After a thorough analysis of the current formats for UEFA men's national teams competitions and consultations with all member associations, a new concept has been approved to be implemented after the 2028 European Championship.

In the new structure UEFA Nations League, starting with the 2028/29 tournament, it will move from its current four leagues to three leagues of 18 teams each. Each league will consist of three groups of six teams who will play six matches against five different opponents: home and away against teams in other pots, and home and away against an opponent in their own pot. With 55 participants, League C will include one group of seven teams whose calendar will start one window earlier. Quarter-finals, finals four, and promotion/relegation matches will remain unchanged.

European Qualifiers will also have a multi-tiered structure: 

— League 1, consisting of 36 teams from Divisions A and B of the Nations League;

— League 2, consisting of the remaining 18 (or 19) teams of the Nations League.

In League 1 there will be three groups of 12 teams, formed by drawing from three pots of 12 teams each. Each team will play six matches home and away against six different opponents(two opponents from each of the three pots - similar to UEFA club competition formats).

League 2 will run exactly like Division C of the Nations League, with three groups of six teams (or one group of seven).

Despite a direct qualification to the final tournament of the European Championship, host nations will participate in the European Qualifiers to determine their positions in the next Nations League draw.

Teams with the highest ranking in each group of League 1 qualify directly, while the remaining places are distributed through a play-off system that guarantees fair qualification chances for teams from League 2 (detailed qualification scheme here).

The concept will be further developed over the next few months before being submitted for final approval at the next UEFA Executive Committee meeting in September. The full new format will be presented at a press conference after this meeting.

Commenting on the new formats, UEFA President Alexander Ceferin noted:

"The new formats improve competition, reduce the number of meaningless matches, offer fans a more attractive and dynamic tournament while guaranteeing fair qualification chances for all teams without adding any new dates to the international calendar."