Ian Baraclough insists Northern Ireland must not miss out on hosting games at Euro 2028 if a UK and Republic of Ireland joint bid is successful.
The deadline for expressions of interest to be submitted to Uefa is Wednesday.
It has been reported that the home bid could be unopposed, with the absence of any rival proposal likely to pave the way for the tournament to come to these shores in six years' time.
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That would see the Irish FA named as a host partner, despite not being able to meet the criteria for stadia or training facilities.
The minimum capacity requirement for hosting matches is 30,000, which is 11,500 more than Windsor Park's capacity which is currently capped at 18,500.
That would leave any hopes of Northern Ireland hosting any games hinging on the redevelopment of Casement Park.
It is hoped that the new Casement can be completed by the summer of 2024, but the redevelopment is set to be the subject of a judicial review this month following a challenge by a local residents' group.
Irish FA chief executive Patrick Nelson has already declared his interest in Northern Ireland playing a full role in he 2028 finals - a sentiment echoed by international boss Baraclough.
He said: "Northern Ireland have to be a part of that so we will be encouraging the relevant people to make sure that we are in the shake-up when it comes to hosting games here.
"We have got the infrastructure and we have also got the chance to build on that infrastructure, and I think we have to take that chance.
"We don't want to be the only nation that doesn't host a game during that tournament.
"Yes, we can have countries here as part of their warm-up games or their training camps, but we don't want to be doing that, we want to be hosting games. We want to play a major part in that."
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