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Sport

Wales set to be confirmed as Euro 2028 co-host this week - but are unlikely to get a guaranteed spot at the tournament

By NationCymru
Wales' shirt. Picture by John Smith/FAW (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Wales is set to be confirmed as the co-host of the Euro 2028 tournament this week as no rival bids have been submitted for the tournament.

But the team isn't guaranteed a spot at the tournament itself, with Uefa rules dictating that only two of the five host nations would be entitled to automatic qualification.

Wednesday is the deadline for bids for the tournament but no one is understood to be vying to compete with the joint bid by Wales, Scotland, Ireland and England.

The move comes after they were dissuaded from launching a joint bid for the 2030 World Cup by Uefa, with Spain and Portugal the favoured option.

It means that the Principality Stadium in Cardiff will host at least some games in the tournament, with Dublin, Belfast and Glasgow also set to see matches.

Russia had also been expected to submit a bid but that is now off the table after a sporting boycott following the country's invasion of Ukraine.

Italy, the only other potential favourite, will be handed the 2032 tournament unopposed.

Uefa will formally name Wales, Scotland, Ireland and England hosts by April 7.

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9 comments

Y Cymro

Aother Uefa farce on the horizon for Wales. Just look how we were treated during the last Euro tournament. We endured a 6,000 mile roundtrip between central Asia & Europe. during the height of the Covid pandemic. We had our fans banned from travelling to support Wales matches where Danish were allowed. Saw England & Scotland play most of their matches at home. What an absolute joke! I can confidently predict Uefa will choose both England & Scotland as the two nations who will automatically qualify as part of the bid. And I'm beginning to think the cards are stacked against Wales. No surprise there.

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Kerry Davies

But just imagine if there was a big game at the Principality and Wales played a friendly at City stadium after that game? FAW would be rolling in cash and the fanzone party would be epic.

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Y Cymro

Yes, I agree. It would be great to see. But the cynic in me fears Euro 28 will be a two tier tournament where England & Scotland would be favoured to qualify automatically over Wales & Ireland, and due to lack of Stadia will get minor games that will attract only small crowds.

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Leigh Richardss

After qualifying for successive euro tournaments think we (wales) have gone beyond just wanting to have a great 'party' - think that these days we want to be participating in finals tournaments. Its unprecedented for host of a euros not to be given automatic qualification.

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Leigh Richardss

Absolutely outrageous if this is the case! Theres never been a case in the history of either uefa (or fifa) when the hosts of a international tournament havent qualified automatically. No point in Wales being part of any bid unless it comes with automatic qualification - we would in effect just be boosting England's bid.

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Gareth

All football fans know, that these things are not decided by footballing ability, but by how much profit the games will generate. The larger populated countries are always seeded in competitions and awarded tournaments, regardless of world ranking or ability. If rankings were to decide this, Cymru and England would host, but we only have a 3 million population, half of what Scotland have.

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Sefidehjan

Why can't the Celtic nations put in a joint bid without English? That would be at least 7 good stadia of 30K+ capacity. Considering that England had the lion's share of matches at the last Euros.

Reply
Quornby

Now let's all have a guess where the final will be shall we?

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Welsh_Siôn

I don't think we need three guesses ...

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