Last updated 8 September 2026. Tournament and qualifying details verified against UEFA.
In June 2028 the European Championship kicks off in Cardiff. Not a warm-up, not a group game buried in the schedule: the opening match of Euro 2028, at the Principality Stadium, with the eyes of a continent on Westgate Street.
This page tracks everything that matters from a Welsh point of view, and we’ll keep it updated all the way to kick-off.
When is Euro 2028?
Friday 9 June to Sunday 9 July 2028, across the UK and Ireland. 24 teams, 51 matches, 9 stadiums. Cardiff raises the curtain on 9 June and Wembley stages the semi-finals and final.
Cardiff’s tournament
The Principality Stadium is one of the biggest winners in the whole hosting plan. Cardiff gets:
- The opening match on Friday 9 June 2028
- Further group-stage fixtures
- A round-of-16 tie
- A quarter-final
If Wales qualify, host nations play their group games at home, meaning Wales at a major tournament, in Cardiff, under the roof. Welsh football doesn’t have many bigger sentences than that.
The 9 venues
| City | Stadium |
|---|---|
| Cardiff | Principality Stadium (opening match, R16, quarter-final) |
| London | Wembley (semi-finals and final) and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium |
| Dublin | Dublin Arena |
| Glasgow | Hampden Park |
| Manchester | Manchester City Stadium |
| Liverpool | Everton Stadium |
| Newcastle | St James’ Park |
| Birmingham | Villa Park |
New: former Liverpool, Blackburn, Aston Villa and Spurs goalkeeper Brad Friedel gives us his Premier League title pick and verdict on Liverpool’s new era.
How qualifying works
This is the part that catches people out, and it is live right now.
Wales are not automatically in. Unlike a normal host nation, none of the four hosts get a free pass. England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland all have to go through qualifying like everyone else.
| Stage | When |
|---|---|
| Qualifying draw | Sunday 6 December 2026, Belfast |
| Qualifying matches | March to November 2027 |
| Play-offs | March 2028 |
| Tournament | 9 June to 9 July 2028 |
The 54 entrants are drawn into 12 groups of four or five. The 12 group winners and the eight best runners-up go straight through, which is 20 of the 24 places.
Then comes the safety net. Two places are reserved for the two best-ranked host nations who fail to qualify by the normal route. So at most two of the four hosts can miss their own tournament, and Wales’ fate could come down to how they rank against the other three hosts rather than against the continent.
Whatever is left is settled by play-offs in March 2028, involving the weakest runners-up and Nations League group winners.
Why December matters
The draw in Belfast on 6 December 2026 is seeded on the 2026-27 Nations League standings. That makes the current Nations League campaign more consequential than it looks: it decides which pot Wales come out of, and therefore how brutal the qualifying group is.
A good autumn is worth more than the results themselves.
What it means for Wales
A home European Championship is the biggest thing Welsh football has ever been handed, and there is a real chance of watching it from the sofa.
Qualifying runs through 2027, so the squad that decides this is largely the one being built now. Two of the four hosts can miss out, and Wales will not want to be relying on being ranked above Scotland or Ireland to sneak the safety-net place.
The prize is worth the anxiety. Host nations play their group games at home, so qualification means Wales at a major tournament in Cardiff, under a closed roof, in front of their own crowd. That has never happened.
Getting to the Principality
Cardiff is the most walkable major-tournament venue in Britain. The Principality sits in the middle of the city rather than on a ring road, two minutes from Cardiff Central and surrounded by the pubs that will make up the bit everyone actually remembers.
Expect the city to be closed to traffic on matchdays, as it is for rugby internationals, and expect demand for the opening game to be unlike anything Cardiff has handled.
Euro 2028 odds
Outright markets are already taking shape and will sharpen as qualifying unfolds. DragonBet prices the tournament winner, qualification markets and every Wales game on our football odds page, and our Euros section follows the road to Cardiff.
18+. Please gamble responsibly. For guidance and support visit GambleAware.
Sources: UEFA Euro 2028 schedule confirmation (November 2025). Correct as of 8 September 2026.
