Michael O'Neill 'not bothered' about prospect of Northern Ireland playing Euro 2028 games at Casement Park

O’Neill was speaking after it was confirmed on Wednesday that the UK and Ireland’s bid to host the tournament is unopposed following Turkey’s withdrawal.

Turkey will now instead focusing on merging with Italy to host the 2032 competition.

Should final approval be granted from UEFA’s executive committee next Tuesday, 2028 would potentially mark the first time a major football event has been staged in Northern Ireland.

Belfast’s Casement Park, synonymous with Gaelic games in Ulster and located in a predominantly nationalist area, was named on a list of 10 host stadiums in the bid alongside the likes of Wembley Stadium, Hampden Park and Dublin’s Aviva Stadium.

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

“I’m not that bothered about where we play as long as we play in Northern Ireland,” he told BBC Sport NI.

“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.

In a statement on Wednesday, the IFA said: “We are looking forward to presenting our bid to UEFA on 10th October.

“These are exciting times, and we have a very compelling EURO 2028 proposal for UEFA.

“Our bid will be ground-breaking for the Men’s Euro and will deliver lasting legacies across the whole of the UK and Ireland.

“We will share full details of the bid in Nyon next week and are confident that UEFA will approve our candidacy to host Euro 2028.”