NYON: The 2024 European Championship qualifying groups will be drawn in Frankfurt in one year, UEFA said Thursday.
The qualifying format was not announced, though the 54 teams involved will likely be drawn into 10 qualifying groups, each with five or six teams playing from March to November in 2023.
That would let the top two in each group advance directly to the 24-team finals tournament joining host Germany.
The Euro 2024 lineup will likely be completed in March 2024 by three playoff brackets involving teams based on their standings in the Nations League groups played next year.
The Nations League groups are played next June and September, ahead of the Oct.9 draw for the Euro 2024 qualifying groups.
UEFA is scheduled to draw those Nations League groups on Dec.16 in Montreux, Switzerland.
The top three Nations League tiers each have 16 teams leaving just seven countries in the lowest-ranked League D, which is unlikely to get a protected playoff path to the Euro 2024 finals tournament.
For Euro 2020, the fourth-tier playoffs let North Macedonia qualify.
Top-tier teams which advance to the Nations League Final Four in June 2023 will need to be drawn into the lighter-schedule five-team qualifying groups for Euro 2024.