Uefa to decide on Euro '28 hosting slots next week

As Ireland will likely be third seeds, that back-door route may be invoked to ensure they figure at the first Euros since the team led by Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane reached the last-16 stage of the 2016 event in France. Pic: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

Ireland’s automatic path to featuring at the Euro 2028 finals they’re co-hosting will become clearer when Uefa rubberstamp the competition structure next Wednesday.

The European governing body’s executive committee will convene ahead of the Europa League final in Bilbao, where the competition matters for the next men’s tournament tops the agenda.

Dublin’s Aviva Stadium will stage six games, potentially seven, as part of their co-hosting with UK federations of England, Scotland and Wales.

Northern Ireland’s involvement was scotched by Uefa due to delays in their proposed venue, Casement Park, being redeveloped.

All four hosts will participate in regulation qualifying but if they don’t reach the 24-team showpiece on playing merit, either through the groups or Nations League playoffs, two backdoor slots are available to non-qualifiers.

As Ireland will likely be third seeds, that route may be invoked to ensure they figure at the first Euros since the team led by Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane reached the last-16 stage of the 2016 event in France.

“We are having conversations with Uefa but the working assumption is all of us will go through qualification and if we are unsuccessful in qualifying on merit, then there will be automatic slots in reserve but that has yet to be ratified by Uefa,” David Courell, the FAI’s chief executive, said last November.

“I won’t go into the details of it, but what I will say is that we are very confident that we will feature in Euro 2028.

“We will have the benefit of a highly increased likelihood of qualifying if we don’t go through on merit.” 

Lansdowne Road is confirmed to hold four group matches, along with last-16 and quarter-final ties, but will likely absorb an additional fixture made available from the demise of the Belfast venue.

Wembley Stadium and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium are the London venues, along with The Etihad in Manchester, Everton’s new stadium on Bramley Moore Dock, St James’ Park in Newcastle and Villa Park in Birmingham. 

They are joined by the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and Hampden Park in Glasgow to complete the nine arenas staging the spectacular in the summer of 2028.