UEFA will consider next month whether European Championship squads will be expanded again from 23 to 26 players

The European Football Confederation UEFA is considering expanding the number of players in the squads for the upcoming European Championship. Several coaches find the current number of 23 too small to deal with injuries and have therefore launched a plea to be able to take 26 players with them to Germany.

On April 8, UEFA will convene a meeting in Düsseldorf at which the coaches can put their arguments on the table, the organization confirmed on Thursday. “We have taken note of certain statements by national coaches regarding the size of the selections for the European Championship. A workshop will be organized with the participating countries on April 8, and then UEFA will listen to the coaches’ views. All ideas will be considered and then assessed,” UEFA said.

Unless a change is made, the European Championship in Germany will be the first international tournament since the 2018 World Cup in which coaches must limit their selection to 23 players. In the wake of the corona pandemic, the selections for the 2021 European Championship and the 2022 World Cup consisted of 26 players.

The Red Devils open their European Championship on June 17 in Frankfurt against Slovakia. Domenico Tedesco’s team will then play against Romania in Cologne on June 22. The Belgians close group E with a match on June 26 in Stuttgart against Ukraine.