Burnham: It is ‘insane’ UK has not hosted World Cup since 1966

Andy Burnham has said it is “insane” that the UK has only hosted one World Cup, as he said Fifa and Uefa have conspired against the home nations hosting their first men’s tournament since 1966.

The Prime Minister said he wondered whether the European and worldwide football governing bodies had “something against us” over their failure to award hosting rights to another tournament to the UK.

Mr Burnham referenced his involvement in the doomed 2010 bid for England to host the World Cup eight years later, which was awarded to Russia.

However, the controversy around the process for that World Cup, and that which was awarded to Qatar for 2022, eventually unseated then-Fifa president Sepp Blatter and other senior officials.

England’s bid only received two votes from 22 members of the Fifa executive committee, amid claims of bribery.

Mr Blatter’s replacement, Gianni Infantino, is currently under fire for proposals to sell shares in the World Cup to private investors.

Mr Burnham, an Everton fan, was speaking to the Away Days podcast, which showed him looking through classic Everton, England and Liverpool shirts.

He had been culture, media and sports secretary in the run-up to the World Cup bid being submitted, when he was part of Gordon Brown’s cabinet.

The podcast’s host, Ellis Platten, said to the Prime Minister: “The fact we’ve only ever hosted one World Cup in Britain is insane to me.”

Mr Burnham replied: “Definitely. I don’t know, it makes you wonder whether the authorities at the European and global level have something against us, I don’t know.

“The country that invented the game, you know, you’d think we would have had a bit more of that attention. I have been part of Governments that have tried to bring the World Cup here, it’s just the voting.

“Let’s be honest, some of the practices within football haven’t supported even-handed decision-making. I’m being diplomatic here, but it’s not good, is it?”

Despite not hosting the World Cup for 60 years, the UK has hosted games at the men’s European Championships twice and fixtures at the 2028 tournament will be played in the UK and Ireland.

Meanwhile, the UK will host the women’s World Cup in 2035. It hosted the 2005 and 2022 women’s European Championships. The latter saw England’s women win the tournament for the first time on home soil.

Since entering Downing Street himself, Mr Burnham has called for Mr Infantino to resign, saying he is the “wrong man” to lead Fifa over his bungled attempt to sell off stakes in the World Cup to private investors.

He told journalists: “I do not believe that he is the right man to lead football forward on the world stage.

“The plan that was put forward was offensive to many people, football people, around the world, and it can’t be the case that we just move on and forget that, it wasn’t acceptable.”

Published: 07/08/2026 by Radio NewsHub