According to The Sun, all coaches of the teams participating in the European Championship will gather in Düsseldorf, Germany, in April, seeking to persuade UEFA to increase squad sizes back to 26 players.
The report states that from April 8th to 9th, the head coaches of the 24 teams competing in the main event of the European Championship will convene at UEFA’s offices in Düsseldorf, with the primary agenda being the discussion of whether the squad size for this year’s tournament can be increased from 23 to 26 players.
Originally, international tournaments had a squad limit of 23, but due to the impact of the pandemic, both the 2020 European Championship and the 2022 World Cup saw an increase to 26 players. Ahead of this year’s European Championship, UEFA decided to revert to a 23-player squad, a decision that has left several national team coaches, struggling with player injuries, dissatisfied.
In an interview, England’s manager Gareth Southgate said, “Next month we have a meeting where we’ll talk about the Euros, and there are several coaches who want to address the topic of increasing squad numbers.”
“Given the situation with the England team, we must strive for the best decision. In previous major tournaments, having more flexibility in our selections has allowed us to give more players opportunities, but if the squad is reduced back to 23, our job becomes more challenging.”
During this month’s international break, England lost players like Harry Maguire, John Stones, Kyle Walker, and Sam Johnstone to injuries, and they suffered a 1-0 defeat to Brazil and a 2-2 draw with Belgium without securing a victory.