European Championship 2028: format, schedule and qualifying

Nine stadiums in four host countries, 24 teams, 51 matches from 9 June to 9 July 2028 — and a qualifying campaign that starts with the draw in Belfast on 6 December 2026.

Hosts and venues

The 2028 finals are shared by England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland. England provides six of the nine stadiums: Wembley Stadium and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, the new Everton stadium on the Liverpool waterfront, St James' Park in Newcastle and Villa Park in Birmingham. Scotland plays at Hampden Park in Glasgow, Wales at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff and the Republic of Ireland at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Casement Park in Belfast was part of the original bid but is no longer on the venue list. Each venue has its own page with photos, capacity, history and the matches it will host; the nine host stadiums with photos are also listed together.

Format of the finals

Twenty-four teams are drawn into six groups of four. Every team plays three group matches; the group winners, the runners-up and the four best third-placed teams go through to the round of 16. From there it is a straight knockout: round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final — 51 matches in 31 days. Kick-off slots are planned at 14:00, 17:00 and 20:00 local time. The opening match on 9 June 2028 is planned in Cardiff; Wembley hosts both semi-finals on 4 and 5 July and the final on 9 July 2028.

Where the hosts would play

To keep travel short, host nations that qualify are already placed at the head of a group: Wales would open Group A in Cardiff, England would lead Group B, Northern Ireland Group D, the Republic of Ireland Group E and Scotland Group F. In the schedule below these slots are marked with an asterisk; if a host does not qualify, the slot goes to another team at the draw for the finals.

How qualifying works

Fifty-four national teams enter. The draw in Belfast on 6 December 2026 splits them into twelve groups of four or five. Matches are played in five international windows between March 2027 and November 2027 — ten matchdays in total. The twelve group winners and the eight best runners-up qualify directly. Two places are reserved for host nations that do not qualify directly; the last places are decided in the play-offs, with semi-finals on 23–25 March and finals on 26–28 March 2028.

Draw pots

Teams are seeded by their results, so the pots below are provisional until the draw: they show the most likely pot for each team according to the app data, with co-hosts marked. Once the draw is made, the groups, fixtures and tables appear on this site and in the app automatically, and every qualifier becomes available in the prediction game for every qualifier.

What to watch until the draw

Until December the teams play the last Nations League windows, which also influence seeding. Their results are in the team pages and in the fantasy game, whose first season — "Road to 2028" — already counts the November 2026 matches. The fantasy season Road to 2028 continues through the whole qualifying campaign and starts again with new prices for the finals.

Schedule of the 51 matches

The full plan follows below with match number, date, round, venue and the group slots. Teams appear in the slots after the final draw in December 2027.

Stadiums

• Wembley Stadium in London (England) is one of the nine venues of the European Championship 2028. Capacity 90,000, opened in 2007. It is scheduled to host 8 matches: group stage, quarter-final, semi-final and final.
• Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London (England) is one of the nine venues of the European Championship 2028. Capacity 62,850, opened in 2019. It is scheduled to host 5 matches: group stage and round of 16.
• Etihad Stadium (Manchester City Stadium) in Manchester (England) is one of the nine venues of the European Championship 2028. Capacity 61,470, opened in 2002. It is scheduled to host 5 matches: group stage and round of 16.
• Hill Dickinson Stadium (Everton Stadium) in Liverpool (England) is one of the nine venues of the European Championship 2028. Capacity 52,769, opened in 2025. It is scheduled to host 5 matches: group stage and round of 16.
• St James' Park in Newcastle upon Tyne (England) is one of the nine venues of the European Championship 2028. Capacity 52,264, opened in 1892. It is scheduled to host 5 matches: group stage and round of 16.
• Villa Park in Birmingham (England) is one of the nine venues of the European Championship 2028. Capacity 50,000, opened in 1897. It is scheduled to host 4 matches: group stage and round of 16.
• Hampden Park in Glasgow (Scotland) is one of the nine venues of the European Championship 2028. Capacity 51,866, opened in 1903. It is scheduled to host 6 matches: group stage, round of 16 and quarter-final.
• Principality Stadium (National Stadium of Wales) in Cardiff (Wales) is one of the nine venues of the European Championship 2028. Capacity 73,931, opened in 1999. It is scheduled to host 6 matches: group stage, round of 16 and quarter-final.
• Aviva Stadium (Dublin Arena) in Dublin (Rep. of Ireland) is one of the nine venues of the European Championship 2028. Capacity 51,711, opened in 2010. It is scheduled to host 7 matches: group stage, round of 16 and quarter-final.

Schedule

* host nation placed in this slot if it qualifies

Qualifying calendar

Provisional draw pots

Pot 1

• England *
• France
• Greece
• Italy
• Netherlands
• Portugal
• Spain

Pot 1 or Pot 2

• Belgium
• Croatia
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Germany
• Norway
• Serbia
• Türkiye
• Wales *

Pot 2

• Switzerland

Pot 2 or Pot 3

• Austria
• Bosnia & Herzegovina
• Georgia
• Hungary
• Israel
• Kosovo
• Northern Ireland
• Poland
• Rep. of Ireland *
• Scotland *
• Slovenia
• Sweden
• Ukraine

Pot 3

• North Macedonia
• Romania

Pot 3 or Pot 4

• Albania
• Belarus
• Bulgaria
• Cyprus
• Estonia
• Faroe Islands
• Finland
• Iceland
• Luxembourg
• Montenegro
• Slovakia

Pot 4

• Armenia
• Kazakhstan
• Latvia
• Moldova
• San Marino

Pot 5

• Andorra
• Azerbaijan
• Gibraltar
• Liechtenstein
• Lithuania
• Malta