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Gareth Southgate says it will be \u201cbrilliant for everybody\u201d if the UK and Ireland\u2019s bid to host the Euro 2028 gets the green light and questioned the \u201cintegrity\u201d of the plan for a cross-continent 2030 World Cup.<\/p>\n
Turkey\u2019s withdrawal to focus on a joint submission with Italy for Euro 2032 means the five-nation bid is now the only option on the table for the finals in five years\u2019 time.<\/p>\n
UEFA will formally announce the hosts for the two tournaments following a meeting of its executive committee in Switzerland next week.<\/p>\n
All the nations are fantastic football nations, huge pride<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, it\u2019s clearly a joint bid with all the other home nations so brilliant for everybody if that opportunity arises,\u201d England manager Southgate said. \u201cThere\u2019s still a little bit to do, I think.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I think you know, all the nations are fantastic football nations, huge pride.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ll have huge pride in hosting and if the teams get qualified as well then there\u2019s obviously some home advantage to hosting as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
The news came on the same day that it emerged Spain, Portugal and Morocco are set to co-host the 2030 men\u2019s World Cup, with three South American nations.<\/p>\n
Montevideo in Uruguay \u2013 the city which hosted the first World Cup finals match in 1930 \u2013 is poised to stage the opening contest, with games in Argentina and Paraguay to follow.<\/p>\n
The rest of the 48-team tournament will then move to north Africa and Europe, under a proposal from UEFA, the Confederation of African Football and South American confederation CONMEBOL which was accepted by the FIFA council at a meeting on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The hosting arrangement is now subject to formal approval by FIFA\u2019s congress.<\/p>\n
Asked about the impact of these plans on player welfare, Southgate said: \u201cI\u2019m not sure what they\u2019ve got in mind for that, really!<\/p>\n
\u201cI should enjoy a invite to Buenos Aires as a TV pundit if that\u2019s the plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pushed on the issue of player welfare during a cross-continent World Cup, the England boss told talkSPORT: \u201cI mean, that\u2019s one part of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I think all elite sports teams now can manage those scenarios. We have very comfortable travel, we have good recovery strategies.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s more the integrity of the competition, I think\u2026but until I see a really clear plan and outline of exactly what that might look like, yeah, hard to tell.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I\u2019m assuming you could have England drawn in a group with Argentina. We could play Argentina in Buenos Aires and then travel back to Portugal or Spain.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t quite know how that competition could work that way.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut, as I say, I\u2019ve not been in the discussions that matter on that.\u201d<\/p>\n