Football
England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales denied automatic Euro 2028 qualification in new rule
England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales will have to qualify the hard way after UEFA ruled that the Euro 2028 co-hosts will not have automatic entry into the tournament. The competition will be held in nine venues across the United Kingdom but, unlike in previous years, the hosts will have to go through regular qualifying.
Countries staging international football tournaments are often granted unconditional qualification. However, there is little precedent for four nations co-hosting the same event. That would have meant allowing four teams automatic access to a competition that will only feature 24 countries. UEFA have now confirmed that all four host nations will now go through the usual qualifying format, but with two places in the tournaments reserved for the two highest-ranked teams who fail to qualify.
