Principality Stadium to be Wales' only venue for joint Euro 2028 bid
- Published
Wales last played a football match at the Principality Stadium in 2018, losing 4-1 to Spain
The Principality Stadium is the only Welsh venue under consideration for the joint UK and Republic of Ireland bid to host Euro 2028.
The five associations are focusing on Euro 2028 after abandoning their bid to host the 2030 World Cup.
Northern Ireland will likely have to redevelop Casement Park to meet Uefa's requirements to stage matches.
But the Football Association of Wales (FAW) has no plans to upgrade any stadiums in Wales.
Instead, it will propose the Principality Stadium - the 74,500-capacity home of Wales' national rugby union team - as the only Welsh venue for Euro 2028.
Since 2011, the 33,280-capacity Cardiff City Stadium has hosted men's international football in Wales, with the most recent match at the Principality Stadium a friendly against Spain in 2018.
Wales have also played at the 21,000-seater Swansea.com Stadium and Wrexham's Racecourse Ground, which has 10,500 seats, in recent years. Both would require substantial upgrades to host Euro 2028 matches.
"We are in regular dialogue with the Welsh government. We're talking to them daily and it's going very positively towards them supporting fully this bid for Euro 2028," said FAW chief executive Noel Mooney.
"The Principality Stadium I think is the second biggest stadium in the UK and we are working very closely with the WRU [Welsh Rugby Union] and the Welsh government to ensure that it's perfect for Euro 2028.
"We don't have any other live conversations about other stadia in Wales.
"The Principality, with the sheer size of it, was a very successful host of the Champions League final between Juventus and Real Madrid back in 2017, which was a magnificent occasion. We look forward to many more of them in 2028 and bringing the Principality Stadium to the world."
Even if Cardiff City Stadium was upgraded, it would be unlikely to be considered for the bid because it is in the same city as the Principality Stadium, Wales' capital Cardiff.
The football associations of Wales, England, Scotland, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland have decided to proceed with the Euro 2028 bid after a feasibility study.
The study included an analysis of the economic impact, the political football landscape and the likely costs of hosting major international tournaments.
In a statement on Monday, it was estimated that hosting Euro 2028 would yield an "economic return in the region of 3:1 on investment" for the UK and Republic of Ireland.
The five associations are yet to formally decide on the host stadiums, adding in the statement that they are "mapping out various scenarios and of course Uefa would input into that if we were successful [with the bid]".
"This is a very special bid," said Mooney.
"We have a saying in Wales, 'gorau chwarae, cyd chwarae', which is together stronger, and bringing five nations together in Uefa is quite special.
"That's almost a 10th of the Uefa membership, which is 55 members, so it's an extremely strong bid.
"We know from the feasibility studies we've got a great chance of winning this. We are really confident going into this that this is the best bid out there."
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