UEFA Nations League

ScottishInterista

La Grande Inter
La Grande Inter
Joined
May 14, 2013
Messages
11,034
Likes
7
Favorite Player
Skrinrar
Forum Supporter
So the pots for the Uefa Nations League has been announced below. This is a mini tournament which is designed to replace meaningless friendlies and stop teams like switzerland boosting their coefficient. Each league has created based on these teams rankings not including the last international games (WC Qualifying). Each league will have 4 groups of either three or four and the winner of each of those groups will head into a four team tournament. If the winner has already qualified for euro 2020 then the second place team from that group will take their place. Each league will have one team that then goes to Euro 2020. The bottom four and top four teams from each group will be relegated to the lower or promoted to the higher league respectively.

LEAGUE A
Group 1: Germany, France, Netherlands
Group 2: Belgium, Switzerland, Iceland
Group 3: Portugal, Italy, Poland
Group 4: Spain, England, Croatia

Four group winners play-off for the UEFA Nations League trophy in June 2019
Four sides that finish bottom of groups relegated to League B for 2020 edition
Top four-ranked League A teams that do not qualify for UEFA EURO 2020 enter play-offs in March 2020, with one EURO finals place on offer

LEAGUE B
Group 1: Slovakia, Ukraine, Czech Republic
Group 2: Russia, Sweden, Turkey
Group 3: Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland
Group 4: Wales, Republic of Ireland, Denmark

LEAGUE C
Group 1: Scotland, Albania, Israel
Group 2: Hungary, Greece, Finland, Estonia
Group 3: Slovenia, Norway, Bulgaria, Cyprus
Group 4: Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, Lithuania

LEAGUE D
Group 1: Georgia, Latvia, Kazakhstan, Andorra
Group 2: Belarus, Luxembourg, Moldova, San Marino
Group 3: Azerbaijan, Faroe Islands, Malta, Kosovo
Group 4: FYR Macedonia, Armenia, Liechtenstein, Gibraltar

http://www.uefa.com/uefanationsleague/index.html#/iv/article/2522564

Matchday 1: 6–8 September 2018
Matchday 2: 9–11 September 2018
Matchday 3: 11–13 October 2018
Matchday 4: 14–16 October 2018
Matchday 5: 15–17 November 2018
Matchday 6: 18–20 November 2018
Finals draw: early December 2018
Finals: 5–9 June 2019
UEFA EURO 2020 play-off draw: 22 November 2019
UEFA EURO 2020 play-offs: 26–31 March 2020
 
Last edited:

Sassuolu

La Grande Inter
La Grande Inter
Joined
Oct 12, 2006
Messages
12,318
Likes
179
Favorite Player
Stefan de Vrij
Old username
Toninu
Forum Supporter
10 years of FIF
So wait Malta has a chance to go to Euros?
 

ADRossi

Administrator
Administrator
Joined
Jul 17, 2010
Messages
18,954
Likes
19,889
10 years of FIF
Forum Supporter
Oh look, another tournament for Italy to suck in
 

ScottishInterista

La Grande Inter
La Grande Inter
Joined
May 14, 2013
Messages
11,034
Likes
7
Favorite Player
Skrinrar
Forum Supporter
Oh look, another tournament for Italy to suck in

Tbh it gives the teams in league A a very high chance of making the euros considering that most of the teams will qualify through usual means for euro 2020.

Our FA definitely had something to do with this, we were one of the ones fighting to expand the euros and WC but we fucked that up and went this way instead. We are easily one of the strongest teams in our league alongside Serbia and Greece but I think we could beat both
 

ElDiego22

Capitano
Capitano
Joined
Jul 13, 2017
Messages
4,078
Likes
74
Favorite Player
D.Milito
I still have no idea what the UEFA Nations league is :eek:blivious:
 

ScottishInterista

La Grande Inter
La Grande Inter
Joined
May 14, 2013
Messages
11,034
Likes
7
Favorite Player
Skrinrar
Forum Supporter
I still have no idea what the UEFA Nations league is :eek:blivious:

Sells important games to channels, replaces meaningless friendlies (for the most part, groups with 3 teams in it have an extra slot for friendlies), gets different teams into the euros while not necessarily harming the big teams
 

Ed.

SCUDETTO 2021
La Grande Inter
Joined
Mar 7, 2011
Messages
15,455
Likes
88
Favorite Player
Doina Turcanu
Forum Supporter
10 years of FIF
Does this mean European teams can't have a friendly with countries from other regions?
 

ScottishInterista

La Grande Inter
La Grande Inter
Joined
May 14, 2013
Messages
11,034
Likes
7
Favorite Player
Skrinrar
Forum Supporter
Does this mean European teams can't have a friendly with countries from other regions?

There will be some friendlies. Some groups will only have 3 teams in the group so will have more friendlies
 

ADRossi

Administrator
Administrator
Joined
Jul 17, 2010
Messages
18,954
Likes
19,889
10 years of FIF
Forum Supporter
From my understanding, the three goals of this competition are (in order):

1) Make more money by having "worthwhile" fixtures instead of useless friendlies
2) Stop teams such as Switzerland and Poland from gaming the (terrible) system
3) Try and get teams to value these matches more so we're not seeing games where each team makes ten substitutes.

But there is slightly more to it than that, as the world rankings are weighted to ensure that qualifiers have more significance than friendlies.

From the end of Euro 2016 to the completion of World Cup qualifying, Poland only played one friendly, at home to Slovenia.

In contrast, England played five friendlies.

Due to weighting system, even if Gareth Southgate’s men had beaten Germany twice, Spain, France and Brazil, they still would have ended up with less ranking points than if they hadn’t played the friendlies in the first place.

The FA are reportedly aware of this but still decided that the experience the players gained from friendlies against the world’s top sides would prove more valuable than a superior world ranking.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/5025554/world-cup-draw-poland-england-spain/
 

Wings

Capitano
Capitano
Joined
Aug 24, 2013
Messages
3,768
Likes
95
10 years of FIF
For ranking purposes will these be considered competitive matches instead of friendlies?
 

Dylan

La Grande Inter
La Grande Inter
Joined
Jul 20, 2008
Messages
24,497
Likes
138
Favorite Player
Walter Samuel
10 years of FIF
FIF Special Ones
Tbh it gives the teams in league A a very high chance of making the euros considering that most of the teams will qualify through usual means for euro 2020.

What usual means? In League A for example say Germany, France and Poland all top their groups. Say Germany wins that 4 (who will be the 4th team?) team tournament, how do the rest of the big teams from A qualify?
 

Ed.

SCUDETTO 2021
La Grande Inter
Joined
Mar 7, 2011
Messages
15,455
Likes
88
Favorite Player
Doina Turcanu
Forum Supporter
10 years of FIF
What usual means? In League A for example say Germany, France and Poland all top their groups. Say Germany wins that 4 (who will be the 4th team?) team tournament, how do the rest of the big teams from A qualify?

There is still the Euro qualifier. This Nations League is to add 4 teams that do not qualify through the Euro qualifier.
 

ScottishInterista

La Grande Inter
La Grande Inter
Joined
May 14, 2013
Messages
11,034
Likes
7
Favorite Player
Skrinrar
Forum Supporter
Yeah the games will all be played by the end of 2018, the mini tournament is just before the tournament
 

Cómi

Capitano
Capitano
Joined
May 12, 2015
Messages
1,201
Likes
156
Favorite Player
Cómi
From my understanding, the three goals of this competition are (in order):
3) Try and get teams to value these matches more so we're not seeing games where each team makes ten substitutes.

I think this is a big negative for the system, national managers won't take as many chances on young players and youth development at the national level will suffer.
 

Sassuolu

La Grande Inter
La Grande Inter
Joined
Oct 12, 2006
Messages
12,318
Likes
179
Favorite Player
Stefan de Vrij
Old username
Toninu
Forum Supporter
10 years of FIF
Hope Kosovo and Malta will be in the same group. Finally a chance for us to get an easy win. :pazzini:

We'll see mother fucker.

Of course I'm Brazilian so I don't know why I'm involved.
 

ADRossi

Administrator
Administrator
Joined
Jul 17, 2010
Messages
18,954
Likes
19,889
10 years of FIF
Forum Supporter
By 2026 we're going to eliminate major tournament qualification, and the competitions will just be single round knock out matches for all 200 countries
 

ScottishInterista

La Grande Inter
La Grande Inter
Joined
May 14, 2013
Messages
11,034
Likes
7
Favorite Player
Skrinrar
Forum Supporter
By 2026 we're going to eliminate major tournament qualification, and the competitions will just be single round knock out matches for all 200 countries

We'd still get put with a top 10 team
 
Top