Twenty-four nations to appear at Euro 2016

The European Championships of 2016 will consist of twenty-four participating nations. This was revealed by Franz Beckenbauer on Thursday.

At a meeting in Bordeaux, UEFA member states discussed the option of expanding the continental tournament in 2016. The results were to be announced on Friday, but Beckenbauer spoke a day earlier.

The European Championships underwent several mutations since its first edition in 1960. It first consisted of four nations, and another four were added in 1980. The 1996 tournament was the first edition that used the current set-up of sixteen countries.

In August, it became clear that all member states would agree on such an expansion. This is mainly to avoid that ‘bigger’ football nations miss out on the tournament.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter is against the expansion, claiming that the qualification tournament will be reduced to a formality.