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.
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.
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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.
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.
On Monday, it was announced that ITV have won back the rights to show England matches outside of major tournaments.
In a statement, ITV said: “The first qualifying campaign will be England’s bid to reach the 2026 Fifa World Cup finals in North America, followed by the European qualifiers to Uefa Euro 2028.”
Whilst ITV’s director of sport, Niall Sloane said: “We’re delighted to bring the England men’s team back to ITV, which keeps coverage of their progress between major tournaments on free-to-air television.
“We have an experienced team here who are looking forward to bringing viewers all the action and insight from England’s qualification campaigns in the coming years.”
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Marcus Chan