November 13 – The English Football Association (FA) has lent its support to UEFA’s plans to overhaul the European qualification format for major tournaments, amid growing concern that the process has become ‘predictable and uninspiring’.
With competitions continuing to expand, reducing the element of jeopardy as a byproduct, UEFA has admitted it is examining ways to make qualification for the World Cup and European Championships more competitive – and more engaging for fans and broadcasters.
The words ‘international break’ are increasingly being met with a familiar grown from supporters in England – a reputation that UEFA feel can still be undone with some slight tweaks.
England’s straightforward path to the 48-team 2026 World Cup has underlined the issue. Tuchel’s side booked their place with two games to spare, topping a low-intensity group containing Serbia, Albania, Latvia and Andorra. England – who have reached the past two EUROs finals – have qualified at a canter.
The fact of the matter is that for many of Europe’s elite nations, qualification has become routine.
“I think it’s really important to overhaul it,” said FA chief executive Mark Bullingham. “We need to keep looking at ways to make international football even better, and there’s genuine appetite to do that. UEFA is clearly leading that, but I’m part of a group of countries helping them to look at options.”
Bullingham sits on a UEFA working group exploring new structures, including a potential move towards a Champions League-style “Swiss system.”
Under that format, teams would play a broader mix of opponents once rather than twice within small groups, with all results feeding into a single league table – increasing the chances of Europe’s top nations facing each other during qualification and giving fans an excuse to switch that TV back on.
Another option could see the UEFA Nations League play a larger role in determining qualification, building on its success with both fans and broadcasters.
FA chair Debbie Hewitt echoed Bullingham’s view, stressing that change is necessary to keep international football relevant. “Football changes, the world changes, the number of tournaments changes,” she said. “If we stick with the same model of qualification, it’s probably going to get bent out of shape. I think we have to keep looking at challenging.”
Hewitt confirmed that the existing group format is expected to remain in place for EURO 2028, ruling out a pre-qualifying competition for lower-ranked teams – so change is not expected to happen particularly fast in this case.
UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin indicated last month that the governing body is committed to reform. “There won’t be any more matches,” he said, “but a more interesting format.” Bullingham and Hewitt made their comments at the EURO 2028 launch event in London.
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at [email protected]