🔗 Share this article The Three Lions to Begin the European Championship 2028 Journey at City’s Home Ground The English squad will embark on their UEFA Euro 2028 campaign at the the home of Manchester City, provided that they achieve the expected qualification for a tournament taking place in the bulk of Britain and the Ireland. Manchester City’s home ground has not hosted an England men’s fixture since eight years ago, when the Turkish team were defeated 2-1 in a exhibition match, but is almost certain to host the Three Lions for their first match on June 10, 2028. The team are planned to play their concluding group fixtures at Wembley, but, in the event of winning Group B, their last-16 tie would take place at Newcastle’s St James’ Park. Finishing second would mean starting the elimination stage at the Hill Dickinson Stadium. Tournament Kickoff and Rally The tournament was unveiled at an gathering in Piccadilly Circus on Wednesday evening. Key representatives from the tournament organizers and the host FAs were heckled as they approached the site by approximately 50 activists, who urged Israel’s national side to be removed from international football because of the conflict in Gaza. Banners were displayed with phrases stating “Show Israel the red card” and “You are complicit”, while demonstrators called out: “Kick Israel out.” Tournament Fixture List The opening game of the European Championship will be played at the Cardiff’s stadium in the Welsh capital, on June 9, 2028, a fixture that will include Wales if they qualify. The national stadium will host the penultimate rounds and the title decider, which will be held on Sunday 9 July with a start time at 5:00 PM. It is expected that an earlier kick-off, which will also be adopted for Champions League finals from next season, will appeal to families and help reach a more diverse set of viewers. Host Nations The Republic of Ireland are scheduled to play their initial fixture at the Dublin Arena and the Tartan Army would do the same at Glasgow’s Hampden Park. Each host nation’s squad will participate in the preliminary stage; two automatic spots will be set aside for any that miss out on the tournament through the standard process. Venues and Knockout Stage Aston Villa’s stadium and Spurs’ ground complete the nine tournament locations. Every stadium will hold at least one knockout match, with the quarterfinal matches held at the national stadium of each host. The qualification draw will be conducted in Belfast, which was dropped as a venue city last year when it was revealed the Belfast stadium could not be renovated in time, on December 6, 2026. Tournament Vision “This will be a championship for the supporters and a festival of everything we value about the game – its passion and power to foster unity.” Over 3 million passes, a record for a men’s European Championship, are projected to be made available to supporters.