Aviva Stadium looking to host more Euro 2028 action

The Aviva Stadium is due to host a number of games at Euro 2028, and with Casement Park being removed as a host stadium, there are hopes the Aviva could host yet more top European football action.

Last October, it was announced that the joint UK/Irish bid would host Euro 2028, and Dublin’s Aviva Stadium was named as one of the host stadiums.

As part of the deal, the Aviva will host four group games and two knock-out stage games (including a quarter-final).

With funding for the redeveloped Casement Park falling through, there is now a chance for Dublin to host extra matches but they will have to compete with other host cities like London, Liverpool and Manchester for the matches.

FAI boss David Courell said that any matches that were supposed to be played in Belfast could still be played in Dublin and that he would lobby UEFA on it.

‘We’ve expressed an interest to host a further two games but I think that is probably a stretch. We may not have the capacity to accommodate, schedule-wise, in the eyes of UEFA,’ he said.

Following news of the successful bid last year, football fans outside Dublin were disappointed that the likes of Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork were overlooked while Dubliners were surprised that Croke Park was not given the nod due to its higher capacity of 82,000 compared to the Aviva’s 51,700 capacity.

Courell said, “while we did express a desire to host as many games, including standing up an additional venue in this country, UEFA has taken the decision to fall back to a nine-venue solution for the tournament, and it’s their tournament, we respect their position.”

The Aviva was chosen by UEFA, in small part due to the stadium being in use by the Irish national team and it meeting UEFA standards.

Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, Dublin was named as a host city for Euro 2020 but ultimately had hosting rights taken away from them in early 2021 as Covid-era restrictions were still in place.

To make up for the lost revenue, the Aviva hosted this year’s Europa League final and received a sizeable chunk of games in the Euro 2028 bid.

According to BBC Sport, Ireland might still have to qualify for the tournament the old-fashioned way of qualification but “at least two spots are left in reserve for nations who do not qualify on merit,” meaning the door is still open for qualification for host nations.

While the Irish Women’s team has enjoyed more success on the international front in recent years (the women’s team narrowly missed out on Euro 2025 via a play-off against Wales) have endured a shoddy decade.

Euro 2016 in France marked the last time the Boys In Green lined out in an international tournament.

Christian Eriksen ended Irish hopes of a 2018 World Cup slot in an inspired play-off performance, a penalty shoot-out loss to Slovakia ended Euro 2020 hopes, and two disastrous qualification groups in 2022 World Cup and Euro 2024 qualification bringing an end to the Stephen Kenny era.