(Reuters)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nThe format would keep the highest and lowest-ranked teams apart and therefore, in theory, prevent too many one-sided qualifiers.<\/p>\n
Uefa\u2019s executive committee is set to fully sign off the new format for Euro and World Cup qualification at a meeting in September.<\/p>\n
Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin said: \u201cThe new formats will improve competitive balance, reduce the number of dead matches, offer a more appealing and dynamic competition to fans, while ensuring a fair qualification chance for all teams and without adding any additional dates in the international calendar.<\/p>\n
\u201cAltogether, the changes will grow the value of Uefa men\u2019s national team football and we are very much looking forward to the implementation of the new competition systems.\u201d<\/p>\n
Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham, who sits on Uefa\u2019s national teams competition committee, spoke in November on how important it was to overhaul the existing qualification format.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cWe need to keep looking at ways to make international football even better and there\u2019s genuine appetite to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under the proposal, 2030 co-hosts Spain and Portugal would qualify automatically for the finals but would still enter the qualifying competition with objectives linked to the Nations League.<\/p>\n
Uefa also intends to make changes to the Nations League format, starting from the 2028-29 edition.<\/p>\n
Instead of four leagues, Uefa is planning to introduce three leagues of 18 teams each.<\/p>\n
Every league will be composed of three groups, each made up of six teams, playing five opponents. The existing quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will be played, as now, in the March and June international windows.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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