Prime Minister Burnham backs UK World Cup bid for first time since 1966 triumph

Andy Burnham has confirmed to colleagues that he is backing a UK bid to host the FIFA World Cup, with the Prime Minister already in talks with the nation’s governing bodies about how to deliver a campaign. The World Cup has not been held in the United Kingdom since England’s famous 1966 triumph on home soil.

Burnham raised the ambition at a meeting in Manchester, where he outlined a broader vision to make the north of England a major destination for global sport. That vision also includes plans to host a Northern Olympics and bring the 2035 Ryder Cup to Bolton.

The next available opportunity to host the tournament is 2038, though it remains unclear whether Burnham’s administration would target that edition or look further ahead to 2042 or 2046. FIFA has not yet opened the formal bidding process for the 2038 tournament.

Burnham has long harboured ambitions in this area. As Culture and Media Secretary under Gordon Brown, he was involved in England’s ill-fated bid for the 2018 World Cup — a campaign that ended in humiliation when England received just two votes from FIFA’s executive committee before Russia was awarded the tournament.

Earlier this month, Burnham signalled his intentions publicly, arguing that the country’s foundational role in football’s history made it a deserving host. “The country that invented the game, you’d think we would have had a bit more of that attention,” he told the Away Days podcast.

The UK is already committed to co-hosting Euro 2028 alongside Ireland, with matches scheduled across Wembley, St James’ Park, Hampden Park, Villa Park, the Principality Stadium, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium, and Dublin’s Aviva Stadium. That tournament will serve as a significant test of the UK’s capacity to stage a major international football event ahead of any World Cup push.