Republic of Ireland and fellow Euro 2028 hosts set for automatic qualification
Republic of Ireland
, along with fellow
Euro 2028
co-hosts Scotland, Wales, and England, are expected to be granted automatic qualification for the tournament if they fail to qualify through the established process.
Uefa's executive committee will meet in Bilbao next Wednesday – ahead of the Europa League final between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur – to ratify the qualification format.
David Courell, the FAI chief executive, revealed last November that 'automatic slots' will be held for a host nation that fails to qualify.
'We are having conversations with Uefa but the working assumption is all of us will go through qualification and if we are unsuccessful in qualifying on merit, then there will be automatic slots in reserve, but that has yet to be ratified by Uefa,' said Courell last year.
READ MORE
'I won't go into the details of it, but what I will say is that we are very confident that we will feature in Euro 2028 on merit because I am happy with the trajectory we are on and we have a brilliant crop of players and have a great coaching team that I think is evolving our approach and style and hopefully, we will see that pay dividends over the coming years.
'That said, we will have the benefit of a highly increased likelihood of qualifying if we don't go through on merit.'
It remains unclear if the co-hosts will enter the playoffs if they finish second in qualification.
The Euros will take place in nine venues across eight cities in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The Aviva Stadium is set to host six matches, which is an increase on the five matches initially allocated as Northern Ireland withdrew from the process after failing to get funding from the UK government to redevelop Casement Park in Belfast.
'To be clear,' Courell added, 'Northern Ireland won't qualify for an automatic slot if they are not a host nation.'
The other confirmed venues for the 24-team tournament are Hampden Park in Glasgow, the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, St James' Park in Newcastle, the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, Everton's new Bramley Moore Dock stadium in Liverpool, Villa Park in Birmingham, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Wembley, which will host the final.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Examiner
29 minutes ago
- Irish Examiner
Numbers paint a picture of Brian Hayes as hurling's most rounded forward
The one-year anniversary approaches. His coming-of-age performance. His announcement. His authority and sheer awesomeness ever since. On the eve of last year's All-Ireland semi-finals weekend, Seánie McGrath wrote on these pages that the Cork-Limerick fixture would be decided, in large part, by the forward that goes beyond, the forward that goes 'ballistic and catches fire'. Brian Hayes was that bolter. Hayes was coming from so far back the field that the 1-4 he hit Limerick for moved him only to sixth on Cork's from-play scorers chart going into the decider. The 1-4 he took Limerick for also moved him from way back the field and into All-Star contention. Up to that semi-final, Hayes had been learning, growing, and attempting to acclimatise to life as a first-teamer in Pat Ryan's dressing room. On-field contributions would eventually click and come, or so was the hope of Ryan and the Barrs youngster who swapped Cork football for the Cork hurling dressing-room ahead of the 2023 season. Twelve months later and on the first anniversary of his breakout album, Hayes heads back to Croke Park as Cork's top scorer from play and a near certainty for his first All-Star gong. The contributions are now relentless. Late in the first half of the Munster rout of Tipp, Michael Duignan, on RTÉ co-commentary duty, broke out into spontaneous eulogising. 'In the air, on the ground, every way; he's just so good. A powerful man, but a beautiful hurler. Unmarkable, the way he's hurling,' Duignan said of the 6'4 corner-forward. Whether accurate or not, the argument is easily scripted that Hayes is hurling's most-rounded forward at present. The argument is his numbers. His numbers are awesome. Before we ever got to championship, he had signalled a second album worth the Spotify subscription. 5-8 on the road to League ribbons. Patrick Collins' first puckout of the 2025 championship was directed down on top of Hayes. He won it too. The offload to clubmate Ethan Twomey failed to yield an assisted point, accuracy betraying the latest Barrs newcomer. Along with Séamus Harnedy, Hayes is Collins' favourite puckout target. A minimum of five restarts per game are posted to the corner-forward's Eircode. In the second half of Munster final extra-time alone, and with Harnedy substituted, four restarts were aimed at him. Aerially so strong. Equally so on the ground. The first delivery of the 2025 championship into Hayes fell at his feet. His back faced to goal, the 24-year-old snapped up possession, turned and took on Darragh Lohan in an attempt to deliver a sixth goal of the year. The hurley pulled from his hand, Patrick Horgan converted the resulting free. That strength and green flag mindset roared again 10 minutes later. His massively improved skillset also rose to the surface here. Charged in past Lohan along the end-line. The angle so tight, Hayes improvised to bat the sliotar past Eibhear Quilligan. He left Ennis with 2-2, was responsible for another 0-1, and provided confirmation that League form had been successfully carried through. Tipperary at home a week later showcased his vision. A finisher and finder. His floated, inside-the-cover pass for Tim O'Mahony's fifth-minute goal was superbly clever. He had the secondary assist for another 1-1, caught a pair of puckouts and clipped a pair of points. Hayes is one-third of the Cork inside line. Unlike Limerick and Kilkenny, Cork keep three inside always. Sharing the stage with two other headline acts demands patience. It won't always be your turn at the mic. 'At the end of the day, we are doing a role for the team, and that is staying in as close to goal as possible. If you are coming out [looking for ball], you are blocking up the space. If we come out, we try to get ourselves to snap back in quickly,' Hayes said after the championship-extending win over Waterford. It was a game where that patience was severely tested. Maturity and temperament were required and located. Conor Prunty was wedded tighter than a rash. Hayes didn't have a first clean possession until the 31st minute. Come his fifth possession 15 minutes into the second half, the No.15 had struck 1-1, assisted Patrick Horgan's goal, and won the free for a white flag. 2-2 off him in five possessions. Next came leadership. Just past the hour-mark and Waterford were back within three. Momentum and possession were shifting towards the City End. Hayes rose and fetched a Collins restart. Stepping forward to do his piece, even if the quick handpass to Shane Barrett ended with a wide. The assist to Barrett in the Munster final stuck. Selfless and supreme vision. In that Munster final first half, he attempted to manufacture green with each of his four possessions. The first was saved by Quaid, the second was Barrett's successful ground stroke, the third was a handpass to Connolly that spilled loose under pressure, while the fourth was a ground pull of his own that flashed across the face of goal. His ground pull to Hoggie in second-half injury-time was an equalising assist. He assisted 1-2 in total. 'My hurling has come on loads since I came into the panel. I wouldn't have been anywhere near a hurler in comparison to what I am now in terms of just my hurling, my skill level,' said Hayes at the end of May. 'Brian has blossomed into a fantastic hurler for us,' said Pat Ryan of the 3-7 championship contributor this week. His numbers tell a story of far more than blossoming. His bolting days are behind him. He's top of the charts and on the road, as Seánie McGrath predicted earlier this year, to becoming Cork hurling's next 'cult figure'.
Irish Examiner
29 minutes ago
- Irish Examiner
Eoin Cadogan: 'They have a massive stumbling block in Dublin, but they have been forewarned'
A 'pressure-cooker game' and a 'massive stumbling block in Dublin' is what awaits Cork this Saturday evening, according to former Rebel Eoin Cadogan. The once-dual operator said Pat Ryan's charges can't have been any more forewarned ahead of the All-Ireland semi-final, a stage in the championship where the sole priority is progression not panache. 'Any talk of silverware and famine is irrelevant coming into another semi-final. Semi-finals are always the pressure-cooker game because when you get to a final, you can go and express yourself. You're there, you've got to exactly where most teams have set out to get to at the start of the year, and so you can leave the handbrake off a little bit more, whereas being beaten in the semi-final is like being beaten in the quarter-final. There's no difference,' said Cadogan, a Gaelic Games ambassador for BoyleSports. 'The perception of supporters would have been that Limerick were going to come through and by God did Dublin put a nail in that coffin. 'John Kiely referenced it afterwards, Dublin's ball retention off their own puck-out has been excellent. Seán Brennan's execution and finding of players is top class. 'They know exactly what they're about. There's a clarity in terms of how they want to play, where they're supposed to set themselves up and how they're trying to work the ball through the lines. They're very comfortable doing it because they have the athleticism inside to match Cork as well on Saturday.' The same as Seánie McGrath observed earlier this week, Cadogan stressed the quietness of the semi-final build-up on Leeside. But irrespective of the noise level, he added, his former teammates and those that have joined in the four seasons since no longer prick their ears. 'These guys are a lot more grounded than what we might think. They've learnt a lot over the last few years to be ready to go on Saturday. 'They've experienced an All-Ireland final in 2021, a lot of those guys experienced one last year and were devastated in losing that after extra time. They've learnt a lot over the last two years not to get caught up in the hype.' The All-Ireland football winner believes the 2025 edition are better than the 2024 class largely because of that aforementioned extra-time defeat to Clare. 'The squad has improved a lot, and I purely put that down to last year's defeat. They have to be hungry. This group has an opportunity to try and put a performance in on Saturday to get over the line and get another crack at an All-Ireland final. They have a massive stumbling block in Dublin, but they have been forewarned.' Although Cork have blitzed many an opposition this year, what has most stood out for Cadogan is the collective reply to the Limerick round-robin hammering that had the potential to finish them for the year. 'I was massively worried after it, but the character and how they responded in the Munster final, and going down the straight in extra-time, the most pleasing thing as a Cork supporter was that the lads showed fierce bottle to stick at it and get over the line. 'People will say, ah they deserved that, but unfortunately in sport it doesn't really work like that. I would like to think that they found a way when others would have wilted.'
The Irish Sun
38 minutes ago
- The Irish Sun
What Irish TV channel is Ireland U20 vs Italy on? Kick-off time, live stream, teams & odds for World Championship clash
IRELAND will look to make it two wins from two in the World Rugby U20 Championship when they face hosts Italy. Neil Doak's men began their campaign in style with a 35-28 victory over Georgia . Here's everything you need to know about the match. When is it on and what time is kick-off? The Kick-off is at 7:30pm Irish time. Where can I watch it? The game will not be shown on Irish terrestrial Read More on Ireland Rugby However, fans will be able to stream the game for FREE over on RugbyPass TV. What are the teams? Noah Doak made just two changes to the side that edged out Georgia last Sunday. Scrum-half Will Wootton will start as will Alex Usanov, with Connacht starlet Eanna McCarthy once again captaining the team. Ireland U20: Charlie Molony, Paidi Farrell, Ciaran Mangan, Eoghan Smyth, Derry Moloney, Tom Wood, Will Wootton; Alex Usanov, Henry Walker, Alex Mullan, Mahon Ronan, Billy Corrigan, Michael Foy, Eanna McCarthy, Luke Murphy. Most read in Rugby Union Replacements: Mikey Yarr, Billy Bohan, Tom McAllister, Conor Kennedy, Bobby Power, Clark Logan, Sam Wisniewski, Daniel Green.] Italy U20: Edoardo Todaro, Alessandro Drago, Federico Zanandrea, Riccardo Casarini, Jules Ducros, Roberto Fasti, Niccolo Beni; Sergio Pelliccioli, Nicolo Michele Corvasce, Nicola Bolognini, Mattia Midena, Piero Gritti, Giacomo Milano, Carlo Antonio Bianchi, Nelso Casartelli. 'Magical few days' - Inside Peter O'Mahony's fun-filled Disneyland holiday despite 'bananas crowds' Replacements: Alessio Caiolo-Serra, Sascha Mistruilli, Luca Trevisan, Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi, Antony Italo Miranda, Matteo Bellotto, Riccardo Ioannucci, Gianmarco Pietramala. What are the odds? Ireland are priced at 4/9 to make it two wins from two against the host nation, while the Azzurri are out to 7/4. The draw is valued at 20/1. What happened the last time they played? Ireland's last encounter against Italy represented a chastening experience for the Young Boys in Green. A 15-12 defeat to the Azzurri back in February bookended a disappointing Ireland finished rock bottom of the Championship table with just one win in their five games. It was a first ever defeat to a side that they had hammered 55-15 in the 2024 World Championship just eight months previously. Italy go into Friday's game in search of a big result having started their campaign with defeat to New Zealand , who Ireland face in their final pool stage game on July 9. 1 Ireland face Italy in the World Rugby U20 Championship Credit: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
