UEFA's Executive Committee was set to meet in Thessaloniki, Greece, on September 15 to ratify a sweeping overhaul of qualifying for the European Championship and the World Cup, as well as the Nations League, adopting a Swiss-style league system from 2028.
The meeting, held in the northern Greek city to mark 100 years since the founding of the Hellenic Football Federation (EPO), was also due to confirm host venues for coming European finals, including Camp Nou, Barcelona's stadium, as the site of the 2029 Champions League final.
New format for qualifiers and Nations League
Under the change, qualifying for the European Championship and World Cup, along with the Nations League, will move to the same Swiss-style model UEFA already applies to the Champions League, where the old group stage was replaced by a single 36-team "league phase."
UEFA believes the current qualifying format is monotonous, offers little competitive tension and represents poor value for the broadcasters who pay for the television rights. To address this, it plans to create a league made up of the 36 best national teams in Europe.
Each country will play six matches, three at home and three away, against opponents drawn from three different seeding pots based on strength, mirroring the Champions League setup. That competition's move to a single closing round of league-phase fixtures, decided by narrow goal-difference margins, has proved popular with both fans and broadcasters.
Rivalry with FIFA in the background
The plan arrives amid open rivalry between UEFA and FIFA, football's two governing bodies, with leadership elections at both organisations scheduled for next year. Having turned the Champions League into what is regarded as the sport's most lucrative club competition, UEFA is now moving to build an equivalent at national-team level, a shift that would redraw the international game long overseen by FIFA.
A first-ever double international break
Separately, the end of this month will bring the first "double break" for international fixtures in football history. Instead of the usual single window, national team matches will be spread across two consecutive weekends, with each country playing four games rather than the customary two.
Domestic leagues will be suspended for 15 days as a result. The change is intended to lighten October and reduce the number of international breaks before the end of the year from three to two. FIFA approved the adjustment as part of its new global match calendar.
The Executive Committee's session in Thessaloniki was expected to be one of the final steps before the new qualifying and Nations League format takes effect in 2028.
