UEFA is reportedly making ready to evaluate its whole system of worldwide qualifiers amid mounting concern that followers — and broadcasters — are dropping curiosity within the present format. With declining tv audiences and dwindling enthusiasm for conventional qualifying campaigns, Europe’s footballing physique is now exploring radical options to re-energize the trail to each the World Cup and the European Championship.
A particular working group inside UEFA’s Nationwide Groups Committee has been created to review doable reforms, with two concepts on the forefront: increasing the usage of the Nations League as a qualification mechanism, and introducing a “Swiss mannequin” just like that being rolled out in UEFA’s revamped membership competitions.
In response to The Occasions, UEFA’s common secretaries from all 55 European federations have been briefed on the potential shake-up throughout a current assembly in Málaga. The discussions reportedly targeted on balancing competitiveness, monetary equity, and viewers enchantment — three areas the place the present system has began to fall quick.
“Broadcast revenues and fan engagement round worldwide qualifiers have been happening, however they’ve been going up within the Nations League,” a UEFA supply defined. “It’s been checked out earlier than, however it’s very tough to search out the correct components — one which retains jeopardy for the large nations whereas nonetheless giving smaller groups alternatives.”
The context for this evaluate is obvious. Underneath the present mannequin, high nations usually face lengthy qualifying campaigns crammed with predictable, one-sided fixtures. For instance, England’s current World Cup qualifying group noticed them play Serbia, Albania, Latvia, and Andorra dwelling and away — fixtures that, whereas simple on paper, generated restricted pleasure and modest viewing figures. For broadcasters and sponsors, the dearth of high-stakes drama till the late phases has made these qualifiers a more durable promote.
In distinction, the UEFA Nations League — launched in 2018 — has succeeded in revitalizing the worldwide calendar by creating tiered divisions the place promotion and relegation add aggressive that means. The match has delivered extra even contests and occasional surprises, which in flip have boosted tv audiences and fan engagement.
That success has not gone unnoticed, particularly as UEFA has already carried out the Nations League because the qualification route for ladies’s tournaments, together with the Girls’s Euros, World Cup, and Olympics, since 2023. The brand new working group will now assess whether or not an analogous mannequin could possibly be prolonged to the boys’s recreation, successfully reworking qualifying right into a steady league-based cycle slightly than a sequence of static teams.
Nevertheless, utilizing the Nations League as a direct qualifier comes with trade-offs. Smaller nations usually depend on internet hosting glamour fixtures towards heavyweights like France, Germany, or England for essential monetary windfalls. A league-based construction, wherein groups primarily face others of comparable rating, dangers chopping off these income streams and lowering the romantic enchantment of David-versus-Goliath matchups.
To deal with that, UEFA can also be contemplating a extra radical structural shift: the “Swiss mannequin.” Borrowed from chess tournaments and tailored for membership competitions, this method would place all 55 European nations in a single rating pool. As an alternative of mounted teams, every crew would play six or eight matches towards opponents decided by seeding, guaranteeing a mixture of stronger and weaker fixtures. Crucially, every matchup can be performed solely as soon as, slightly than dwelling and away, chopping down on fixture congestion.
Outcomes from all these matches would feed into one complete league desk. Qualification would then be decided by general standings — as an example, if 16 European World Cup spots have been up for grabs, the highest 12 groups may qualify mechanically, with the following eight competing in play-offs for the remaining 4 berths. This format would create a broader sense of competitors and unpredictability, whereas nonetheless permitting marquee matchups to emerge naturally by way of seeding.
But enthusiasm for the Swiss mannequin is way from common. One UEFA insider cautioned that what works for membership soccer won’t translate easily to the worldwide stage. “The Swiss format isn’t a magical components,” the supply stated, noting that nationwide groups function beneath distinctive constraints — fewer matches, restricted preparation time, and larger disparities in high quality. The system may additionally complicate logistics for followers and federations, notably with fixtures unfold throughout a number of international locations.
Nonetheless, the urge for food for reform seems actual. UEFA’s management is beneath stress to maintain worldwide soccer related in a crowded sporting panorama. The rise of expanded membership competitions, coupled with more and more packed home calendars, has diminished the time and a spotlight followers dedicate to worldwide qualifiers. With out change, there’s a danger that even the World Cup and Euros — as soon as the head of nationwide delight — may lose their narrative build-up.
The approaching months will see UEFA’s working group current its findings and suggestions, probably sparking intense debate amongst federations. Some smaller associations will push to protect monetary safeguards and honest entry, whereas bigger nations and broadcasters will argue for codecs that assure extra compelling and commercially viable fixtures.
Whether or not by way of the Nations League, a Swiss-style construction, or a hybrid system combining each, UEFA’s objective is obvious: to inject jeopardy, drama, and viewers enchantment again into the worldwide stage. The problem will probably be to take action with out alienating the smaller nations that type the inspiration of European soccer’s identification.
For now, one factor appears sure — the times of predictable, low-stakes qualifying teams could possibly be numbered. Of their place, UEFA is envisioning a future the place each match counts, and the place the highway to the World Cup or Euros as soon as once more captures the creativeness of followers throughout the continent.
