Euro 2024 teams set to be allowed to have 26-man squads | OneFootball

UEFA is set to announce teams participating in this summer’s European Championships in Germany will be permitted 26-man squads.

The change was voted in favour of by the European governing body’s national competitions committee, with the executive committee set to ratify the decision later this week.

After being allowed to have 26-man squads for Euro 2020 due to impact of Covid-19, UEFA had planned to return to the conventional 23-man squads for this summer’s championship.

However, after wide spread criticism on the decision from international coaches, which led to Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman describing the situation as “absurd,” the governing body has decided to return to the slightly increased squad size.

England manager Gareth Southgate was previously in favour of the change, but after the amount of injuries suffered in the Premier League this campaign, his judgement has switched.

The news will come as a boost to national team managers, who will now have more opportunities to rotate their squads.

The change will also give hope to English players such as Ivan Toney, Anthony Gordon and Eric Dier, all of which are vying for a spot on the plan to Germany for the Three Lions.

Over the past week, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta and Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola had voiced their concerns over player welfare, with the latter calling the scheduling “unacceptable”, “not normal” and “impossible.”

Watch Guardiola’s rant on the match scheduling here: