World Cup: UK and Ireland should abandon 2030 bid and focus on Euro 2028 instead, says Julian Knight



England was ordered to play one match behind closed doors after trouble broke out during their Euro 2020 final against Italy.

The UK and Republic of Ireland should stop trying to host the World Cup and instead focus on hosting Euro 2028, says Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee chair.

The 2030 bid was described by Knight as a giant, expensive project.

He said that England's reputation would likely fail.

According to the Times, the five national associations have been told their bid would be unsuccessful because of political deal-making.

The furore over a World Cup bid is a huge, expensive project, according to Knight.

China, Spain, Portugal, and one from South America are likely candidates for the 2030 tournament.

The chances of the UK winning the World Cup in 2030 have not been harmed by the trouble that broke out at the Euro 2020 final.

The England team was banned from playing in a stadium for one match after the riots at Wembley Stadium.

The scenes at Wembley were shocking, but it did not mean the World Cup bid had "gone up in smoke".

The trouble "would not count against" a British and Irish bid according to the Uefa president.

"We have huge reputation problems in the international game, but we are ideally suited to hosting a tournament," said Knight.

"So it's best to aim our sights at something realistic, drop the 'we are the home of football' malarkey, reform our domestic game and focus on winning and delivering a really great Euros."

The Republic of Ireland and England were the sole hosts of the 1966 World Cup and Euro 1996, respectively, but they were also one of 11 host countries for the pan-European Euro 2020 competition.

Ireland withdrew from hosting four Euro 2020 matches in April due to coronaviruses concerns, but they were still due to host four.

England's last attempt to host a World Cup ended in embarrassment when they only got two votes in the first round of voting, one of which came from the Football Association.