UEFA have confirmed that squad sizes for this summer’s Euro 2024 tournament are to be expanded from 23 players to 26.
Confirmation of the switch comes after the competing nations voted in favour of the expansion last month and means that UEFA will abandon their plan to revert back to 23-man squads following Euro 2020’s change as a Covid-19 measure.
That tournament was delayed by a year with teams allowed to increase their squads from 23 to 26 in order to mitigate against the greater risk of injury or illness as a result of the revised schedule during the pandemic.
The managers from the 24 competing nations met in Germany last month to float the idea which was then voted for by delegates at a UEFA national competitions committee meeting.
The UEFA executive committee has now voted through the proposal and England boss Gareth Southgate is likely to welcome the news.
“We have got to make the best decisions with what we know and some of those currently are going to be medical decisions,” Southgate said in March.
🏆 The maximum squad size for #EURO2024 teams has been increased from the original quota of 23 to 26 players.🗓️ Teams must provide a squad list containing between 23 and 26 players by 7 June. pic.twitter.com/htXBffbNjXMay 3, 2024
“We’ve been able to get those right in the previous [two] tournaments, we’ve been able to give people time [to shake of niggles] – but with 23 that’s definitely more difficult.”
Southgate is scheduled to announce a ‘training squad’ on Tuesday, May 21, two days after the climax of the Premier League season.
The Three Lions will then face warm-up matches against Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 3 and Iceland on June 6, before Southgate confirms his final squad by Sunday, June 8.
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