Nations league groups

League A will begin with the league phase in Septemberand will culminate with the Nations League Finals in June to determine the champions of the competition.

The first tournament began in September The four group winners from League A qualified for the finals , played in Portugal in June The competition replaces the international friendly matches previously played on the FIFA International Match Calendar , with European national teams engaging in more frequent competitive matches against other European national teams of comparable level. The concept of the UEFA Nations League would see all of UEFA's member associations' national teams divided into a series of groups based upon a ranking formulated using their recent results, where they would be promoted and relegated to other groups according to their results within the group. In March , UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino stated that one of the benefits of the proposal would be to help less glamorous national associations arrange games. The Royal Belgian Football Association 's general secretary, Steven Martens , said that lower-ranked nations would still benefit financially from the competition, as the television contract with UEFA would be centralised.

Nations league groups

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Contents move to sidebar hide. Now they will have the opportunity to see their teams play in more competitive matches, nations league groups, take part in a new competition and get a second chance to qualify for the major tournaments.

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The Uefa Nations League starts on Wednesday, with all the home nations in action over the next two weeks. The competition fills the gap created by the World Cup in Qatar moving to November. England and Northern Ireland play four group games, while Wales have four along with a World Cup play-off final. The Nations League is a biennial competition in its third edition. It was first won by Portugal in and France are the defending champions after beating Spain in the final. So who are playing, what is the format and what is the point? As with the edition, the competition consists of three leagues of 16 teams and a fourth of seven. League A - the top division - and Leagues B and C are split into four groups of four, while League D is made up of a group of four and a three.

Nations league groups

Following their win in , defending champions France were unable to retain their title in the finals after finishing third in their group. Spain won the final against Croatia , 5—4 on penalties following a 0—0 draw after extra time , for their first UEFA Nations League title. League D featured 7 teams divided into two groups, with one containing four teams and the other containing three. Each team played six matches within their group, except for one group in League D which played four, using the home-and-away round-robin format in June four matchdays and September two matchdays. The four group winners of League A qualified for the Nations League Finals in June , which was played in a knockout format, consisting of the semi-finals, third place play-off, and final. The semi-final pairings, along with the administrative home teams for the third place play-off and final, were determined using a draw. The host country was selected among the four qualified teams by the UEFA Executive Committee, with the winners of the final crowned as the Nations League champions.

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Archived from the original on 22 August The relegation play-offs will be played home-and-away over two-legs in March , with the League A third-placed teams hosting the second leg. The first round of the World Cup qualification consisted of ten groups, with each group winner directly qualified for the World Cup. Radio Sarajevo. Pot 1 Team Rank Spain title holders. Toggle limited content width. European association football tournament for men's national teams. Article Talk. BBC Sport. Almost all teams in the same group played their last match simultaneously with the aim of promoting fairness.

Portugal were the defending champions, having won the inaugural finals. However, they failed to qualify for the finals after finishing second in their group behind France. On 24 September , UEFA announced that a revised format would be used for the —21 edition, the second season of the competition.

Who was promoted? From —21 to —23, the League C teams to be relegated were determined by play-outs among fourth-placed teams, the specific ties being based on the teams' Nations League overall ranking. However, criticism against Nations League resurfaced again in when major footballers like Kevin de Bruyne and Virgil van Dijk condemned the Nations League "unimportant" and only to glorify some friendlies as well as questioned the calendar due to possibility of injuries. Retrieved 11 March Spain are the defending champions, having won the finals. Retrieved 31 March List of broadcasters. Archived from the original on 27 November BBC Sport. Regions' Cup Amateur Cup defunct. BBC Sport. Seasons —19 —21 —23 — Archived PDF from the original on 31 March