Are the European Championship qualifying groups becoming a thing of the past?

hollowhawk412 said:But if we're going down that road, then we might as well host the championship every two years...
because honestly, the money wouldn't even be wasted on those tedious qualifying matches...
and it should probably run a bit longer too...
imagine having six groups of four, where the top two from each move on along with the four best third-place finishers
followed by a knockout tournament style all the way to the final winner.

That’s exactly how the World Cup in Italy back in '90 felt—and honestly, I suspect that's pretty much how the upcoming European Championship is going to play out, too.
Personally, I’m totally fine with expanding the field to 24 teams for the European Championship—I mean, I really don't think it would water down the quality of the tournament at all.

Not really about this specific thread, but I honestly think soccer might end up cannibalizing basketball pretty soon...
I’m telling you, they’re gonna start slashing the number of international games, cutting down on injury payouts, and eventually, players and patriots like Giriček and his crew will just be out of luck.

boldhound8 said:

UEFA has officially put on hold the decision about expanding the European Football Championship format from 16 teams to 24. That was the big takeaway from the 32nd FIFA Congress that wrapped up today in Washington, D.C.

During the press conference in Washington, D.C., UEFA President Michel Platini made it clear that this expansion is a massive deal, but they aren't pulling the trigger until they've finished more talks with the national federations.

"The whole expansion thing is purely political—it’s all about what serves the interests of the national associations and countries that see this as their ticket to the big dance. Our stance at this Congress is that we have to weigh every single possibility. We could stick with 16 teams, move to 24, or even look at a middle-ground option with 20 teams. Rest assured, our committee, headed by Vice President Thompson, will be diving into the pros and cons of every setup very soon. Personally? I played in the European Championship back when it only had eight teams, and I walked away as the top scorer," Platini finished.

We won the battle... for now.😁

This was the moment we were waiting for.. 😁
Even he finally realized it was a bad move... smart guy, I guess.