By James Crook

The FA have proposed Wembley Stadium to host the Euro 2020 finalSeptember 20 - The Football Association has proposed Wembley Stadium as a potential host for the semi-finals and final of the first UEFA European Championship to be held over 13 nations in 2020, as 39 cities from across Europe were confirmed as being in contention to host matches.

FA chairman Greg Dyke said the expectation was that Wembley would only host group stage matches at Euro 2020 last week, but general secretary Alex Horne today announced that England has bid to host the semi-finals and final.

"We would be delighted for London and Wembley Stadium to be chosen to host either of the two packages available and we look forward to working with UEFA on the forthcoming selection process," he said.

"It would be great to see England playing in front of their home fans here in London as part of a Euro finals tournament, but many countries have also put themselves forward as hosts and we expect this to be a very competitive bidding process."

England suffered an ill-fated bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which ultimately went to Russia.

UEFA today confirmed that 32 nations have confirmed their wish to host Euro 2020 matches, with 39 cities being officially put forward.

England's neighbours Wales, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland have also submitted bids to host matches, along with a mixed bag of countries ranging from Armenia to Ukraine.

Kyiv's Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex, which hosted the Euro 2012 final, has been nominated to host matches at Euro 2020Kyiv's Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex, which hosted the Euro 2012 final, has been nominated to host matches at Euro 2020

"We are extremely proud to see the huge interest in the bidding process, with more than half of our member associations willing to host matches at Euro 2020," said UEFA President Michel Platini.

"The finals will be a great celebration of football across the European continent, and the 60th anniversary edition will be truly special, by really coming to the doorstep of all football fans."

Istanbul are currently the favourites to win the finals package after losing out in their bid to host the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, amid claims that Michel Platini "promised" them the rights to host the tournament

Each nation may propose two bids, one for a package of three group matches and a round of 16 or quarterfinal game and one for the special package of the two semi-finals and a final, while only one city may be proposed by each country.

Bid dossiers must then be submitted to UEFA by late April next year, before the host cities are revealed in September 2014.

The bidding nations and proposed cities are as follows: Armenia (Yerevan), Azerbaijan (Baku), Belarus (Minsk), Belgium (Brussels), Bulgaria (Sofia), Croatia (Zagreb), Czech Republic (Prague), Denmark (Copenhagen), England (London), Finland (Helsinki), France (Lyon), Macedonia (Skopje), Germany (Munich), Greece (Athens), Hungary (Budapest), Israel (Jerusalem), Italy (Rome and Milan), Kazakhstan (Astana), Netherlands (Amsterdam), Poland (Warsaw and Chorzow), Portugal (Lisbon and Porto), Republic of Ireland (Dublin), Romania (Bucharest), Russia (St Petersburg), Scotland (Glasgow), Serbia (Belgrade), Spain (Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia), Sweden (Solna), Switzerland (Basel), Turkey (Istanbul), Ukraine (Kyiv and Donetsk) and Wales (Cardiff).

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