MILAN (AP) — Plans for a shake-up in the European qualifying process for the World Cup and European Championship will be revealed within six months, but UEFA was adamant Friday it won’t follow a Champions League-style format.
The new-look Champions League was a success last year as a single-standings 36-team league was more unpredictable than the traditional group stage had been. Eventual title holder Paris Saint-Germain and 2023 winner Manchester City risked elimination in the last of eight rounds.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin was asked at a Football Business Forum in Milan if that could also be the way forward for national team qualifying which often sees mismatches and heavy losses for the smallest countries.
“No,” he said firmly.
When pressed on when the new plans would be revealed, Ceferin added: “I would say in around six months we should know.”
One month ago, speculation UEFA preferred a Champions League-style format for the next Euros followed Ceferin's hints at a similar conference in Lisbon.
Europe's soccer body is reviewing how teams qualify for major tournaments amid fears of declining interest among fans and broadcasters.
The 2026 World Cup qualification process — which ends this month — sees European nations play in round-robin groups of four or five teams, playing each opponent twice.
But there was a lack of eye-catching fixtures this year and the most lopsided result was Austria beating San Marino 10-0 last month.
France beat Gibraltar by 14-0 in a Euro 2024 qualifier two years ago.
“It’s too early to say anything concrete and I even don’t know because we have two options, we are not sure yet what to do,” Ceferin said. “But from one point of view, does it make sense that you have a result of 10-0? From the other point of view, does it make sense that because such small and middle-sized teams have to play with the big ones, they never qualify to play Europe?
“If you could combine somehow that, it’s good … if you ask (a small team), do you want to play Italy, France, England, Germany in the qualifiers, or do you want to have much more chances to play them at the Euro? It’s the second option. But we are still discussing it.”
UEFA has used its third-tier Nations League competition to ensure one low-ranked team qualifies for the men's Euros.
It was North Macedonia at Euro 2020 then Georgia at Euro 2024 and both exceeded expectations. Georgia was one of the most exciting teams in the group stage before losing to eventual champion Spain in the round of 16.
AP Sports Writer Graham Dunbar in Geneva contributed to this report.
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FILE - UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin speaks during a press conference after the 49th ordinary UEFA congress, in Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.
Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaking to foreign diplomats in Tehran, insisted “the situation has come under total control” in fiery remarks that blamed Israel and the U.S. for the violence, without offering evidence.
“That’s why the demonstrations turned violent and bloody to give an excuse to the American president to intervene,” Araghchi said, in comments carried by the Qatar-funded Al Jazeera satellite news network. Al Jazeera has been allowed to report from inside the country live despite the internet being shut off.
Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”
Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”
He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”
Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.
In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.
Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
