UEFA has confirmed that Euro 2024 will remain a 24-team tournament, but announced an expanded Nations League competition.
The governing body had considered a European Championship with 32 teams but said on Wednesday that “no change” had been proposed for the tournament in Germany.
UEFA said a new format, however, would be implemented after Euro 2024.
It was also confirmed that the Nations League tournament will be expanded after September 2024.
That competition will feature a new knock-out round that will be played in March, with UEFA aiming to “create continuity” between the group phase ending in November and the semi-final and final stages in June.
The League A group winners and runners-up will take part in a two-legged home-and-away quarter-finals, with the winners qualifying for the final four.
Teams that finish third in League A and the runners-up of League B will play a promotion/relegation play-off. This will be the same format for the team that finished third in League B and the runners-up of League C.
In other changes, the European qualifiers for the European Championship and World Cup will be more consolidated, with teams being drawn in 12 groups of four and five teams.
Teams drawn in groups of five will kick off the qualifiers in March, or in June if they are still competing in the UEFA Nations League quarter-finals or are involved in promotion/relegation matches. Teams drawn in groups of four will start their campaigns in September.
UEFA says that “the expansion of the UEFA Nations League into the International Match Calendar window of March will only concern a selected number of teams and the remaining teams will already be available to start the European Qualifiers.”
A statement added: “A new meaningful knock-out UEFA Nations League round combined with a more compact format of European Qualifiers results in more compelling ties without any increase in the overall number of matches.”
It has also been confirmed that the 2023 UEFA Super Cup has changed its destination to Athens, Greece. It will take place on Wednesday, August 16.
The game had originally been due to be played in Kazan, Russia, but due to the country’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, there has been no working group set up by UEFA to discuss their return to the European fold, nor is it participating in one.
Russia’s national teams and clubs have been banned from UEFA and FIFA competitions since the end of last February due to the conflict.
(Photo: Getty Images)
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