Hosts England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland to play in qualifiers for Euro 2028

By Canadian Press on May 21, 2025.

BILBAO, Spain (AP) — UEFA’s Executive Committee on Wednesday approved an unprecedented qualifying system for the 2028 European Championship, with hosts England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland participating in the preliminaries.

The four teams will be drawn separately into the 12 qualifying groups, with the winners and the eight best runners-up advancing directly to the final tournament that will be held across nine venues in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Two spots in the final 24-team tournament will be reserved for the best-ranked host nations who did not qualify as group winners or best runners-up. The remaining berths will be assigned through playoffs between the other runners-up in the qualifying groups and the best ranked non-qualified group winners in the 2026-27 Nations League.

The executive committee met just ahead of the Europa League final in Bilbao.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

The Associated Press

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