The European Football Federation (UEFA) has approved a new qualification format for the World and European Championship in the men’s competition, which will avoid the previous meetings of big national teams against outsiders such as San Marino or Andorra.
New systembased on the League of Nations rankings and elements of the so-called of the Swiss model, will enter into force after Euro 2028. In the qualifiers, there will be League 1 – three groups of 12 teams each (36 national teams in total) and League 2 – three groups of six or seven teams, including 18-19 lower ranked national teams.
Every national team will play six gamesthree at home and three away, against opponents from different strengths, writes The Guardian.
A certain number of teams from League 1 will directly advance to the final tournament. Additional teams from League 1 and League 2 will have an opportunity through the playoffs.
Updates from today’s UEFA Executive Committee meeting in Istanbul:
🏆 New formats for UEFA men’s national team competitions as of 2028
🏟️ Extension of the Standing Facilities Observer Program for the 2026/27 season
✍️ Approval of UEFA regulations👉 More details here:… pic.twitter.com/yC5Sj798m1
— UEFA (@UEFA) May 20, 2026
Number of seats depends on the competition, 24 national teams for the European Championship, 16 places for the World Championship. The hosts of the tournament qualify automatically, but will participate in the new format.
From the 2028/2029 season, League of Nations will be consolidated into three leagues with 18 teams each (League A, B and C), divided into groups of six. If Russia returns, one group of League C will have seven teams.
President of UEFA Alexander Ceferin stated that the new formats will improve fair play among competitors, reduce the number of meaningless matches, offer more attractive competitions to fans and ensure a fair chance for placement for all teams, without adding new dates to the calendar.
Major national teams and television partners they have been looking for changes for a long time, considering that the current system is outdated. However, smaller countries could be unhappy as they miss out on an almost certain opportunity to play against big opponents in the qualifiers.
(Fena | Photo: Marko Lukunić / Pixsell)
