Irish confident as Euro 2020 D-Day dawns

There is quiet confidence but no certainty of success on the part of the Irish delegation in Geneva ahead of Uefa’s long-awaited announcement this lunchtime of the host nations for the European Championship finals of 2020.

From 19 applicants across Europe, Dublin is bidding to be one of the 13 cities who will stage games at the finals. If successful, the joint FAI and Dublin City Council bid would see three group games and one knockout match played at the Aviva Stadium – or, as Uefa, in deference to its own sponsors insist on calling it, the ‘Dublin Arena’. And should Ireland qualify for the finals in six years’ time, the team would also be rewarded with two home games.

Uncertainty about the chances of Dublin’s success arises in part from what one source close to the bid calls the “complex, multi-layered though transparent structure” of the decision-making process, by which the Uefa Executive Committee, who are meeting in Geneva this morning, must first break the tournament down into geographical regions before deciding on the winning cities.