Wembley handed extra Euro 2020 last-16 match as FA expects 45,000 for final
Wembley will host a second Euro 2020 last-16 tie, which could involve England, after Uefa’s executive committee confirmed Dublin and Bilbao would step down as host cities.
With Gareth Southgate’s side set to play their three group matches at home, the decision to switch a last-16 tie on 29 June from Dublin to London means England would face the runners-up in Group F, which includes Germany, Portugal and France, at Wembley if they win Group D. Any quarter-final would be away from Wembley, which is due to host the semi-finals and final.
“We’re delighted to be able to help Uefa in staging the extra game,” said the Football Association’s chief executive, Mark Bullingham. “They asked us a couple of weeks ago whether we would be able to help out and we also liaised with the Irish FA to see if they were comfortable, which they were. It’s an incredibly tough route to the final for us but this gives an opportunity for the
Three Lions to play another game at home, which is obviously brilliant.”
Seville will step in to host all of Spain’s group matches and a last-16 tie. The group games scheduled for Dublin are moving to St Petersburg, meaning the Russian venue has seven fixtures. Munich will retain its three group fixtures and quarter-final after presenting a plan to allow at least 14,500 fans into the 75,000-capacity Allianz Arena.
Dublin and Bilbao have lost hosting right after being unable to offer Uefa the fan guarantees needed. The German football federation agreed a plan for Munich despite rising infection numbers in the country.
Uefa said tickets for matches in Bilbao and Dublin would be cancelled and refunded, and ticket buyers would receive priority access to tickets in the reassigned venues. It said the Andalusian regional authorities had told it the venue in Seville – Estadio La Cartuja a venue to host extra games but was not taken up on its offer. Manchester United and Manchester City are believed to have rejected the opportunity for their stadiums to be put forward but the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is understood never to have come under consideration because the government favoured a venue in a “northern powerhouse” city if Wembley were not used.
The FA has guaranteed that Wembley will be 25% full for the group stages and expects that could be increased to at least 50% for the knockout stages, with Bullingham not ruling out a 100% capacity for the final on 11 July.
“We would obviously love the final to be full if the authorities were to allow that,” he said. “From our perspective, we think that 50% might be more realistic at the moment.”
England supporters have been contacted to confirm that their allocation is being reduced, with 70% of the tickets being distributed on the basis of loyalty points and the remainder by ballot.