Prime Minister Andy Burnham wants to see the World Cup return to the United Kingdom for the first time since 1966, he has told colleagues
15:25, 21 Aug 2026Updated 15:59, 21 Aug 2026
Andy Burnham wants to bring the World Cup to British shores(Image: Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images)
Prime Minister Andy Burnham is looking at bringing the World Cup to the United Kingdom and is already in talks about how to deliver a campaign. Burnham told colleagues at a meeting in Manchester that he was speaking to the nation’s governing bodies over the prospect.
The plans sit alongside ambitions to host a Northern Olympics, according to the I. The World Cup was last hosted in the UK in 1966 when England came away victorious.
Burnham is pushing to make the north a standout destination for sport, and he also hopes to bring the 2035 Ryder Cup to Bolton. The next opportunity to land the World Cup as a host nation comes in 2038.
It is unclear whether the Prime Minister plans to achieve his World Cup dream at the soonest opportunity or whether 2042 or 2046 could be targeted instead. The formal process for awarding the 2038 tournament has not yet started.
Earlier this month, Burnham hinted that he would like to see the World Cup return to the United Kingdom. He believes the nation’s significance in the sport’s history warrants its hosting the tournament.
“It makes you wonder whether the authorities at the European and global level have something against us,” he told Ellis Platten, host of the Away Days podcast.
“The country that invented the game, you’d think we would have had a bit more of that attention.”
Burnham has previously been disappointed in a similar quest. When he was the culture media secretary under Gordon Brown, England failed in their bid for the 2018 World Cup, which was ultimately awarded to Russia after England received just two votes from FIFA’s executive committee.
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Spain won the most recent World Cup in the United States(Image: Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)
The next World Cup will be hosted by Spain, Morocco, and Portugal in 2030, with the addition of Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay for the opening games to celebrate the tournament’s centenary. It will then head to Saudi Arabia in 2034.
The United Kingdom hosts Euro 2028 alongside Ireland in two years’ time. Dublin’s Aviva Stadium, Newcastle United’s St James’ Park, Wembley, Hampden Park, the Principality Stadium, Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium, Villa Park and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will play host to the action.
Burnham’s meeting brought together mayors from across England with Chancellor John Healey, First Secretary of State Louise Haigh, Housing Secretary Angela Rayner and Housing Minister Sally Jameson, with others joining remotely. A coalition of northern mayors has been pushing for a multi-city Olympic and Paralympic bid.
They argue that any future Games bid should be focused on rebalancing the distribution of major events and investment away from London. Burnham has suggested it would not be ‘fair or right’ for London to become a host city for a fourth time.
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