A new tournament logo designed and developed by VML Branding, a Portuguese creative agency, was also unveiled on Wednesday. Debbie Hewitt MBE, chair of the Football Association, said the tournament “marks a proud milestone for football across the UK and Ireland.
The UK government is investing up to £557m in tournament, which will deliver an estimated £3.2bn boost for the economy.
Around 80 pro-Palestine protesters gathered outside a tournament launch event in Piccadilly Circus on Wednesday.
Holding “show Israel the red card” placards, the group chanted “shame on you” and “blood on your hands” as delegates, including senior FA officials and Ceferin, arrived.
Jeers and cries from the protesters outside were heard clearly inside the hall for the football delegates as a video presentation promoting the championship made a delayed start.
“We’ve got background noise but we are going to have some fun,” said the event host before the footage began.
What are the tournament dates?
The tournament runs from June 9 to July 9, 2028.
What is the tournament format?
Nothing has changed since the last European Championship. A total of 24 nations will be divided into six groups of four. The top two from each group will qualify for the knockout stages, along with the four best-performing third-place teams. From then on, it is a straight knockout, with matches heading to extra time and then a penalty shoot-out if they are level.
Why will the host nations go through qualification?
All five hosts will go through qualification, rather than accepting an automatic place. The FA says it is doing so in order to provide the team with competitive match practice before the tournament itself.
Should they not come through qualifying, there are two “back-stop” places. It is still to be determined how those two places will be allocated if three or more home nations fail to qualify. The options are records in qualifying, records in the previous two years or Fifa rankings.
For the tournament itself, hosts tend to be separated in the draw for the finals. The hosts who make it will be expected to be in Pot 1 which has the potential to make the seedings interesting. But it means there are unlikely to be “local” derbies in the group stages.
