THE Scottish Football Association will bid this week to host games at Euro 2020 and will be pitted against the Football Association of Ireland in its attempt to stage matches.

UEFA's deadline for applications ends on Friday and the SFA will apply to make Hampden one of the 13 host venues for the European Championships with three group games and a last-16 tie the target.

Geograpy is likely to play a major part in the decision-making process when they UEFA make its final announcement on the venue in September.

With Wembley seemingly a certainty to host games, Glasgow and Dublin would appear to hold the edge over Wales' bid of Cardiff because of UEFA's insistence of host airports having two terminals to keep rivals fans apart - something the Welsh capital's airport doesn't have, unlike in Glasgow and Dublin.

John Delaney, the FAI chief executive, believes it will come down to a straight decision between Scotland and Ireland.

He said: "Firstly, you've got to meet stringent technical criteria in place, but I think it would be geography-political - North, South, East and West. I think England, naturally, with Wembley will have a great opportunity at least to the quarter-finals, if not a semi-final and final. A second terminal at the airport is also very helpful for the segregation of supporters."

The Euro 2020 finals will be spread across Europe with 32 nations initially showing interest in hosting games, although several have now withdrawn. Were Scotland to qualify and win the right to host games, they would boast home advantage for two of the three first round games.

Istanbul in Turkey is the hot favourite to host the final.