National teams allowed to call up to 26 players for Euro 2024

UEFA took into consideration the words of the national team coaches and will increase the number of players allowed per country at this year's 2024 European Championship in Germany to 26. Initially, that number was to be reduced to the traditional 23, but the European body has agreed to repeat the figure for the 2021 edition held in several European cities.

At the time, it was decided to increase the squad from 23 to 26 for COVID-19, but a number of coaches have recently argued in favour of having a larger squad for major tournaments. England boss Gareth Southgate, one of the coaches with the largest and highest-quality squad at his disposal, was one of the most vocal advocates of keeping the 26-man squad and UEFA took his views into account following a vote on Monday.

This was confirmed by 'The Guardian', which also recalled the Three Lions coach's words in recent months about the composition of the squad. "We will have to make the best decisions taking into account all the parameters we have available to us in the squad and at the moment it will be medical decisions. We have managed to put these physical problems behind us in past tournaments and were able to give players more time to recover, but that would be more difficult with a 23-man squad," said the England coach.

The proposal has to be confirmed by UEFA's executive committee and is expected later this week. As for Spain, the increase will also be welcomed by coach Luis de la Fuente, who has already faced controversy in recent calls-up for leaving out players who were shining because of a lack of places. These three extra places are sure to give the 'la Roja' coach more alternatives.