The 2028 UEFA European Football Championship will be co-hosted by England, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. There will be nine host venues, but there were originally supposed to be 10.
England, Wales, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland are all represented as host nations, but Northern Ireland were also in the mix originally, with Belfast’s Casement Park listed in the proposal. However, the 34,500-seater has since been abandoned as an option.
Full List of EURO 2028 Stadiums
Stadium Name
Location
Capacity
Wembley Stadium
London, England
90.000
Principality Stadium
Cardiff, Wales
74.500
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
London, England
62.850
Etihad Stadium
Manchester, England
53.400
Everton Stadium
Liverpool, England
53.000
Hampden Park
Glasgow, Scotland
52.000
St. James’ Park
Newcastle, England
52.000
Aviva Stadium
Dublin, Ireland
51.700
Villa Park
Birmingham, England
42.640
Why Casement Park Won’t Host Euro 2028
Redeveloping costs are far too high
Casement Park first opened in 1953 as a stadium for Gaelic games, and has been the home of Antrim GAA since its inception. Sadly, though, it has not hosted a sporting event since June 2013.
There have actually been plans to start building a new stadium there since 2011, before Euro 2028 was considered. That was supposed to cost £76m, with £61m coming from Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government and £15m from the GAA. But as costs soared, the GAA, which owns the ground, is adamant it won’t contribute anymore.
When it was listed as a host for Euro 2028, £180m was the expected figure required to complete the project (with taxpayer money used to help), but that soon rose to potentially over £400m.
“The estimated build costs have risen dramatically – from £180m when the EURO 2028 bid was awarded in October 2023 to potentially over £400m – and there is a significant risk that it would not be built in time for the tournament,”
“We have therefore, regrettably, decided that it is not appropriate for the UK government to provide funding to seek to build Casement Park in time to host matches at EURO 2028.”
A year or so on and Lyons is still facing the same financial troubles. Although a redesigned plan for the 34,000-seater was approved in 2022, Lyons insists he is yet to see a final proposal from the GAA and that construction inflation could prevent them from completing their project within a necessary timeframe. “We still have that issue of funding when it comes to Casement as there is a gap that needs to be bridged,” he said, per BBC Sport.
Five Premier League clubs are set to hose games at the tournament.
“The first thing we need to know is, what do they actually want? There have been a number of different proposals around in terms of the build and the planning. What spec of a stadium? If it (capacity) is north of 32,000 there is a price tag that comes with that if they are prepared to look at alternative options. That (lower capacity) will come at a lower cost.”
UEFA requires all European Championship stadia to have a capacity exceeding 30,000 – and that also rules out Northern Ireland’s footballing home, Windsor Park (which holds 18,500 spectators). And so, with Casement Park off the cards, Northern Ireland will not get to host any of the tournament football matches that summer.
Past Issues With Casement Park
The future remains uncertain amid protests
Beyond the financial side of things, Casement Park has faced many other obstacles. In 2014, the High Court overturned planning permission for the project, with local residents claiming it would block out light from homes and cause serious traffic disruption.
Then, in 2015, it emerged that a Safety Technical Group (STG) formed to oversee safety issues around the new stadium had not approved the design plans due to concerns over how long it would take people to leave the ground in an emergency. Later, one of the STG members, safety expert Paul Scott, told a Northern Ireland Assembly committee that he had been put “under pressure” to approve the plans by government officials.
Eventually, a fresh application for planning permission (submitted in 2017) was granted in 2021. In 2022, local residents lost a legal challenge against the new project, meaning the stadium could now go ahead.
But with funding proving too costly to get the project finished in time for Euro 2028, it remains unclear what the future holds for Casement Park. In April of this year, several thousand people gathered in a rally to protest the failure to redevelop the venue. It is estimated that it would cost at least £260m to build a new stadium, but only around £120m is currently available.
It’s not all doom and gloom for the people of Belfast and Northern Ireland, as the capital city has at least been confirmed to host the UEFA EURO 2028 Qualifying Draw on 6 December 2026. Held at the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Belfast, the highly anticipated event will prove that Northern Ireland can continue to be a valuable partner in the lead-up to the international showpiece.
In today’s day and age, the boxing world has some fantastic competitors across multiple weight classes. However, it is, and has always been, the heavyweights that have drawn the most attention and money towards the sport over the years.
Boxers like Tyson Fury, Oleksandr Usyk, and Anthony Joshua are some of the biggest names in the sport today, and are establishing themselves as household names who will go down in the list of greats in boxing history. However, how do they compare to some of the greats, and do they make the cut just yet?
Well, according to AI, only two of them are worthy of making the top 15 list of greatest heavyweight boxers of all time. So without further ado, let’s see who is worthy of making said list.
15 greatest heavyweight boxers of all time ranked by AI (15-11)
Position
Boxer
Professional record
15.
Jack Dempsey
63-6-9
14.
Wladimir Klitschko
64-5
13.
Tyson Fury
35-2-1
12.
Jack Johnson
54-11-8 (4 NC)
11.
Sonny Liston
50-4
10 Rocky Marciano
Boxing record: 49-0
Rocky Marciano is one of two members of this list to have gone his entire career undefeated. After defeating Joe Louis for his heavyweight championship, the only way was up for Marciano, who went on to retire with a career record of 49-0.
Of those 49 wins, he won 43 of them via knockout, and could stake a claim higher on this list. For only six fights to go the distance is quite remarkable, so it’s only right that the American lands in the top 10 on the list of greatest heavyweights in the sport’s history.
9 Mike Tyson
Boxing record: 50-7 (2 NC)
Iron Mike Tyson takes home a record of 50 wins, with 44 of those coming via knockout, and seven losses to his name. The 58-year-old found himself going into a fight most recently in a situation where he was not the sole centre of attention. Both fighters were the subject of conversation for his meeting with Jake Paul, where the 29-year-old won via unanimous decision in what many blasted as a lacklustre event.
However, we cannot forget just how good Mike Tyson was back in his prime, and we mustn’t let the shambles that was the Jake Paul fight cast a shadow over his iconic and legendary career.
8 Evander Holyfield
Boxing record: 44-10-2 (1 NC)
Evander Holyfield goes down as one man who made boxing history, but it’s not for actions of his own in the ring despite being an undisputed champion.
Holyfield boasts victories over names like George Foreman and even Mike Tyson, with one of his victories becoming one of the most infamous boxing moments ever as Iron Mike bit his ear, taking a chunk out of it in the process. A run of defeats when past his peak harmed his chances at ranking higher on the list, with Holyfield scoring 29 knockouts, finishing with a record of 44-10-2.
7 Lennox Lewis
Boxing record: 41-2-1
Lennox Lewis was an astounding combination of a man who could be agile and light on his feet while standing six feet and five inches tall. Lewis won gold at the 1988 Olympics and boasted an impressive statistic of beating every man he had ever faced in the ring, including Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield.
The 58-year-old has differed from some of the greats of his time as he has never been swayed by the temptation to return for one last dance the way some of the greats from his era have. Before Oleksandr Usyk achieved it by beating Tyson Fury, Lewis was the last undisputed heavyweight champion of the boxing division, which happened way back in 1999.
6 Joe Frazier
Boxing record: 32-4-1
The year 1971 saw Joe Frazier compete in what many labelled as the ‘Fight of the Century’ when he met Muhammad Ali at Madison Square Garden. Until he met George Foreman in Jamaica, Frazier had been on an unprecedented streak of 29 fights where he claimed victory, but results soon began to drop following that defeat.
Boasting an impressive record of wins, the heavyweight only won three of his final seven fights, losing three and drawing his final meeting with Floyd Cummings.
5 George Foreman
Boxing record: 76-5
George Foreman has managed to be the face of more than just boxing, being the marketing face of the Foreman Grill. However, he was part of one of boxing’s most legendary nights, known as the “Rumble in the Jungle.”
After a 10-year hiatus from the sport, he returned with an astounding accomplishment of 24 straight victories, 22 of which came through knockout. Sadly, however, his career ended in defeat when he lost to Shannon Briggs in 1997 by majority decision. That doesn’t take away from the fact, though, he was incredibly 40-0 heading into the huge fight with Muhammad Ali, which he lost via knockout.
4 Oleksandr Usyk
Boxing record: 25-0
Ahead of his apparent final-ever fight in a truly illustrious career, Oleksandr Usyk comes in at fourth, according to AI.
After dominating the cruiserweight division and unifying all the belts in the process, the Ukrainian decided to follow in the footsteps of legends before him and move up to heavyweight, where he then went on to dominate and unify all the belts once again.
The well respected boxing journalist has not included either Tyson Fury or Wladimir Klitschko in his top 10.
Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, Derek Chisora, Daniel Dubois have all shared the ring with Usyk at heavyweight and all have fallen to The Cat.
With just one fight left, likely to be Deontay Wilder or even MMA’s Jon Jones, Usyk has already cemented himself as one of the true heavyweight greats.
3 Larry Holmes
Boxing record: 69-6
Larry Holmes may have felt some pressure on his shoulders with the expectations placed on him to emerge in the world of boxing. Holmes was once a training partner of the great Muhammad Ali, and his sparring sessions must have come in handy as his skill gets him on this list, too.
His crowning achievement comes through his 19 consecutive title fight victories over seven years. Just like Foreman, he also built up an incredible unbeaten run, heading into his fight with Michael Spinks with a record of 48-0. However, what followed was three straight defeats, two to Spinks and one to Mike Tyson. He did then recover and win six in a row before losing to Evander Holyfield. His last fight came in 2002, which was a victory against Eric Esch.
After racing to a 24-0 record, Louis would lose his first fight in 1936, before then going on a 14-year unbeaten streak to take his record to an incredible 58-1. Defeat to Ezzard Charles was then followed up by eight consecutive wins, before his final appearance in the ring took place in 1951. Ironically enough, his final fight in the sport came against the man featured before him on this list, Rocky Marciano, with the contest ending in defeat for Louis via TKO in the eighth round.
1 Muhammad Ali
Boxing record: 56-5
Who else but this man to top this list? The words float like a butterfly sting like a bee rang true with so many in the world of boxing, and still do to this day.
Ali not only goes down as one of the greatest to ever compete in the world of boxing, but he goes down as one of the greatest sporting personalities. Facing off with some of the greatest in the sport, some of whom are on this list, was exactly how Ali made himself to be a name that would circulate for generations to come. No one likes boxing without liking Muhammad Ali.
Jurgen Klopp’s comments about Arsenal after Jonathan Tah had a goal controversially ruled out by VAR in Germany’s World Cup exit vs Paraguay have gone viral.
Germany were easily expected to overcome Paraguay in their last 32 tie at Boston Stadium.
However, despite having the lion’s share of possession in the first 45 minutes, it was the underdogs who took the lead just before half-time through Julio Enciso.
Germany needed to up their game in the second half, and it didn’t take long for them to restore parity as Arsenal’s Kai Havertz found the back of the net.
There were no further goals for the remainder of regulation time as the game went to extra-time. Jonathan Tah thought he had given his side the lead in the 103rd minute, only for his goal to be controversially ruled out.
The decision to rule out Tah’s goal was extremely controversial. Moments before Tah headed home, Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill briefly fell to ground following contact from Germany substitute Waldemar Anton.
Gill had got to his feet by the time the ball reached Tah, but he could not do anything to stop the Bayern Munich defender from finding the back of the net.
Fortunately for Paraguay, VAR deemed that Anton had committed a foul on Gill and disallowed the goal, leaving Germany incensed. Julian Nagelsmann in particular was outraged and was shown a yellow card for his protests.
Former Liverpool manager Klopp was covering the match as a pundit for Magneta TV, and he did not agree with the decision as he made reference to Premier League champions Arsenal. He said:
“If the goal is illegal, then Arsenal won’t be English champions. They’ve scored 60 percent of their goals that way. We win the game when the ball goes in. So, of course, this is brutal.”
He added: “There are worse things than defeats in sports. But there was only one goal, one dream, and that has been shattered. It was dramatic. There are 500,000 ways to win a football match. You just have to find one.”
You scored
out of 20
Alan Shearer Slams Officials
IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters/Winslow Townson
Alan Shearer slammed the decision and claimed that Gill had ‘conned’ the referee. He said, per the BBC: “I don’t agree with that decision at all. The keeper falls to the ground on a slight touch and it’s very soft. I thought it was a terrible decision.
“You have to understand it is a contact sport, the goalkeeper has conned the referee and the VAR. The way he went down was pathetic.”
Former Premier League assistant referee Darren Cann also believed the goal shouldn’t have been ruled out. Just before the decision was made, he said:
“This is soft, in my opinion. But judging by what we’ve seen in the tournament so far, it wouldn’t surprise me if they do rule it out. We’ve seen two or three goals ruled out for very small offences. This is hardly anything.
“It’s a small block on the goalkeeper, but for me, it’s not enough. I suspect they will be ruling this out. We feel this should not be disallowed.”
Paraguay will now take on either France or Sweden in the last 16 of the competition. The match will be played at Philadelphia Stadium on Saturday, July 4.
Manchester United suffered a big blow after it was confirmed Manuel Ugarte has suffered a serious knee injury.
The Red Devils were considering offloading the Uruguayan midfielder, but the injury has hampered their plans to do so.
Ornstein: Man Utd Midfielder Update
According to The Athletic’s David Ornstein, Manchester United’s midfield recruitment plans are unaffected by the injury to Ugarte. West Ham midfielder Mateus Fernandes remains the immediate priority, and others are also being considered.
