Women's EURO 2021 to open at Old Trafford

Manchester United's Old Trafford has been announced as the venue for the opening match of UEFA Women's EURO 2021 in England, with 500 days to go until the kick-off on 7 July of that year.

The 74,000-capacity stadium joins nine other venues in staging the 16-team, 31-game tournament, with the final on 1 August 2021 at Wembley, where the men's UEFA EURO 2020 will also end this summer. Hosts England will take part in the opening match and also play at Brighton & Hove and Southampton in the group stage; fixtures will also take place at Milton Keynes, Brentford, Sheffield United, Rotherham, Wigan & Leigh and Manchester City's Academy Stadium.

• England 2021: all you need to know
• Provisional schedule: 7 July to 1 August 2021
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"To have the first game of a European Championship in our own country at one of the most historic, iconic Premier League grounds, I think it’s a massive statement from the FA in terms of the way that they’ve organised this tournament," England manager Phil Neville told UEFA.com.

"To play games at Wembley is what my players have dreamt about; to play in front of a packed Wembley Stadium, a packed Old Trafford, a packed Southampton, it’s really bucket list-type dreams that they’ve had."

More than 700,000 tickets will be available for the finals, with the competition records of 247,841 for a tournament (Netherlands 2017) and 41,301 for a single match (the 2013 final in Solna) likely to be beaten.

"This is exactly what we aim for, it’s a big signal that we start at Old Trafford and end at Wembley," said Nadine Kessler, UEFA's head of women's football.

"We have set a great foundation to not just deliver a major international event, but also to use this Women’s EURO more than ever before to leave a legacy that is pan-European, not only in England, but across our members to spread the greatness of women’s football and get more girls playing across Europe."