England may not play at Euro 2028 even if they host the tournament under new plans
England may not be able to play at Euro 2028 even if they host the tournament.
The 24-team tournament in 2028 is expected to be co-hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Northern Ireland.
On Wednesday, it was reported that their joint bid to host the tournament will proceed unopposed.
According to The Guardian, UEFA stated on Wednesday that Turkey, who had previously expressed interest in hosting has now withdrawn its bid.
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As a result, the UK and Ireland have a clear path to successfully win the bidding.
The news have not come as a surprise after it was reported that the UK and Ireland were the favourites to host Euro 2028 after the English Football Association signalled it would not bid to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup.
Normally, in the previous tournaments, the host nations get automatic qualification into the finals of the competition.
However, England could be hampered ahead of the 2028 edition on the back of a new plan being considered by UEFA.
According to The Times, UEFA will only allow a maximum of two automatic qualification spots for the co-hosts for Euro 2028.
The plan would actually see all five host nations participate in the qualifying phase, with the two automatic spots reserved for teams that fail to qualify for the finals.
If three or four host nations fail to make it, the best two teams would be awarded the automatic spots.
It is currently unclear how UEFA will determine the two best teams if more than two failed to qualify for Euro 2028 but if England finish their qualifying round lower than the other co-hosts, they could be in real danger of missing the tournament.
However, if the automatic spots are determined by coefficient rankings, England should not have a problem as they are one of the highest ranked teams in Europe.
Although it is unlikely that England will fail to qualify, we have seen stranger things happen in football.
For example, back in 2008, England lost out to Croatia in their bid to qualify for Euro 2008.
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Marcus Chan