You've probably felt it too. That sudden realization that the next massive tournament is actually closer than it feels. We’re sitting here in 2026, the World Cup is on the horizon, but the euro cup football schedule for 2028 is already making people nervous. Why? Because UEFA just dropped the most complex hosting plan in the history of the sport.
Forget the single-country vibes of Germany 2024.
The 2028 edition is a sprawling, five-nation beast across the UK and Ireland. Honestly, trying to track where your team might play is like trying to solve a Rubik's Cube while riding a unicycle. We’ve got matches in Cardiff, Dublin, Glasgow, and a handful of English cities. It’s a lot.
The 2028 Euro cup football schedule breakdown
The tournament officially kicks off on June 9, 2028. It wraps up exactly one month later on July 9, 2028.
If you're planning to travel, you need to know that the opening match is happening at the National Stadium of Wales in Cardiff. That’s a bit of a shift, isn't it? Usually, we expect the biggest English stadium to take the opener, but Wales gets the spotlight this time.
Wembley isn't being ignored, though. Far from it.
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London’s iconic arch will host eight matches in total, including both semi-finals and the grand final. If you want to see the trophy lifted, you're going to Wembley. Period.
Key Dates for your calendar
- June 9, 2028: Opening Match in Cardiff.
- June 9 – June 21, 2028: Group Stage matches across all nine venues.
- June 24 – June 27, 2028: Round of 16.
- June 30 – July 1, 2028: The Quarter-finals.
- July 4 – July 5, 2028: Semi-finals at Wembley.
- July 9, 2028: The Final at Wembley.
The kick-off times are mostly set for 2 pm, 5 pm, and 8 pm GMT. That's pretty standard, but it’s the travel between cities that will kill your wallet if you don't plan ahead.
Where the actual games are happening
Nine stadiums. That’s the magic number. It was supposed to be ten, but Casement Park in Belfast hit some major snags, so Northern Ireland is currently in a bit of a limbo regarding hosting duties.
Here is how the venues are distributed:
In London, we have Wembley Stadium (86,000 capacity) and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (62,850). Tottenham’s ground is basically a space station that happens to host football, so that’ll be a treat for visiting fans.
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Up north, the Etihad Stadium in Manchester and St James' Park in Newcastle are taking a chunk of the load. Interestingly, Liverpool is using the brand new Everton Stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock rather than Anfield. It's a gorgeous waterfront spot, and honestly, it’s probably better suited for the modern hospitality requirements UEFA demands.
Over in Birmingham, Villa Park is getting a major facelift to handle its four scheduled matches.
The non-English venues are the heavy hitters for their respective nations. You've got the Aviva Stadium in Dublin (7 matches), Hampden Park in Glasgow (6 matches), and the Principality Stadium in Cardiff (6 matches).
The qualifying chaos nobody is talking about
This is where the euro cup football schedule gets weird. Since there are five host nations (England, Scotland, Wales, Republic of Ireland, and Northern Ireland), UEFA can't just give everyone a free pass.
Imagine a tournament where 20% of the teams didn't even have to qualify. It would be a mess.
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Instead, all five hosts have to go through the regular qualifying rounds. UEFA has reserved exactly two "safety net" spots. If, say, England and Scotland qualify normally but Wales and Ireland don't, those two spots go to the best-performing failures among the hosts.
The draw for these qualifying groups is happening in Belfast on December 6, 2026. That is less than a year away.
How to actually get tickets without losing your mind
The ballot is the only way. Don't trust those "VIP Ticket" sites you see on social media. They're usually scams or massively marked-up resales that UEFA will cancel if they catch you.
UEFA expects to sell over three million tickets.
The first massive window for ticket applications usually opens about a year before the tournament, so expect the madness to start in the summer of 2027. If you're a member of your national team's supporters' club (like the England Supporters Travel Club), you get a much better shot at the "Follow My Team" tickets.
Actionable steps for fans right now
- Check your passport expiration: If it expires anytime in 2028, renew it now. Don't wait for the 2027 rush.
- Join a supporters club: This is the only legitimate way to get priority access to the euro cup football schedule ticket allocations.
- Start a "Euro Fund": Travel between London, Dublin, and Glasgow in a single week is going to be incredibly expensive.
- Mark December 6, 2026: That's when we find out who plays who in the qualifiers.
The 2028 tournament is going to be a logistical challenge for fans, but the atmosphere of a multi-nation UK and Ireland bid is likely to be unmatched. Keep an eye on the Belfast situation, as any changes there could shift a few more games to the existing stadiums.