England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland will have to qualify the hard way after UEFA ruled that the Euro 2028 co-hosts will not have automatic entry into the tournament. The competition will be held in 10 venues across the United Kingdom but, unlike in previous years, the hosts will have to go through regular qualifying.

Countries staging international football tournaments are often granted unconditional qualification. However, there is little precedent for four nations co-hosting the same event. That would have meant allowing four teams automatic access to a competition that will only feature 24 countries. UEFA have now confirmed that all four host nations will now go through the usual qualifying format, but with two places in the tournaments reserved for the two highest-ranked teams who fail to qualify.

Should the world rankings remain relatively similar over the next three years, that would almost certainly guarantee England a place in Euro 2028. The Three Lions have not failed to qualify for a major tournament since Euro 2008 and are often expected to perform well in their qualifying groups.

However, should they not be eligible for the competition via that route, England will likely be one of the two best-ranked UK nations. They are currently fourth on FIFA's leaderboard after reaching last year's Euro 2024 final. Wales are the next best British team in 29th place.

Scotland are third in 44th and Ireland are 60th.

The successful UK bid initially consisted of five nations, with Northern Ireland joining England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. It was the only bid to host the tournament and was granted the rights at a UEFA meeting in Switzerland in October 2023.

Northern Ireland were later dropped from the bid due to a lack of funding for Casement Park, a derelict venue that was set to be redeveloped for the tournament.

Meanwhile, a Welsh politician seems to have claimed that the tournament's opening ceremony will be staged in Cardiff. Rebecca Evans, Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning, was discussing some upcoming major events, including the six matches that will be hosted in 2028.

In response, Conservative Member of the Senedd Samuel Kurtz said: "Six matches of the UEFA Euro 2028, and not just six matches, but the open ceremony as well."

Cardiff's Principality Stadium is one of 10 venues across nine cities that will host matches at the tournament.