UEFA have announced teams competing at Euro 2024 will be able to call up 26 players to their squads as opposed to the usual limit of 23.
The national competitions committee passed a vote to increase squad size last month and UEFA confirmed on Friday that the rule change will come into effect for this summer’s tournament.
A statement from UEFA read: “The UEFA Executive Committee has today decided to increase the maximum squad size of the teams participating in the upcoming UEFA EURO 2024 from the original quota of 23 to 26 players.”
26-man squads were first implemented at Euro 2020 in part due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and UEFA planned to reduce this limit back to 23 players. Teams can still choose to name only 23 participants if they so wish.
The deadline to submit final squads for Euro 2024 is June 7, with the first game of the tournament taking place on June 14.
England manager Gareth Southgate recently spoke in favour of increasing the permitted squad size to 26 players, suggesting the physical toll of the club season means stars’ minutes will have to be managed at the tournament.
“[England] have got to make the best decisions [regarding selection] with what we know and some of those currently are going to be medical decisions,” Southgate said. “We’ve been able to get those right in the previous [two] tournaments. We’ve been able to give people time [to recover, having named them in the squad]. But with 23 that’s definitely more difficult.”
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