Rostock's football dream shattered: Women's European Championship 2029 without our stadium!

Rostock's football dream shattered: Women's European Championship 2029 without our stadium!

It was a bitter setback for the city of Rostock and the fans of women's football: The German Football Association (DFB) has announced that Rostock will no longer be one of the venues for the 2029 Women's European Football Championship. In addition to Rostock, Berlin and Gelsenkirchen were also removed from the list, which caused deep regret for the responsible authorities in the Hanseatic city. NDR reports that Rostock's sports senator Steffen Bockhahn sees the decision as extremely regrettable and is already asking about the background.

Rostock had high hopes, especially because the Ostseestadion had already been the venue for exciting games in the past. The last meeting of the German women's national team in the stadium took place against Denmark in 2023 and was a complete success with 4-1 for the German players. Another sold-out game followed in April 2024 against Poland. Now the plans for the 2029 European Championship are falling through not only for the people of Rostock, but also for a large number of fans who were speculating on the tournament.

The remaining venues

With the deletion of Rostock, the DFB now has eight remaining venues for the 2029 European Championship. These are Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt/Main, Hanover, Cologne, Leipzig, Munich and Wolfsburg. Bernd Neuendorf, the DFB President, emphasized that the selection was based on the recommendations of a panel of experts and that everything would be done to organize the tournament successfully. The final documents for UEFA must be submitted by August 27, 2025 before the UEFA Executive Committee makes the final decision at the end of 2025.

Germany has already hosted two European Women's Championships in the past, namely in 1989 and 2001. The 2029 tournament could therefore be a return to old strength, and countries such as Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Portugal and Italy are also applying to host it.

Looking ahead to the 2025 European Championships

There is already exciting news for fans regarding the next Women's European Championship 2025, which is just around the corner! From July 2nd to 27th, 2025, Switzerland will host 16 nations, including the German team, which will compete in preliminary group C against Poland, Denmark and Sweden. How Sports show reports, the games will be offered live on TV and streaming, so fans don't have to miss a second of the tournament.

The DFB team’s preliminary round games are:

• 04.07.2025, 21 Uhr: Deutschland – Polen in St. Gallen
• 08.07.2025, 18 Uhr: Deutschland – Dänemark in Basel
• 12.07.2025, 21 Uhr: Schweden – Deutschland in Zürich

An important tournament is coming up, and despite the setbacks with the Euro 2029, the anticipation for the upcoming games remains great.