England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales – co-hosts of the 2028 European Championship – will still compete in qualifiers, but only two guaranteed places are reserved if any of them fail to qualify, UEFA announced Wednesday.
The decision, made by UEFA’s Executive Committee during its meeting in Bilbao ahead of the Europa League final, means all four host nations will be placed in separate qualifying groups.
Twelve group winners and the eight best runners-up will secure automatic berths for the tournament, with the two reserved host spots used only if necessary.
“Two spots in the final tournament will be reserved for the two best-ranked host nations who are not qualified as group winners or best runners-up after the completion of the qualifying group stage,” UEFA said in a statement.
The remaining spots will be assigned via playoffs between the other runners-up in the qualifying groups and the best-ranked 2026-27 UEFA Nations League non-qualified group winners, the statement said.
“Depending on the number of spots used by the host nations, the number of final tournament spots decided by playoffs may vary between two and four.”
Euro 2028 will be held across nine venues in the U.K. and Ireland.
