premier League goals this season (14/21 – eight goals, six assists), the highest ratio by a player for any side in the division in 2024-25. Indeed, only Matt Le Tissier for Southampton in 1993-94 (69% - 34/49) has scored or assisted a higher proportion of a side’s goals in a single season in the competition.
MATCH PREDICTION: LIVERPOOL WIN
Liverpool have won nine of their 11 Premier League games under new head coach Slot (D1 L1). A win over Southampton will see the Dutchman become the joint-fastest manager to reach 10 wins from the start of a Premier League career (12 games), alongside Guus Hiddink in May 2009 and Carlo Ancelotti in November 2009 (both with Chelsea).
The Reds’ last Premier League game against the Saints was a 4-4 away draw in May 2023 – they conceded as many goals in that game as they had in their previous six visits to St Mary’s combined.
Southampton have won just one of their last 14 Premier League games against Liverpool (D3 L10), a 1-0 home victory in January 2021.
This will also be the first Premier League match between the side starting the day bottom of the table and the side starting the day top since April 2023, and Southampton’s 3-3 draw away to Arsenal. The league leaders are unbeaten in 14 such matches (W12 D2) since Wolves won 2-1 against Manchester United in February 2011.
However, Southampton have only lost one of their last eight Premier League home games against sides starting the day at the summit (W2 D5) and are unbeaten in their last four (W2 D2 – including a 1-0 win over Liverpool in January 2021) since a 0-1 defeat to Man City in May 2018.
But Martin’s side have lost nine of their 11 Premier League games this season (W1 D1). Only seven sides in English top-flight history have reached 10 defeats in 12 or fewer matches from the start of a campaign, with all seven going on to be relegated.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Southampton – 9.7%
Draw – 12.6%
Liverpool – 77.7%
Taylor proud of 'gritty' Man City display in Hammarby victory
Gareth Taylor was pleased with how his Manchester City players handled the atmosphere against Hammarby to secure their passage into the Champions League quarter-finals.
Khadija Shaw opened the scoring in the 31st minute before Ellen Wangerheim restored parity shortly after the interval with a finish from close range.
But Shaw continued her fine start to the campaign, scoring the winner to become City's all-time top scorer in the competition, surpassing Georgia Stanway and Janine Beckie (both six).
The result saw City make it to the last eight of the competition for the first time since 2021, though the encounter was far from comfortable at the Tele2 Arena on Thursday.
Hammarby ended the contest with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.15 compared to the visitors' 1.07, despite both sides having 14 shots throughout the match.
However, City maintained their unbeaten record against Swedish sides in the competitor (W6), and Taylor was proud of his side's "gritty" display in Stockholm.
“I’m really pleased. It was about qualification for us tonight," Taylor said.
"There were a couple of ways we could do it. Obviously, we knew a point was enough, but I don’t think the players were thinking that way.
“It was a really gritty performance on a really difficult on this pitch. It probably doesn’t look like that for the viewers at home watching it.
"But it was a really lively surface and we worked so hard.
“I felt there were some areas we could control the play better. I have to give credit to Hammarby, they were really aggressive.
"The referee was on our side a little bit in the first half and maybe not in the second.
“I’m really pleased and proud of the players, they really dug in tonight. You come away from a hostile environment with a win.”
Serie A side Genoa confirm sacking of head coach Gilardino
Serie A side Genoa have confirmed the departure of their head coach Alberto Gilardino, with Patrick Vieira reportedly on his way in.
Gilardino, a World Cup winner with Italy in 2006, leaves the club with them sitting just one point above the relegation size with 10 points from 12 matches this season.
A former striker who played for clubs including Genoa, Parma, AC Milan and Fiorentina, Gilardino took charge of Genoa in 2022 and helped them earn promotion to the top division before a 11th-place finish during the 2023-24 season.
"The club thanks Gilardino for the goals achieved together over the years and wishes him the best for his career," Genoa said in a statement.
The 42-year-old saw his side salvage a late 1-1 draw against Cesc Fabregas' Como in their last match before the international break.
Genoa were also knocked out of the Coppa Italia in the second round following a defeat to Sampdoria on penalties in September.
Arsenal legend Vieira is set to replace him, according to multiple reports.
The former France midfielder has been out of work since leaving Strasbourg by mutual consent in July.
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