Germany coach questions expanded EC finals

Germany coach Joachim Loew has questioned the decision to expand the 2016 European Championship finals from 16 to 24 teams.

"As a coach I think that increasing the field of participants at the European Championship is questionable," Loew told the German Football Association (DFB) website Friday.

"This is also applies to the new qualification system. The sporting worth of each game and also the overall competition decreases." For the first time the European Championships, held 10 June to 10 July 2016 in France, will have 24 teams.

Along with the first and second-placed teams in the qualifying groups, the best third-placed country also qualifies automatically for France. The other third-placed countries enter a play-off.

The draw for the qualification groups takes place Sunday in Nice, with Germany joining Spain, Netherlands, Italy, England, Portugal, Greece, Russia and Bosnia-Herzegovina as top seeds.


1 min read

Published

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Follow SBS News

Download our apps

Listen to our podcasts

Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service

Watch now

Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world