UEFA on Wednesday presented a proposal for major format changes to both the UEFA Nations League and the European Championship qualification system starting from 2028, with the biggest potential impact falling on smaller national teams, who could no longer face Europe’s biggest footballing nations in regular qualifying groups.
For years, the current European Championship qualification format has remained largely unchanged, with teams divided into pots based on rankings. That system regularly created opportunities for smaller nations to host some of world football’s elite sides. Baltic supporters recently experienced that during World Cup qualification, when England visited Rīga, the Netherlands played in Kaunas and Italy travelled to Tallinn. While those examples came in World Cup qualifying, which UEFA has not mentioned among the proposed changes, similar matchups in EURO qualifying could become far less likely under the new structure.
The proposed changes would also reshape the UEFA Nations League. This season is expected to be the final edition featuring the current four-league system, as UEFA is proposing a new three-division structure beginning with the next Nations League cycle.
According to UEFA’s proposal, the new format would feature three leagues of 18 teams each, split into three groups of six national teams. Group winners in Leagues B and C would earn automatic promotion, while second- and third-placed teams from those leagues would face the fourth- and fifth-placed teams from the division above in promotion-relegation playoffs.
The proposed European Championship qualification system would also be significantly different. Nations from Leagues A and B would enter a higher-level qualifying stage featuring 36 teams divided into 12 groups of three. Meanwhile, the 18 nations in League C would compete separately in three groups of six, while still keeping playoff routes open toward qualification for the European Championship finals.
Looking at the current FIFA rankings among UEFA nations, all three Baltic states would currently fall into the lowest level under the proposed system. Estonia presently ranks 47th among UEFA teams, Latvia 48th and Lithuania 49th.
UEFA explained that the idea behind the proposal is to improve competitive balance and reduce the number of one-sided matches between Europe’s elite nations and smaller footballing countries.
Commenting on the proposed changes, UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin said:
“The new formats will improve competitive balance, reduce the number of dead matches, offer a more appealing and dynamic competition to fans, while ensuring a fair qualification chance for all teams and without adding any additional dates in the international calendar.
Altogether, the changes will grow the value of UEFA men’s national team football and we are very much looking forward to the implementation of the new competition systems.”
UEFA also stressed that the proposal has not yet been approved, noting that the concept “will be fine-tuned over the next few months before being submitted for final approval” at the next Executive Committee meeting in September, where a full analysis of the new format will also be presented.
