Southgate expresses support for mooted World Cup change as FIFA considers 26-man squads

England boss Gareth Southgate has expressed his support for proposed changes to 2022 World Cup squads.

FIFA is expected to announce an increase in squad sizes for the tournament in Qatar, with 26-man squads instead of 23 – akin to those permitted at Euro 2020 – expected to be allowed.

Coaches of the qualified nations are also pushing for 15-man benches at the competition after Euro 2020 regulations forced Southgate and other bosses to leave three players out of their matchday squads.

England will begin their 16th World Cup campaign with a first-ever competitive meeting with Iran on November 21, before rounding off their group-stage campaign with games against the United States and one of Wales, Scotland, or Ukraine.

Southgate has now claimed that coaches were “unanimous” in their desire to allow every player in a squad to be in matchday contention in Qatar at a recent meeting, making his strong support for the proposal clear.

“I think what everyone is saying is that if the squads are going to be bigger, then it needs to be a situation where everybody is able to change on a matchday,” Southgate said. 

“That was unanimous in the room [at the coaches’ meeting]. Whether a bigger squad is necessary… originally that was for COVID-19, there’s now people talking about the [impact of] condensed fixtures. 

“I still think it’s a bigger skill to pick 23 and to work all that out, but that decision will be made and I suspect it will be 26. 

“But I think everybody has to be available for all the games.”

1 – England’s opening game against Iran at the @FIFAWorldCup will be their first ever match against the nation. England’s only previous match against an AFC side at the tournament saw them defeat Kuwait in 1982. Unknown. pic.twitter.com/T7PwJwc81F

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 1, 2022

Southgate also highlighted some difficulties of managing a squad at an international tournament, noting the “challenge” of keeping players involved as a reason why some coaches may not elect to take extra players.

“You either get the difficult conversations in the middle of November or in the next few weeks,” Southgate added. “That’s how it was last summer.

“When you are picking a team, when you’ve got 11 who are happy and 15 who are disappointed, that’s more of a challenge. That’s managing. 

“That’s why you don’t have to take 26, I know Luis Enrique didn’t last year [Spain took 24 players to Euro 2020]. That’s something we’ll have to think about, depending on what the Covid situation is and what our injuries might be.”

England are the only European team to have reached the semi-finals of the last two major international tournaments (the 2018 World Cup and Euro 2020), and sealed their place in Qatar via a dominant qualification campaign in which they scored 39 goals and conceded just three.