Cardiff looks set to agonisingly miss out on becoming a host city for Euro 2020, compounding the heartbreak of Wales failing to qualify for next year's World Cup in Russia.

UEFA's executive committee are ready to pick Stockholm over the principality when they vote on Thursday to replace Brussels' Eurostadium as one of the 13 venues for the one-off pan-European finals.

The Belgian capital was one of the original cities chosen but building work on a new 60,000-seater arena has been fraught with politics and Uefa have run out of patience.

Cardiff look set to miss out on the chance to be a host city at Euro 2020

Welsh FA officials have lobbied virtually every exco member including UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin but it seems their case will be thrown out despite having successfully hosted the Champions league final.

Wembley, already slated to host the semi-finals and final, had been put on standby but the Mail on Sunday understands Stockholm – like Cardiff part of the original bidding process – has done enough to get the nod.

Uefa bigwigs are understood to have decided that with Wembley, Glasgow and Dublin already staging games, the tournament would be top-heavy with British and Irish venues if Cardiff is thrown into the mix. By contrast, Copenhagen is the only definite Scandinavian representative so far.

This has privately infuriated Welsh officials who believe they submitted a far stronger technical bid than the Swedes whose stadium will hold 25,000 fewer spectators. Wales also upset all the odds to reach the Euro 2016 semifinals but that has apparently also been ignored.

'It would be a shame if Thursday turns out to be a political and geographical decision,' said one high-ranking Welsh official. 'It's our one and only chance of staging part of a major national team finals. It would send this country ballistic.'

It comes as a blow to the Wales national team, following their failure to make the World Cup

Meanwhile football's lawmakers look set to have to be rushed into a premature decision over whether to allow video technology to be used at next year's World Cup – one of the most important rule change considerations of recent years.

The International FA Board, which comprises Fifa and the four home nations, has been given less than five weeks between its interim business meeting in late January, when recommendations are discussed, and its main decision-making summit in early March.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino is desperate to have video assistant referees in place by the time of the World Cup but following a raft of questionable rulings – both in favour of and against VARs – there is mounting evidence that more work needs to be done in order to ensure the technology does not prove counter-productive.

'The whole point of the interim meeting is to receive reports on any testing or experiments that are going on and be able both to confirm agenda items for the main meeting and provide a degree of feedback as to whether more work needs to be done,' said one IFAB official.

'The primary focus is around the pushing through of VARs in time for the World Cup but it needs to be carefully considered and there is very little time to do that.'