UEFA has set up a working group which will consider making changes to the format of international football, including the frequency of breaks and replicating the Swiss model for qualification.
There are concerns that the current format for World Cup and European Championship qualifiers lacks jeopardy and is not an attractive enough proposition for fans or broadcasters.
In developments first reported by The Times, a recent meeting of the 55 European federation general secretaries held in Spain was told that a working group of UEFA's National Teams Competitions Committee has been set up to look at the options.
The committee is chaired by the president of the French Football Federation Phillipe Diallo and has 28 members, including FA chief executive Mark Bullingham and Scottish FA chief executive Ian Maxwell.
Speaking at The Portugal Football Summit, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said: "I don't think the European Championship itself will change but perhaps the qualifiers could be different. There won't be more matches but a more interesting format. We're thinking about that right now."
It is common practice for UEFA to review the formats of its competitions constantly, but, significantly, an internal review is now being carried out.
Here, Sky Sports takes a look at the possible changes ahead...
Changes to international breaks
The start of the 2025/26 season is being interrupted by three international breaks in three months. That will be reduced to two next autumn as FIFA has decided to merge the September and October breaks into one three-week break, which will allow national teams to play four times instead of two.
There are currently five international breaks - in March, June, September, October and November.
In 2021, Arsene Wenger, FIFA's global chief of football development, proposed having one or two international breaks instead of the current five.
Wenger wanted a month-long break in October when all qualifiers would be played, or two breaks, in October and March.
Meanwhile, FIFA president Gianni Infantino last week floated the idea of World Cup finals always being played in the European winter, which would mean more club games in the summer, especially June.
Shift to Champions League model?
Another option UEFA will consider is adopting the Swiss model, which is now used in the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League. Under the new format, teams play a range of opponents of varying quality once and there is only one league table.
The traditional format, which is currently in use for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, has the 55 European countries split into 12 groups with the group winners qualifying automatically, while the four remaining places are decided by play-offs.
Speaking about the new European football format, Ceferin said: "Everyone wants change, but no one wants to make it happen. People said something had to be done, but the moment you try to do it, they tell you 'no, no, no'.
"We had the courage to talk to all the actors involved. Now it is a very successful competition.
"Before, already in December, it was known who would qualify; now, even last season, PSG and Manchester City were not sure until the last game. This unpredictability is what makes football so special, and we are very pleased with it."
Almost impossible for England not to qualify
One of the most pressing issues, leading to the conversation of change emerging, is that qualifiers have become predictable and boring for the more established national teams.
The so-called bigger countries usually win and the games are often one-sided, with one team sitting deep and trying to limit damage.
For example, England have played 117 qualifiers this century and lost only seven. They have lost only four World Cup qualifiers in the past 30 years and the last defeat was 16 years ago.
Thomas Tuchel's side have not conceded a goal in their current qualifying group and they have a 100 per cent record after five games.
Their next qualifier is against Latvia, who they beat 3-0 back in March, on Tuesday evening.
A win would secure their spot at the top of Group K, which earns them an automatic spot at the United States, Canada and Mexico World Cup next summer.
England have qualified for every major tournament this century, except Euro 2008 when they finished third in their qualifying group, below Croatia and Russia.
Change is needed. Importantly, the ball is now rolling to start that process.