As UEFA states that they will consider a return to the 26-man squad for the Euro championship in Germany, England manager Gareth Southgate has revealed he will list an expanded squad for the championships.

The previous editions of the tournament saw teams able to name 26 players, but with current regulations, Gareth Southgate has till June 7 to reduce his squad, and Southgate has revealed the reason for his expanded team being injuries, as he hopes UEFA reconsiders their decision on 23 players.

“There are so many questions on injuries. It’s inevitable we’re going to be naming a longer squad, which is what we did before the Euros here, even though we were dealing with 26 then. It seems to be [settled at 23]. There is one more Uefa meeting where there’s been a little bit of talk amongst some of the coaches about possibly increasing that. It’s going to be complicated because [of] the injury situations that we have. Some will be back playing at the weekend, some will be back playing in a couple of weeks, some will be really close to the end of the season.” Southgate said.

The increase in the squad limit for the Euro 2020 in 2021, and the FIFA World Cup in 2022 in Qatar was because of the coronavirus pandemic and infection, which forced players within squads to isolate.

Just like Southgate, Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman was against UEFA’s decision to reduce the squad sizes, forcing the body to reconsider their stance. 

England played against Brazil and Belgium during this March international break, with many players leaving camp due to injuries. Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane, Manchester United Defender Harry Maguire, and Manchester City’s Kyle Walker all left camp early. Similarly, John Stones left the 2-2 draw with Belgium in the early minutes of the game due to injury.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu