Euro 2028 to keep same format — 24 teams, six groups

UEFA European Championship 2028 will be contested in the same format used at the previous two tournaments: 24 nations divided into six groups of four. England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland will host the finals across nine stadiums in eight cities.

Schedule and venues

The tournament is set to open on 9 June 2028 in Cardiff, with the final scheduled for 9 July 2028 at Wembley Stadium in London. Matches will be spread among nine venues across eight host cities.

Direct qualification from the standard qualifying phase will be awarded to 20 teams: the winners of the 12 qualifying groups and the eight best runners-up.

Host associations will not receive automatic slots. England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland will take part in the qualifying competition. Two additional places are reserved for the two highest-ranked host teams that fail to secure direct qualification through the groups.

The remaining places will be decided by play-offs. Those play-offs will include the remaining runners-up from the qualifiers together with the highest-ranked teams from the 2026/27 UEFA Nations League that did not qualify directly.

Qualifying matches begin in March 2027, and the draw for the qualifying groups is scheduled for 6 December 2026 in Belfast. In the final tournament, the top two teams from each group plus the four best third-placed sides will advance to the round of 16, after which the competition proceeds in classic knockout fashion to the Wembley final on 9 July.

Photo: press material from the event