UEFA has altered its protocols given tournament is being held across four nations instead of the usual one for the competition. The governing body announced that the co-hosts will take part in the qualifying phase, during which 12 groups of four or five teams will battle it out to be one of the 24 which will contest the finals.
Two of the remaining four spots will be allocated to the two best-ranked host nations who did not qualify automatically. The final two places will be decided via play-offs for the remaining runners-up in the group phase. Despite being finalists last year, England have asked to be part of the qualifying stage as the side want to keep up their competitive edge.
The BBC report that Cardiff is expected to host the opening ceremony at Cardiff's Principality Stadium. Wembley, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Everton’s newly built home ground, Glasgow’s Hampden Park, Dublin’s Aviva Stadium are all also venues for the tournament in 3 years time.
With the host nations set to try and qualify for the event it may worry some host nations who could struggle to make it into the tournament. Hosting Euro 2028 on home soil without the home nation involved would be a nightmare but UEFA is unlikely to make any exception as that would make it unfair on those countries which worked hard to finish high in their qualifying group.