MILAN (AP) — Plans to revamp European qualification process world cup The European Championship will be announced within six months, but UEFA was adamant on Friday that it would not follow a Champions League-like format.
new champions league last year was successful The 36-team single-place league was more unpredictable than the traditional group stage. Eventually title holders Paris Saint-Germain and 2023 champions Manchester City were in danger of being eliminated at the end of the eighth round.
UEFA president Aleksandr Ceferin was asked at the Football Business Forum in Milan whether it could also be a step forward for small countries in national team qualification, which is often marked by mismatches and heavy defeats.
“No,” he said firmly.
Asked when a new plan would be announced, Ceferin added: “We should know within six months.”
There was speculation that UEFA would prefer a Champions League-style format for the next Euros, after Ceferin suggested at a similar meeting in Lisbon a month ago.
European soccer bodies are considering ways to get their teams into major tournaments amid concerns about declining interest from fans and broadcasters.
In the qualification process for the 2026 World Cup, which ends this month, European countries will compete in round-robin groups of four or five teams, each playing each opponent twice.
However, there have been fewer eye-catching matches this year, with the most lopsided result being Austria’s 10-0 victory over San Marino last month.
France defeated Gibraltar 14-0 in Euro 2024 qualifying two years ago.
“It’s too early to say anything concrete and I don’t know, because there are two options and we don’t know yet what to do,” Ceferin said. “But from one point of view, does a 10-0 result make sense? From another point of view, does it make sense that a small or medium-sized team like this will never be eligible to play in Europe because they have to play against the big teams?”
“If we can combine it in some way, that’s good… If you ask (smaller teams) do you want to play Italy, France, England, Germany in the qualifiers or do you want more chances to play in the Euros? That’s the second option. But we’re still talking about it.”
UEFA is using the Third Division Nations League competition to ensure that one lower-ranked team is given a place in the men’s Euros.
North Macedonia at Euro 2020 and Georgia at Euro 2024, both of which exceeded expectations. Georgia was one of the most exciting teams in the group stage, but lost to eventual champion Spain in the round of 16.
___
AP Sports Writer Graham Dunbar in Geneva contributed to this report.
__
AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
