UK and Ireland’s Euro 2028 bid unlikely to secure five automatic places

All five United Kingdom and Ireland hosts would be highly unlikely to secure automatic qualification for the men’s Euro 2028, in the expected eventuality that the countries stage the tournament.

Turkey is seen as the main competitor to the joint bid, and while the state has not formally pulled out of the running, Uefa announced on Friday that the federation had entered into a joint bid with Italy for Euro 2032. It is consequently seen as an inevitability within European football circles that the 2028 tournament will be held in the UK and Ireland.

While there are immense benefits for Uefa and the Euros in 2028, in regards to commercial potential and most of the infrastructure, the number of hosts would bring other issues. One is how many would qualify automatically and the Independent has been told that all five - England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland - given a place in the tournament is not currently being considered due to issues related to sporting integrity as regards qualification. It would at best be three or even two.

A further issue is that the tournament is still expected to remain at 24 teams for 2028, with the anticipated expansion to 32 not happening until 2032. A 32-team tournament would make five automatic qualifiers more politically palatable, but would still be seen as too many.

In the event that the UK and Ireland do win the bid, a number of models to sort the qualification issue have already been mooted, including the potential of a mini-tournament before qualification officially starts. It will ultimately be up to Uefa to decide that, though.

There does remain a very minor possibility that the tournament could yet only feature four hosts, as Northern Ireland's planned stadium of Casement Park in Belfast isn't yet reconstructed and work hasn't started. That isn't currently seen as a challenge, though, with five years until the competition takes place.