UK and Ireland drop World Cup bid to focus on race to host Euro 2028 football championships

The United Kingdom and Ireland have dropped plans for a joint bid to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup, opting to try and stage the 2028 European Championship instead.

The change of plans from the football associations of England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland come amid doubts and disputes over FIFA's future programme for the World Cup.

FIFA's president Gianni Infantino has pushed to double the frequency of the tournaments so they are held every two years, but countries in Europe have been leading the opposition to this and the British Isles bidders judged that resisting Infantino's proposal while seeking the World Cup tournament hosting rights would have damaged their chances of success.

“I think we’ve been very clear as all the UEFA countries — we didn’t think that a biennial World Cup either in men’s or women’s was a good idea,” English FA chief executive Mark Bullingham said on Monday, revealing his opposition for the first time to reporters. "We don’t believe that they’ll come to fruition. So we’re stepping back again.

“We looked at the two opportunities in front of us and the 2028 Euros is very clear as an opportunity. A very clear timeline."

Countries have until next month to register interest in hosting the European Championship in 2028 or 2032, with a vote scheduled for next year. UEFA could expand the tournament from 24 teams in Germany in 2024 to 32 participants in future, putting the British Isles bid in a strong position to use existing infrastructure to meet the hosting demands.

“UEFA are being very transparent with all 55 countries that they want to use the 2024 and 2028 men’s Euros to rebuild their coffers and rebuild their reserves, which they’ve had to use during the pandemic,”