England and Scotland given chance to select 26 players for Euro 2024; UEFA confirm expanded squads from a 23-player limit to 26; squads must be submitted by 11pm (UK time) on June 7; deadline comes on same day England and Scotland play their final Euro warm-up games
Monday 20 May 2024 13:43, UK
UEFA has confirmed nations will have 26-man squads for this summer’s European Championships in Germany.
The suggestion was first made during a meeting of all the nations' coaches in Dusseldorf last month, but at a meeting of the UEFA national competitions committee on April 22, Sky Sports News learned that delegates voted in favour of changing the rules for Euro 2024 from a 23-player limit to 26 with the change rubber-stamped on Friday.
UEFA also confirmed squads must be named by 11pm (UK time) on June 7, with England and Scotland both in friendly action that evening as the Three Lions face Iceland at Wembley while Steve Clarke's side host Finland at Hampden Park.
Enlarged squads were used in the last Euros in 2021 as a measure to help nations cope with the aftermath of the COVID pandemic.
This latest decision looks set to mean that 26-player squads will become the norm for all UEFA national competitions going forward.
The news will be a welcome boost for Gareth Southgate and Clarke, with both England and Scotland badly affected by injuries, with the start of the Euros now just six weeks away.
England's Euro 2024 campaign gets under way on June 16 when they face Serbia while Scotland take on hosts Germany in the opening game of the tournament on June 14.
With the countdown to Euro 2024 well and truly on, could injuries impact who makes Scotland head coach Steve Clarke's final squad?
In recent weeks midfielder Lewis Ferguson was ruled out after undergoing surgery, Stuart Armstrong has been recovering from his season-ending injury at Southampton, Manchester United's Scott McTominay picked up a knock, plus defenders Nathan Patterson, Aaron Hickey, Grant Hanley and Kieran Tierney remain doubts.
The injuries will be a big blow for Clarke who is perhaps left with more decisions to make than he would have wanted at this stage of the season.
Following those friendly defeats in March, Scotland have just two more warm-up games - in June against Finland and Gibraltar - before their tournament opener against Germany.
Clarke has said the "core squad" from Scotland's successful qualification campaign "deserve the chance to go to the Euros" - meaning he will have some very tough decisions to make over the coming weeks.
A total of 29 players featured across the eight Euro qualifiers. With 26 now allowed to board the plane to Germany, here is a look at who is in the mix...
