England NOT guaranteed automatic qualification for Euro 2028 as mystery surrounds host nations’ spots at tournament
ENGLAND will NOT be automatic qualifiers even if they are one of the host nations for the 2028 European Championship.
The UK and Ireland announced their joint list of stadiums for the Euro 2028 tournament on Wednesday.
On deadline day for applications to host the football tournament, the government give the green light for it to go ahead.
Turkey are the rivals to host the iconic competition with the final decision to be made in September.
The Football Associations of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and Republic of Ireland have met to thrash out the finer details.
And the lucky ten venues have been chosen under the banner “Football for all. Football for good. Football for the future.”
However, not all of the UK’s host nation countries will be guaranteed to be playing at the tournament due to a Uefa ruling.
The governing body states that in the case of more than two joint host associations, the automatic qualification of all the host teams cannot be guaranteed.
Therefore, it will be subject to a decision to be made in conjunction with decisions concerning the qualifying competition.
That means that the Three Lions and their fellow UK and Irish counterparts now face an anxious wait to discover their fate.
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Meanwhile, big stadiums to miss out on the hosting bid are Manchester United‘s Old Trafford, West Ham’s London Stadium and Liverpool’s Anfield.
But England’s capital city has two hosting venues – Wembley and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium (capacity of 53,400), Newcastle’s St James’ Park (52,305), and Everton’s not-yet-built Bramley-Moore Dock stadium (52,888) are the country’s northern choices.
Aston Villa’s Villa Park is doing the Midlands proud and can house 42,640 fans.
Wales will have the 74,500-capacity Principality Stadium, Scotland the iconic Hampden Park that can cater for 51,866 people.
Over the water, Belfast’s Casement Park is selected for Northern Ireland, while the 51,700-capacity Aviva Dublin is the venue for the Republic of Ireland.
Since the announcement, fans have been speculating on what England’s team could be at Euro 2028.
And they are expecting the national side to look very different from Gareth Southgate’s current crop of Three Lions.