Italy has submitted a bid to UEFA, the European soccer’s governing body, to host the 2032 European Championship. The bid, submitted by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), proposes that the tournament be held in stadiums across Milan, Turin, Verona, Genoa, Bologna, Florence, Rome, Naples, Bari, and Cagliari, according to Reuters.
The European Championship, known informally as the Euro, is considered to be the second most prestigious international football tournament after the World Cup. Held every four years, the tournament is composed of 16 national teams fighting for first place over the span of two months. Qualification for the Euros takes place two years before the tournament is set to begin. According to Brittanica, the first tournament took place in 1960 and was won by the USSR in a final with Yugoslavia.
"We imagined Italy and European football in 10 years' time, in the knowledge that the positive legacy of such an event would multiply extraordinary opportunities for the entire nation," Gabriele Gravin, FIGC’s president said, according to Reuters.
Italy originally planned to bid to host the Euro 2028 and the 2030 World Cup, but in 2022 the FIGC said that hosting the 2032 Euro would be more realistic for the country. The additional five years would allow Italy time to modernize its stadium infrastructure, according to Reuters.
Turkey also submitted a bid to host the 2028 or 2032 Euros, according to Reuters, which marks the county’s sixth consecutive attempt to host the tournament. Britain and Ireland submitted a joint bid to host the 2028 Euro. According to Reuters, a decision regarding which country will host the 2032 Euro will be made and announced in October.
In the summer of 2021, Italy won the Euro championship against England. The tournament, originally scheduled for 2020, was postponed a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The last time the county won the Euro tournament was in 1968. The Italian national team did not qualify for the 2022 World Cup, nor did it qualify in 2018. It last won the World Cup in 2006.
Asia London Palomba
Asia London Palomba is a trilingual freelance journalist from Rome, Italy. In the past, her work on culture, travel, and history has been published in The Boston Globe, Atlas Obscura, The Christian Science Monitor, and Grub Street, New York Magazine's food section. In her free time, Asia enjoys traveling home to Italy to spend time with family and friends, drinking Hugo Spritzes, and making her nonna's homemade cavatelli.