Ireland not yet guaranteed automatic Euro 2028 qualification if named as co-hosts

Ireland are not yet guaranteed automatic qualification for Euro 2028 despite moving a step closer to being named as co-host. Uefa confirmed on Friday that Turkey had joined forces with Italy in a joint bid to host Euro 2032. Turkey had previously been the only opposition to a joint bid for Euro 2028 from the UK and Ireland.

While Turkey have not officially withdrawn their bid for the 2028 tournament, their new partnership with Italy is currently the only bid for 2032, leaving it all but certain that they will be successful and that the UK and Ireland is awarded hosting rights for Euro 2028. Uefa will confirm the hosts for both competitions later this year on October 10th.

Despite the host nation normally being assured of a spot without going through the qualification process, due to the number of proposed hosts, it is unclear which, if any, of prospective hosts England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland will be granted automatic qualification.

Europe’s showpiece

In previous competitions that have seen no more than two host nations, both have automatically qualified. The most recent case of this was in 2012 when Poland and Ukraine had their spots guaranteed.

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Euro 2020, played in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, was held across multiple cities on the continent with no country handed an automatic slot.

Uefa rules state that in the case of more than two co-hosts, the automatic qualification of all the host teams cannot be guaranteed. It is understood that no decision regarding automatic qualification has been communicated to the Football Association of Ireland (FAI).

Should Uefa opt not to award automatic qualification, Ireland and the other host nations would have to qualify through the traditional process. Ireland have not qualified for Europe’s showpiece men’s international competition since 2016.

“The UK and Ireland Uefa Euro 2028 bid is today aware of a media statement from Uefa regarding Euro 2032,” said a spokesman for the FAI. “We have a very strong bid and look forward to presenting it to Uefa on October 10th as planned.”

Nominated cities

Last April, the joint bid confirmed the 10 cities nominated to host matches should the UK and Ireland be awarded the tournament. Dublin’s Aviva Stadium is the only venue in the Republic, while Belfast’s Casement Park is the sole venue up North.

Casement Park has been unused for a decade and requires significant redevelopment to be able to host matches in five years’ time. Windsor Park, Northern Ireland’s home soccer stadium which has a capacity of 18,500 people, does not meet Uefa’s requirement of 30,000. The redevelopment of Casement Park is set to increase its capacity to 34,500.

In May, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Chris Heaton-Harris said should the UK and Ireland’s Euro 2028 bid be successful, the British government would provide funding for Casement Park’s redevelopment. “I’m quite sure the UK government wants to help but we will work with all partners to deliver the Casement Park stadium,” he told the BBC.

“I don’t actually know how much the whole thing is going to cost. We’ve seen different estimates. But let’s win the bid first. Once we win the bid, we’ll sit down round a table and the money will get sorted out.”

A spokesperson for the UK government said it “will continue to work with partners including the NI Executive and GAA on the bid, including the funding for Casement Park”.