According to Corriere della Sera, Italy's bid to host the 2032 European Championship is entering a critical phase, with the number of candidate stadiums potentially increasing to 12 or 13.

UEFA has requested Italy and Turkey submit their lists of candidate venues by Thursday. Ultimately, 10 stadiums will be selected to host the tournament, with five from each country. Twelve months ago, Italy had only one stadium eligible to bid. Now, with project and funding approvals, the candidate list could expand to 12 or 13 venues. The total investment is close to 6 billion euros, with approximately 4.5 billion coming from private funds.

Corriere della Sera outlined the current situation. Turin is ready, Milan will designate the new San Siro stadium, Roma will continue using the Stadio Olimpico, and the Pietralata project might join at the last minute. Naples, meanwhile, is banking on the renovation of the Maradona Stadium. Salerno, Fiorentina, Cagliari, Genoa, Lecce, and Bologna are also in contention, while Udinese is limited by insufficient capacity.

One potential dark horse is Bari, whose bid could gain significant traction in the final hours. Palermo is also worth watching, with the new Stadio Favorita project and the 300 million euros invested by City Football Group making it competitive. In their final selection, the Italian FA might also consider balanced regional distribution. All stadiums must have at least 30,000 seats, with over 40,000 being more advantageous, and must be completed by autumn 2031.

Turkey started significantly earlier in terms of infrastructure development. Over the past decade, Turkey has built 29 new stadiums through a government-backed plan, with a total investment estimated at around 10 billion euros. Istanbul is expected to have two stadiums, with the renovated Atatürk Stadium being a strong candidate to host the final. Ankara can rely on the new Stadı 19 Mayıs, and other cities competing for inclusion are Trabzon, Konya, Gaziantep, Eskişehir, and Antalya. Notably, Bursa's Timsah Arena might be excluded: although it opened in 2015, it now faces the risk of not making Turkey's final list of five stadiums for Euro 2032.

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