UEFA president Michel Platini’s vision of a European Championship spread across the continent came to fruition yesterday as London’s Wembley Stadium was chosen to host the climax of Euro 2020 and 12 other cities joining the party
The new 90,000-seater Wembley, venue of the 2011 and 2013 Champions League finals, will stage both semi-finals and the final of the tournament dubbed a ‘Euro for Europe’ – the first not to be held in one or two host countries.
Wembley was preferred to Munich’s Allianz Arena for the semi-finals and final. Munich had to make do with being one of the 12 cities awarded one of the standard packages, comprising three group matches and a knock-out round tie.
The home of Bayern Munich will host a quarter-final, along with the Baku Olympic Stadium in Azerbaijan, Rome’s Olympic Stadium and the Zenit Arena in St Petersburg, Russia.
Last 16 ties will take place in Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Buch-arest, Dublin, Bilbao, Budapest, Brussels and Glasgow.
Cardiff, Stockholm, Skopje, Jerusalem, Sofia and Minsk were all left empty-handed at the ceremony conducted by former France midfielder Michel Platini in Geneva.
The vote for Wembley comes as a welcome tonic for the Football Association after its failed bids to host the 2006 and 2018 World Cup finals.
England has only hosted one major tournament since the 1966 World Cup, the Euro 96 championship, the final of which was played at the former Wembley.
“It’s nice to win one,” England’s FA chairman Greg Dyke said in Geneva.
“Wembley is a great stadium and we are delighted to be hosting the finals of this tournament.
“Wembley has been completely rebuilt since 1996 and it’s now a beautiful stadium.
“I would also like to say what a good idea this is when you sit and watch all these capital cities across Europe, what a good idea to play a tournament across all those, so congratulations to UEFA.”
“This bidding process was open to more than 50 UEFA countries so for Wembley to be ultimately recognised in this way is testament to a lot of hard work behind the scenes,” Dyke added on the FA’s website.
“It will be a great honour to be part of what will surely be a superb celebration of 60 years of the European Championship.”
Dublin’s inclusion in the tournament coincides with the Football Association of Ireland’s 100th anniversary.
“This one off opportunity to host part of the European finals at our home stadium will provide a major boost for Irish football and the country as a whole,” FAI chief John Delaney said.
France will host the next finals in 2016.
Euro 2020 venues
A list of venues for the Euro 2020 championship:
Semi-finals and final
Wembley Stadium (London)
Three group stage games and one quarter-final
Baku Olympic Stadium (Baku)
Allianz Arena (Munich)
Stadio Olimpico (Rome)
Zenit Arena (St Petersburg)
Three group stage games and one round-of-16 match
Eurostadium (Brussels)
Parken Stadium (Copenhagen)
Ferenc Puskas Stadium (Budapest)
Aviva Stadium (Dublin)
Amsterdam Arena (Amsterdam)
National Arena (Bucharest)
Hampden Park (Glasgow)
San Mames Stadium (Bilbao)