EURO | National teams can have up to 26 players at the European Football Championship, UEFA decided

“The increase (in the number of players on the roster) is not binding on the participating national associations,” UEFA said in a press statement.

According to the current regulations, coaches could nominate 20 outfield players and three goalkeepers for the EC. At the last continental championship in 2021, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the limit rose to 26 footballers, and the same number also applied to the previous year’s World Cup, which is managed by FIFA.

For the upcoming tournament in Germany, only twenty-three-member squads were originally used again. However, the coach of the Dutch team, Ronald Koeman, opposed this and caused a number of positive reactions. The idea of ​​increasing the number of players was also supported by the coach of the Czech team Ivan Hašek and the chairman of FAČR Petr Fousek. About a month ago, the coaches of all participants in the championship discussed the topic of roster expansion at a workshop in Düsseldorf.

“FAČR has been pushing for an increase in the number of players in the nomination from the beginning, and I’m glad that all the negotiations led to the fact that this change was successful. Not only the Czech national team will now have more options when nominating, which is what coach Ivan Hašek wanted,” said Fousek, who is also a member of the UEFA executive committee, in response to the approval of a higher number of players.

“The nominations are fast approaching, we will announce them at the end of May, and this decision has opened up new places for three more players. I’m glad that this change was implemented. Even so, it will be very difficult to decide on the final form of the team,” said coach Hašek.

The Czech team will play only two preparatory matches before the start of the final tournament. They will play against Malta at the Austrian training camp on June 7, and three days later they will welcome North Macedonia in Hradec Králové in the warm-up for the championship. The players of coach Hašek, who took over the team at the beginning of January after Jaroslav Šilhavé, will enter the tournament on June 18 in Leipzig against Portugal. The next two opponents of the Czech team in the group will be Georgia and Turkey.