Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill says successful Euro 2028 bid 'really special'

The event will be hosted along with the Republic of Ireland, England, Wales and Scotland after the bid went unopposed following Turkey’s withdrawal.

“It’s great news – delighted,” O’Neill told BBC Sport NI.

“I know a lot of work has gone in and Patrick Nelson [Irish FA chief executive] and other people at the IFA have been working towards this over a long number of years obviously in conjunction with the FAI [Football Association of Ireland] and Wales, Scotland and England.

“It leads us now to obviously be part of something which can be really special and I think we have the capability of putting on a fantastic tournament.”

A redeveloped Casement Park in Belfast is set to host Euro 2028 matches.

There has been controversy around the proposed redevelopment of the Belfast venue, but O’Neill said he would have no issues with games being played there.

Speaking last week, he said: “I’m not that bothered about where we play as long as we play in Northern Ireland.

“We have to get our heads round that, to be honest. Obviously the Casement project is the one that will meet the criteria for UEFA and at this moment in time it is the number one option available to us.

"I think once we get it to the point and it gets to 2028 then hopefully everyone can be accepting of that.

“It’s very difficult to bring major sporting events to any country, let alone a country of our size. I think we should try and look past that and look at the upside, which is the sporting side of things.”

Northern Ireland’s home stadium at Windsor Park has a capacity of 18,500, which does not meet UEFA’s criteria of 30,000 for European Championship matches.

Wembley is set to host the final – and potentially both semi-finals – with the other English venues included in April’s final bid submission being the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the Etihad Stadium, Villa Park, St James’ Park and Everton’s new ground at Bramley-Moore Dock.

Matches will also be played at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, Hampden Park in Glasgow and Dublin’s Aviva Stadium.