2020 Olympic champions Italy stormed to victory on home soil in Rome two years ago in 37.82 and their winning margin of 0.64 was by far the biggest in the history of the European Athletics Championships.
And their relay team will be led once again by two-time European 100m champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs who is back in form having broken the 10 second-barrier four times in all conditions in 2026.
European record - Great Britain & NI (GBR) 37.36
European lead - Germany (GER) 37.67
Championship record - Great Britain & NI (GBR) 37.67
Roma 2024 medallists
Italy (ITA) 37.82
Netherlands (NED) 38.46
Germany (GER) 38.52
Five to watch
- Italy (ITA)
- Great Britain & NI (GBR)
- Germany (GER)
- Netherlands (NED)
- Switzerland (SUI)
In fact, it isn’t impossible that the Italians could select a near identical team which won Olympic gold in Tokyo 2020. Aside from Jacobs, the Italian relay pool also includes Lorenzo Patta and Eseosa Desalu although Filippo Tortu, their perennially-dependable anchor leg runner who anchored Italy to gold in Tokyo and Rome, is a late withdrawal from Birmingham due to injury.
There will also be high expectations for hosts Great Britain who have won this title on six occasions - and four times in a row between 2014 and 2022 - including in Berlin 2018 in a still-standing championship record of 37.67.
However, it wouldn’t be too critical to say the Brits haven’t always passed the baton well in recent championships. A botched final exchange two years ago in Rome meant the Brits didn’t progress out of the heats, nor did they get the baton around in the heats at the 2025 World Athletics Championships or in the final at the 2026 World Relays.
But assuming the Brits have ironed out these faults, the hosts will be strong contenders to win this title for the seventh time. Four of the seven fastest 100m sprinters in Europe this year are British with Romell Glave the fastest at 9.97. Zharnel Hughes, who was part of those victorious teams in 2018 and 2022, is also likely to feature again.
The fastest European team so far this year is Germany who will have palpable ambitions of improving on their bronze medal from two years ago. The Germans ran a national record of 37.67 in the 4x100m heats of the World Relays before finishing third in the final in 37.76.
The Netherlands won silver two years ago behind Italy and were the surprise bronze medallists at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in a national record of 37.81.
However, the Dutch quartet will be slightly weakened with Nsikak Ekpo, who ran 10.00 in wet weather to win the Dutch title in Hengelo at the end of July, absent due to an injury which he sustained in that race.
The 16-country entry-list also includes Belgium and Switzerland who finished fourth and fifth respectively in the final two years ago. The Belgian team includes national 100m record-holder Simon Verherstraeten while the Swiss team includes Timothé Mumenthaler and William Reais, the gold and bronze medallists in the 200m in 2024.
Other intriguing entrants for the men’s 4x100m include Portugal whose team includes world indoor long jump champion Gerson Baldé while the Norwegian team features Salum Kashafali, a Paralympic champion in the T12 100m in 2020.