Europe Seeks 16 Slots In Expanded 2026 W/Cup
Aleksander Ceferin, UEFA President[/caption]
UEFA President, Aleksander Ceferin, said on Thursday that Europe will demand for 16 places at the expanded 48-team 2026 World Cup finals.
This is coming on the backdrop of FIFA’s decision last month to extend the 2026 World Cup to 48 teams from its original 32 teams, with a first round of 16 groups of three.
According to the decision reached by the world soccer governing body last month, the top two in each group would qualify for the knockout stage.
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Speaking at a news conference after UEFA’s executive committee meeting in Nyon, Switzerland yesterday, Ceferin said: “We think, to ask for 16 slots at least (for European teams), plus another condition that each European team is in a different group.
“Then if it’s true that we are so good, that the quality is on our side, then I think that all 16 (European teams) can qualify in the second round”
FIFA is expected to confirm the quotas for each continental governing body at meetings in May. Europe currently has 13 slots allocated to them in FIFA World Cup finals.
The UEFA Executive Committee also approved a maximum of three terms for presidents and a total of 12 years in the job, as part of ongoing reforms in the body.
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Prior to Thursday, they were no such restrictions on presidents. Ceferin had promised last year to reform the organization.
The reforms which will now require final approval at a UEFA congress on April 5 in Finland, include the “introduction of term limits for the UEFA President and members of the UEFA Executive Committee, with the possibility to serve for a maximum of three four-year terms.”
Other changes include granting two member positions on its Executive Committee to representatives of the European Club Association (ECA).
Candidates for election on the committee must also hold an active office in their respective national association
