The Scottish and Welsh football associations could enter into a joint bid for the 2016 European Championships after both confirmed "tentative" talks over co-hosting the event had taken place.

Scotland's long-standing dream of staging the tournament appeared to have ended in September when UEFA announced they were increasing the number of finalists from 16 to 24 in eight years' time.

In a statement released to PA Sport, the SFA said: "As we've always said, we would love to host the European Championships in Scotland. However, we realise it's a huge undertaking and, as far as 2016 goes, we simply couldn't host it by ourselves."

The country lacks the infrastructure to host an expanded tournament but the Scottish FA are looking to link up with one of their near neighbours in the hope a joint bid will be successful.

They have also held talks with Northern Ireland, but PA Sport understands this is a non-starter, leaving Wales as the only viable alternative.

The statement continued: "We're meeting with the other Home Nations at the International Football Association board meeting in Belfast in February. I'm sure it's something we'll discuss.

"If there was a feeling that a bid was a possibility, we would then commission a feasibility study."

Talks between the SFA and the Football Association of Wales over a joint bid have been mooted for more than a year, with the FAW revealing in April 2007 they hoped to enter into discussions. But this is the first time the SFA have confirmed such talks have taken place.

An FAW spokesman told PA Sport "very tentative" discussions have been ongoing for some time.

He added: "We are interested in the idea and it's a question of where it goes from there."