For many in England, the failed bid for 2018 still feels like the moment faith in the process cracked. Russia won that race, and the choice of 2022 host Qatar became part of the same era of controversy around global football governance.
Burnham reportedly pointed back to that climate and the sense that British bids have struggled for reasons beyond the technical case.
Burnham also framed it as a question of recognition. “O país que inventou o jogo, você imaginaria que teria recebido um pouco mais dessa atenção,” he said.
That line will resonate with supporters who see the UK as central to football’s story, yet strangely peripheral in the men’s game’s biggest hosting conversations. It is also a challenge to and UEFA: if governance is to be trusted, the process has to look cleaner than it did in that deeply disputed period.
There is no shortage of major events on these shores. Euro 2028 is coming to the UK and Ireland, and the women’s game has already shown what a home tournament can look like when the mood is right.
That is why Burnham’s intervention matters now. The next storyline is whether Euro 2028 becomes more than a celebration - whether it turns into the platform for a fresh British push, and renewed scrutiny of how football’s biggest decisions are really made.