🇪🇺 Radical change, UEFA revamps European Qualifiers from 2028 | OneFootball

The UEFA Executive Committee, meeting in Istanbul, has approved a radical change to the format of its men’s national team competitions, which will come into effect after Euro 2028. This major restructuring aims to increase the competitiveness of international football.

Starting from the 2028/29 season, the UEFA Nations League will be reduced from four to three leagues of 18 teams each. The national teams will be split into three groups of six, playing six matches against five different opponents through a pot-based pairing system.

Meanwhile, the qualifiers for the Euros and the World Cup will adopt a two-tier system divided into two levels. League 1 will include the 36 teams from the upper divisions of the Nations League, while League 2 will be made up of the remaining 18 or 19 national teams.

In League 1, three large groups of 12 teams will be formed, mirroring the current dynamic format of UEFA club competitions. Each national team will play six matches — three at home and three away — against six different opponents, guaranteeing highly demanding clashes.

UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin stressed that these changes will reduce matches of little interest without overloading the international calendar. The final details of this revolutionary plan will be ratified at the committee’s next meeting in September.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.

📸 CESAR MANSO - AFP or licensors