2018–19 UEFA Nations League

[BonnieShels]

I just did up a mock Nations League based on 16-16-22 (3 divisions).

4 divisions of 16-12-12-14 I reckon is how it'll go. I realised my error too late. I'm heading for beer soon.

[Closed Account 2]

We'll have to agree to differ, so. Nobody outside Ireland gives a hoot about the LOI but it's still great if your team wins it. It doesn't mean there shouldn't be a LOI. But as things stand very few teams in European international football have anything meaningful to play for. That's why I think it's inclusive. The status quo is exclusive.

Is that really the case? Take the World Cup, in the last 2-3 tournaments teams like Ukraine, Slovenia, Slovakia, Bosnia, Poland have, admittedly somewhat against the odds, qualified for the World Cup a few of them have even made the knockouts of the World Cup. With the Euros, rightly or wrongly, expanding to 24 teams via a playoff more than half the European teams will have a chance of making a tournament. If the Euros were back in the format of 16 teams (think Euro 92 was the last one like this) then there would be the case for UEFA teams having nothing to aim for, but I just done see it now.


And Edmundo, no need to be sarky. I'm not really a man of maths and it's not beyond the wit of man to devise a way of making 3 divisions of 54 or even 55 teams if needs be.

I was not being sarky, I was asking a serious question about how you make 54/55 teams fit into divisions of 16. You posted on another thread about the concepts behind game theory and words to the effect of having an interest in maths. To me the 55 into bands of 16 doesnt fit very well, if they are to have divisions of 16 then they will either need to cut the number of teams (pre-qualification) or invite non-UEFA teams, both of these options give rise to big problems: what do the cut teams do for 2 years, and wont inviting other teams mess up the relevant competitions in other associations? There are a whole load of problems with fitting a league like this into 55 teams, this isnt like CONMEBOL where the (small) number of teams makes a league structure simple. If it is the 4 groups of 4 making a division of 16 that you allude to, then if each group has promotion and relegation you are looking at a lot of turnover (25% promotion and 25% relegation) which would be virtually unprecidiented in terms of sustained football league structure, I'm not sure how it can/will work in terms of the sheer maths of it.



I'm not fussed if we don't get to play a game against Brazil or Argentina or whoever, every now and again. They usually lack intensity anyway. But I'm not saying I'm right, you're wrong. It's a value judgment and in my opinion the idea of replacing friendlies with a league of sorts appeals.

I disagree, for several reasons. Even if you think the friendlies lack intensity, I think it's important for the development of players in a team like ours. Take some of our squad players like David Forde, Stephen Ward, potentially Andy Reid. With the greatest respect to the Championship, these players are not facing world class opponents on anything like a regular basis. At least if they play against a team like Spain or Italy they can test themselves against players of outstanding quality. Pirlo mightnt give it his all, or he might come off after 60 mins, but he'll still be spraying the ball around in a way that Ward is unlikely to face week in week out. Someone like Busquets or Javi Martinez will be closing down Andy Reid and pressuring him in a way that Championship players might not. Would Ward and Reid get such tests facing players like Valdimir Koman and Josef Varga (Hungary are a similar team in terms of ranking to us), and futhermore would MoN and Keane risk playing fringe players in a "League of Nations" match when in all probability there will be more ranking points riding on it (compared to a friendly against a strong team). There will be no more matches like the one against Italy in Liege, no more chances of tours in the US to test out fringe players, all those will vanish. BonnieShels says we will still play a top seed in proper qualification, true, there will be one match a year against a big team, there can be no dry runs for our players, the intesity of playing against a big crowd at Wembley, the heat of Spain in New York, all that is gone. Want give a keeper like Westwood/Forde/Randolph/Kiely against a big team in a friendly in case the first choice player is injured? Forget it.

[BonnieShels]

Is that really the case? Take the World Cup, in the last 2-3 tournaments teams like Ukraine, Slovenia, Slovakia, Bosnia, Poland have, admittedly somewhat against the odds, qualified for the World Cup a few of them have even made the knockouts of the World Cup. With the Euros, rightly or wrongly, expanding to 24 teams via a playoff more than half the European teams will have a chance of making a tournament. If the Euros were back in the format of 16 teams (think Euro 92 was the last one like this) then there would be the case for UEFA teams having nothing to aim for, but I just done see it now.

Euro92 was 8 teams. Euro 96 was the first 16 team tourney.

[SkStu]

Does anyone remember when the camera fixed in on hodgson when managing liverpool when he scratched his arse and then sniffed his hand?

That's the sort of brilliance I expect from Crosby!

[Charlie Darwin]

That's the sort of brilliance I expect from Crosby!
Nah, Crosby would attach a picture of some American celebrity we've never heard of.

[Closed Account 2]

Here it is:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aav46Lek0Rs

83rd min, maybe he was ready to give Pardew a Mallrats handshake as a welcome to the premier league.

[Stuttgart88]

On balance I think it's a good idea. I agree that there are pitfalls rightly identified by Edmundo, and as yet it's still not sure what the implications are for the calendar and even what the structure of the League is. So I'll reserve final judgment once this is clearer.

I think a professional footballer good enough to be considered for international selection should be good enough to step into a Nations League tie though, even of this is how he has to cut his teeth at international level. Do they really need the comfort blanket of friendlies?

And playing Italy in Liege didn't exactly prepare us well for playing them in Poznan:)

This is a money spinner for UEFA, which means more money for us probably as we get a share of centrally distributed TV rights. The distribution arrangements will be interesting. I'd say that's why it was voted in unanimously by the national associations. But it is also a smart move by UEFA to prevent international football from slipping into obscurity - in context of the club game's attraction and power.

[ArdeeBhoy]

Hmm, seems to have more enthusiam from fans of 'smaller' nations like us?
Most 'Ingerland' fans elsewhere online, besides healthy cynicism, seem to have dismissed it...metaphorically as 'total b*llox'.
:rolleyes:

[Stuttgart88]

I think the smaller nations like the idea that they have a chance of Euro qualification that they would never ordinarily have. As I understand it the winner of Divisions 3 and 4 get access to the a Euros as well as the winners of the top two divisions. This looks bonkers to me. Promotion to a higher league should be sufficient incentive. It'd diminish the Euros if two groups have a whipping boy whereas two groups don't. No jokes about Ireland in 2012 here please! At least we qualified on merit.

[Closed Account 2]

And playing Italy in Liege didn't exactly prepare us well for playing them in Poznan:)


Maybe not, but I think it's worth noting that David Forde made his first start in this match, kept a clean sheet and generally played well. It was the perfect game to use him - the Italians, playing with players like Montolivo and Pirlo, were always going to enjoy a lot of the ball, and facing attackers like Nocerino and Rossi he was always going to be tested. He kept a clean sheet and we then knew that, 14 months later, when Given retired we had a back up who had played for us against difficult opposition and done well. You could also say we knew that we had a viable back-up to Given if he got injured before Euro 2012, although it appears the manager still went with a semi-injured Given.

Trap didn't use friendlies as experimentally as I would have liked, especially towards the end of his tenure, but future coaches wont have this luxury at all. If every game matters then coaches will be reticent to experiement, we've had quite a few players who have made their debuts for us (or come out of a wilderness) in their mid/late 20s; Forde, Andrews, Hoolahan, Kav, possibly Reid in the future - when will a manager get a chance to test out players like this now? Also if we are/were stuck in a rigid 4-4-2 playing style, but say wanted to switch to a 3-4-3 (basically any formation with three at the back) we wouldnt really have the chance of doing this now, our center backs (for example O'Shea and Dunne) are well over 30 so it's not like we could use the U21s as a dry run. It's not like international managers have the day to day time with players that clubs have, there arent even that many training sessions for them to experiment, and now a larger aspect of the training sessions will be focused on beating the LoN opposition, much of the work will be on say looking at Hungary/Poland/Slovakia's weaknesses as the result of the LoN games will be more crucial than the results of the old friendlies.

If UEFA go down this route, and it appears to be happening, then I would like to see some sort of Olympic style rule for U21 matches, where you are allowed to field 3 players over the age limit. I don't like the idea of messing up the U21s, but I think the need to experiment and/or test players over 21 is vital for a team like us.

[Stuttgart88]

Hmm, seems to have more enthusiam from fans of 'smaller' nations like us?
Most 'Ingerland' fans elsewhere online, besides healthy cynicism, seem to have dismissed it...metaphorically as 'total b*llox'.
:rolleyes:
Well, those England fans must be right so.

[Stuttgart88]

I don't disagree Edmundo, it's more an issue of weighing up the pros and cons and for me, in a pure instinctive value judgment, the "pro" of having more meaningful matches that (again a judgment) ought to hold more appeal for the paying public outweighs the negatives. Your judgment appears to be the other way around.

Just an additional thought: try and arrange some B internationals? I'm not sure about the logistics, but that could be the solution to your main issue.

[Dodge]

Just an additional thought: try and arrange some B internationals? I'm not sure about the logistics, but that could be the solution to your main issue.

They're tough to do now with the international calendar. Clubs don't like releasing players if they don't have to.

The UEFA info bit released yesterday cleared up a couple of things. 4 up/4 down from each division is good. And the "back door" qualification of one nation from each division (to the 2020 Euros) is OK too

[pineapple stu]

Here is that UEFA release (http://www.uefa.com/community/news/newsid=2079553.html) btw. Kind of interesting. The basic format is four divisions based on coefficient rankings (as opposed to world rankings, I presume). The divisions will be "divided into playing pools of either three or four teams. The teams in each pool play each other home and away between September and December of the season in question, with the group winners either qualifying for the final four competitions or gaining promotion. The bottom sides face relegation from their division."

It later says top teams will be in pools of three to allow for friendlies outside of UEFA. Hmmm. Anyway, say a pool of four; that's six games between Sept 2018 and Dec 2019 I think. It seems the group winners get promoted and the bottom team gets relegated. The final four competition seems to be only for Division 1.

On Euro 2020 - "Four teams within each group, who have not already qualified for the finals, will qualify for play-offs in March 2020 with one team from each group joining the 20 teams who had qualified via the European Qualifiers." So there will still be play-offs. And it "guarantees" that a team from the bottom 16 in Europe will qualify for the Euros, which will be interesting, if maybe a bit dubious. Not sure what happens if fewer than four teams in the top group have missed out on the Euros, as seems likely.

On friendlies, it says "There will certainly be fewer friendly internationals and undoubtedly fewer meaningless friendlies. However, there will still be space in the calendar for friendly internationals − particularly warm-up matches for final tournaments. UEFA is also keen that European teams will still have the chance to play teams from other confederations." I would imagine those warm-up matches would generally be our best chance at a "glamour" friendly anyway. And there would still be a space for something like a reciprocal friendly with England, for example.

I still like it. I'd rather a straight division of 12 rather than sub-pools, and I'm presuming the lack of games (six in two years) would allow for a couple of genuine friendlies still. But on balance, it certainly seems better than meaningless friendlies.

[Closed Account 2]

So reading that UEFA manifesto, it seems like (on current ranking coefficient (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_coefficient#National_team_coefficient)) it would be split as follows:
I've done the first bucket up to 12 as if the top divisions groups are made of 3 it needs to be either 12 or 15 in the top division, 12 would be four groups of 3 with the winners then being into a semi final. The Draw was random, bold teams will be promoted (for Div 1 they go to the final) italic ones relegated, again the finishing order is random

Division 1
Bosnia ----------- Russia ----------- France ----------- Croatia
Portugal ----------- Ukraine ----------- Spain ----------- Holland
England ----------- Greece ----------- Italy ----------- Germany

Division 2
Turkey ----------- Slovakia ----------- Austria ----------- Romania
Ireland ----------- Denmark ----------- Sweden ----------- Switzerland
Serbia ----------- Sweden ----------- Hungary ----------- Czech Rep
Israel ----------- Slovenia ----------- Poland ----------- Belgium

Division 3
Macedonia ----------- Bulgaria ----------- Latvia ----------- Albania
Scotland ----------- Estonia ----------- Montenegro ----------- Lithuania
Armenia ----------- Iceland ----------- Wales ----------- Northern Ireland
Finland ----------- Azerbaijan ----------- Belarus ----------- Moldova

Division 4
Malta ----------- San Marino ----------- Gibralter
Andorra ----------- Faroes ----------- Kazakhstan
Liechtenstein ----------- Cyprus ----------- Georgia
Luxembourg -----------

For Division 4, I would guess that they could either have Andorra promoted for being 2nd in the 4 team group or have some sort of playoff between all the Div 4 runners up.

[pineapple stu]

I know that's all hypothetical, but the relegated teams from Div 1 are interesting. If it is four groups of three in the top flight with four teams relegated, there'll be some big games in Div 2 on a regular basis.

Edit - thought you'd done the finishing order by seed, but I see now it's random. Still, very easy for a big country to come bottom of a three-team group and drop down to Division 2.

[Closed Account 2]

There is also the question of if the sub pots in the 4 Divisions are reshuffled/re-drawn at the end of each 2 year cycle? Say we end up in the above scenario, and we get 2nd place in our sub pot, let's say that Italy (as the relegated div 1 team) and Albania (as the promoted div 2 team), would we still be in with Serbia (3rd)? Or would they re-draw the groups and we could be in with another third place team (say Sweden, Hungary or Czechs), a third or second place team (those three plus Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland) or would the whole of Div 2 be redrawn (and we could end up in a group with Italy, Greece and England, or conversely Latvia, Albania and Macedonia)?

I hope at least that UEFA will keep seedings out of any reshuffling within divisions, if we are in a division of teams of the same ability then there shouldnt really be a need for any seedings.

[Dodge]

The only caveat to those groups above is that UEFA stated that one of the bottom 16 seeds is guaranteed to qualify for Euros so I'd assume that Divisions 4 and 3 would have 16 teams each.

[pineapple stu]

Yeah, the group sizes don't really seem to make sense yet. As you say, Division 4 is down as 16 teams, and Division 1 appears to be 12 teams (four groups of 3). That, at present, leaves 26 teams for divisions 2 and 3. 12 and 14?

cfdh - re-shuffling the pots each time makes sense. If nothing else, it'd involve a draw, and UEFA love draws.

[Stuttgart88]

I expect they'll redraw the sub pots every time it starts again.

I'm still not convinced a team from the 3rd and 4th divisions qualifying for the Euros is a good thing, despite me banging on about inclusiveness! It messes with the integrity of the tournament proper. In fact it'd almost be unlucky to be drawn with one of the lesser teams in the Finals. Instead of 2 going through from 4 reasonably well matched teams, 2 go through from 3 well matched teams and a minnow. That's probably harder, despite being statistically favourable (2/3 > 2/4). In the current format there's a bit more margin for error.

Ah who knows anyway?!

[Stuttgart88]

Oh oh Martin Samuel agrees with me!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2591032/MARTIN-SAMUEL-Michel-Platini-unstoppable-idiot-latest-crazy-plan-destroy-international-football.html

I love some of the hysterical stuff: Platini the idiot. His plans are always to the detriment of football. A monster from a horror film.

By and large I think Platini's presidency has been good. The Qatari links are a stain, but at least he seems to be part of a process now examining the vote I suppose. But no, the Qatari thing is definitely a stain.

[Dodge]

I'm still not convinced a team from the 3rd and 4th divisions qualifying for the Euros is a good thing, despite me banging on about inclusiveness! It messes with the integrity of the tournament proper.


That ship sailed when they went from 16 to 24 teams...

[Closed Account 2]

The only caveat to those groups above is that UEFA stated that one of the bottom 16 seeds is guaranteed to qualify for Euros so I'd assume that Divisions 4 and 3 would have 16 teams each.

The thing about that is, with divs 3 and 4 being 16 teams, and assuming div 1 is 12 (as it seems definate that there are sub-pots of 3 teams, and 3*4 goes better into a semi final than 3*5) it will leave div 2 messed up in terms of numbers. The 54 teams, and the subpots of 3/4 teams means there is always going to be an "odd division out" (for want of a better phrase). I think the way I structured it in the previous post (12-16-16-10) is most viable with the "odd division out" being the lowest one as you only have movement in one direction from that division (up). If divs 3 and 4 are set to 16, then div 2 is made up of 10 teams. How do you subdivide this into the subpots? I suppose 2 groups of five (with top two in each group being promoted and bottom two being relegated) is possible it would be as follows:

Slovenia ----------- Hungary
Denmark ----------- Switzerland
Ireland ----------- Serbia
Turkey ----------- Belgium
Czech Rep ----------- Sweden

(With Israel, Norway, Slovakia, Romania, Austria and Poland, on current rankings now slipping into div 3).

The problem here is that a 5 team sub pot will probably involve too many matches for the teams, and also with 2 up and 2 down, there is no real difference between finishing 1st vs 2nd or say 4th vs 5th in both cases you will be promoted or relegated. If they keep with the idea of 10 in div 2 but split it out into two 3 team sub pots and one 4 team sub pot it could look like this:

Switzerland ----------- Slovenia ----------- Serbia
Ireland ----------- Denmark ----------- Hungary
Czech Rep ----------- Turkey ----------- Sweden
Belgium -----------

This would solve the number of games issue but how do you get 4 promoted and 4 relegated teams from that? Naturally you would have 3 group winners and 3 last places, but you would need to get another promoted team and another relegated team somehow. You could have a play off of the 2nd place teams (again more games) or you could do it on best record, but how do you make the 4 team sub-pot (Switzerland, us, Czechs and Belgium) equal with the other pots?

[Real ale Madrid]

If this is a sucess we could be staring into a World Soccer League competition like they have in Hockey.

Ireland could be in a 3 team group with Iran, Australia and Chile.

With a double fixure week inclusive of 2 away games - we would get to see how much of a superfan paul_oshea really is!

[ArdeeBhoy]

Well, those England fans must be right so.

Tbf, many of them are p*ssed off with their national side, almost regardless of how they play and many seem more bothered about club football, so I reckon that's part of why they regard this as 'meaningless'.
Though if they ever won it, we'd never hear the last of it...

[ArdeeBhoy]

And on the basis of their posts on this thread, would leave it to Dodge/Edmundo to decide the format.
They seem to have a more realistic stance than anything Bl*tter's pal could come up with.

[legendz]

I've believed for a while a Nations League should come in. It's a positive move and fair play to UEFA on that. Format discussions can go on forever. All I'll say is they could have taken a look at the Davis Cup format in tennis.

* The 16 in the top group should play over 4 knock-out rounds.
* The 8 winners from the 1st round advance to quarter-finals etc.
* The 8 losers from the 1st round should play 8 winners from the 16 teams from the 2nd tier group in a relegation/promotion play-off for a top tier spot.

There's enough group stages in tournaments already. They should look to offer an alternative type of tournament. Anyways, at the end of the day whatever they go with, the Nations League is a great idea.

[DannyInvincible]

Couldn't seem to find a thread on this already, although I do recall there having been discussion on it on the forum in the recent past. Anyway, UEFA have confirmed the final format for the new Nations League set to commence in September of 2018: http://thescore.thejournal.ie/uefa-nations-league-confirmation-1815914-Dec2014/

http://c3.thejournal.ie/media/2014/12/league-2-630x354.jpg


Uefa confirmed the Nations League will be played from September to November 2018 with the Euro 2020 qualifiers taking place between March and November the following year.

The playoffs for Euro 2020 will be held in March of that year.

The structure of the competition was also confirmed today with the Nations League divided into four divisions, each with four groups of 3-4 teams.

Promotion and relegation will work as follows with the first seeding determined by a team’s Uefa coefficient rankings (Ireland are currently 40 of 54) at the end of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.

I think the new competition is a great idea that should spell the end of the "meaningless friendly".

[ArdeeBhoy]

There was one...

Anyway, suppose Ok if it's part of the 2020 qualifiers. But the essential point stands. There is still far far too much football played, at all levels, inc.some crap international stuff....

[BonnieShels]

Love the idea of the Nations League. Much preferable to friendlies.

The UEFA site (naturally) gives more detail.

The groups in the Nations League will decide the qualifying groups for the subsequent Euro qualifiers. So there will be practically no dead rubbers.

---


The UEFA Executive Committee has approved the final format and fixture details of the new UEFA Nations League at its meeting at the House of European Football in Nyon today.

The new competition, which will begin from 2018, will feature promotion and relegation, will see a winning team every odd year and will replace most international friendlies, thereby giving added status and appeal to national team football.

The Executive Committee approved that:

• The UEFA Nations League will be played from September to November 2018

• The UEFA EURO 2020 European Qualifiers will be played from March to November 2019

The subsequent play-offs will be played in March 2020

• The schedule of matches will be played in accordance with the Week of Football concept

In addition, the Executive Committee decided on the following competition structure:

• The UEFA Nations League will be composed of four divisions, with each division divided into four groups of 3–4 teams

• The 54 participating teams are split into four divisions, A–B–C–D, according to their strength

• League A will include the top-ranked teams, League D the lowest-ranked teams

• Leagues A and B will consist of four groups of three teams

• League C will comprise two groups of three teams and two groups of four teams

• League D will be formed by four groups of four teams

• In the first edition of the competition, the participating sides will be classified according to the UEFA national team coefficient rankings (ranking as per 15 November 2017, i.e. conclusion of 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers)

• The draw will include the necessary conditions to guarantee the sporting fairness and viability of the competition

• In each division, four group winners are promoted (or play in the Final Four, see below) and four teams are relegated for the next competition to be played in 2020

• The overall UEFA Nations League rankings will determine the composition of the draw pots for the subsequent European Qualifiers

For the Final Four tournament, the Executive Committee approved that:

• The four group winners of UEFA Nations League A will play in a knockout format (semi-finals and final) in June 2019 to become the UEFA Nations League champions

• The semi-final fixtures will be decided by draw

• The venue will be appointed by the UEFA Executive Committee

In relation to the links between the UEFA Nations League and the UEFA EURO, the Executive Committee ratified that:

• The winner and runner-up in each of the ten EURO Qualifiers groups will qualify automatically for the UEFA EURO 2020 final tournament (June 2020)

• The four remaining UEFA EURO 2020 places will be allocated to the winners of play-off matches which will take place in March 2020. Based on results in the UEFA Nations League, 16 teams will take part in the play-offs and are grouped four by four

• The UEFA EURO 2020 draw will be held after the completion of the UEFA Nations League and allow for the four UEFA Nations League Final Four participants to be drawn into groups of five teams

For the play-offs, the Executive Committee decided that:

• The four group winners in each league qualify (16 teams) for the play-offs

• If winner(s) are already qualified through the European Qualifiers, the next best ranked team(s) within the league qualify for the play-offs

• Play-off slots are dropped down to a lower league if less than four sides remain available for a play-off qualification

• The play-offs will be played in the form of direct elimination (two semi-finals and a final)

In addition, for the 2022 World Cup, the same principles will apply to both the UEFA Nations League and the European Qualifiers, but will be adapted to the number of slots available and final tournament dates.

With UEFA having been requested by the member associations to investigate the future of national team football within the framework of the approved international match calendar, the key driver of the UEFA Nations League is sporting integrity, as member associations, coaches, players and supporters increasingly feel that friendly internationals are not providing adequate sporting competition.

In addition, the competition will help UEFA realise its stated goal of improving the quality and standing of national team football while maintaining the balance between club and international football.

The competition will establish the UEFA Nations League champions every odd year while also allowing all nations to play competitively at their level.



http://www.uefa.org/about-uefa/executive-committee/news/newsid=2191264.html

[Spudulika]

They have this system in European Rugby and it does work. The only issue (with rugby) is that the top team(s) have nowhere to go once they win Division 1. So in a way it is self-defeating. There were many suggestions that the top team in Division 1 would replace or play off with the bottom team in the 6N, but the fear that one day it might be Ireland, Wales etc getting demoted was too much.

At least this format will allow smaller nations to have competitive games and have something to play for!

[WexCar]

Couldn't seem to find a thread on this already, although I do recall there having been discussion on it on the forum in the recent past. Anyway, UEFA have confirmed the final format for the new Nations League set to commence in September of 2018: http://thescore.thejournal.ie/uefa-nations-league-confirmation-1815914-Dec2014/

http://c3.thejournal.ie/media/2014/12/league-2-630x354.jpg


Uefa confirmed the Nations League will be played from September to November 2018 with the Euro 2020 qualifiers taking place between March and November the following year.

The playoffs for Euro 2020 will be held in March of that year.

The structure of the competition was also confirmed today with the Nations League divided into four divisions, each with four groups of 3-4 teams.

Promotion and relegation will work as follows with the first seeding determined by a team’s Uefa coefficient rankings (Ireland are currently 40 of 54) at the end of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.[/I]



I think the new competition is a great idea that should spell the end of the "meaningless friendly".

The quoted article from The Score is surely incorrect!! We are 40th in league ranking, I believe we are 23rd in national team ranking.

[ArdeeBhoy]

Before GR adds the inevitable table chronicling some mythical championship (fair play for the effort, but ultimately pointless...)
here's the WSC link.
http://www.wsc.co.uk/forum-index/27-football/990604-if-all-international-football-were-in-leagues#990645

[Fizzer]

Do the games count as 'competitive'?are players tied to us if they play in the way that they're not when they play a friendly?

[ArdeeBhoy]

Good point! All games, or virtually all, are now competitive? Bet the clowns in UEFA haven't given any though to that?

[Fizzer]

Presupposing that they are tied,countries may be discouraged to an extent from just capping anyone,given that the games will all be (in theory) 'must wins'

[Gather round]

The quoted article from The Score is surely incorrect!! We are 40th in league ranking, I believe we are 23rd in national team ranking.

http://www.world-results.net/uefa/ranking_2015.html


Position Country Points
1 Germany 33955
2 France 32318
3 Netherlands 30872
4 Spain 30519
5 Italy 28607
6 England 28352
7 Portugal 27420
8 Belgium 26982
9 Ukraine 26519
10 Croatia 26028
11 Czech Republic 25303
12 Russia 25038

13 Switzerland 25034
14 Greece 24671
15 Denmark 24561
16 Bosnia and Herzegovina 24119
17 Sweden 24102
18 Romania 23958
19 Hungary 23521
20 Austria 23452
21 Slovakia 23111
22 Israel 22661
23 Norway 22439
24 Ireland 22308

25 Poland 22297
26 Slovenia 21301
27 Turkey 21226
28 Iceland 20908
29 Serbia 20776
30 Montenegro 20571
31 Scotland 19879
32 Wales 19221
33 Armenia 19151
34 Northern Ireland 18061
35 Albania 18041
36 Bulgaria 18005
37 Finland 17981
38 Lithuania 17838

39 Estonia 17042
40 Moldova 16381
41 Latvia 15791
42 Georgia 15445
43 Macedonia 15241
44 Belarus 14645
45 Cyprus 14598
46 Azerbaijan 14581
47 Luxembourg 12880
48 Liechtenstein 12705
49 Kazakhstan 12601
50 Faroe Islands 11620
51 Malta 11050
52 Gibraltar 8950
53 Andorra 8860
54 San Marino 8590

[ArdeeBhoy]

Already covered in your other link...

Here's a better one?

http://splstats.wordpress.com/2014/04/02/the-uefa-nations-league-explained/

[DannyInvincible]

The quoted article from The Score is surely incorrect!! We are 40th in league ranking, I believe we are 23rd in national team ranking.

You're right. The Score must have mistaken our national team ranking with the League of Ireland's co-efficient ranking. The league is ranked 40th in Europe, with the national team ranked a fair bit higher, as you say.

[DannyInvincible]

Presupposing that they are tied,countries may be discouraged to an extent from just capping anyone,given that the games will all be (in theory) 'must wins'

I imagine they'd have to be considered competitive - I don't see how not - meaning players would become tied to an association by participating. Or that's how it would be under current rules anyway. Unless FIFA change the eligibility rules to allow teams to "trial" eligible players in these types of games, but it would mean somehow making a statutory distinction between these competitive games and other competitive games simply for the sake of UEFA. It will be interesting to see what effect this has on long-term first-team selections. Might it be more difficult for younger players and dual nationals to break into stable first-teams?

[Fizzer]

Agreed Danny yeah,you could have the first 11 all clocking up treble figures in caps with peripheral players remaining on the bench.it does potentially give countries greater leverage to prise their players from club 'treatment tables' but by extension makes a decision to play international football an altogether more onerous undertaking. There really are so many implications to this development e.g.could you potentially have a country 'arrange' to be relegated to give themselves a better chance of at least a playoff in the next qualifiers?

[BonnieShels]

A whole year has flown past...

CFDH or RaM, Wanna make up the groups as they stand today?

[thischarmingman]

No thread on this already?


UEFA has confirmed the composition of the four leagues for the UEFA Nations League 2018-19.

The format of this new national team competition features promotion and relegation and sees the 55 European national teams divided into four leagues in accordance with UEFA’s national association coefficient rankings.

The UEFA Nations League will be played in four leagues A to D, with League A containing the 12 highest-ranked teams. League B contains the next 12 teams, League C the 15 following and League D the last 16 teams. The competition starts on 6 September 2018.

Each league will contain four groups of three or four teams. The league phase will be played over six matchdays from September to November 2018. The composition of the groups within each league will be decided by means of a draw, which will take place on Wednesday 24 January 2018 at the Swiss Tech Convention Center in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The promotions and relegations between the leagues (four teams move up, four teams move down) will take effect for the second edition of the UEFA Nations League in September 2020. From that moment on, the composition of the leagues will be exclusively determined by the rankings of the previous edition.

The four League A group winners will play the Finals in June 2019 to determine the first UEFA Nations League winner. The Finals consist of four matches – semi-finals, third-place match and final – to be played in one of the finalist countries.

The UEFA Nations League aims to ensure the continued success of national team football by replacing most friendlies with competitive matches and by allowing all nations to play against equally-ranked teams.


http://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/mediaservices/newsid=2508466.html

https://i.imgur.com/cF7Wutp.jpg

[DeLorean]

No thread on this already?https://i.imgur.com/cF7Wutp.jpg

Just the two... :)

http://foot.ie/threads/188522-Nations-League?highlight=nations+league

http://foot.ie/threads/196422-UEFA-Nations-League-2018-19?highlight=nations+league

[tetsujin1979]

Just the two... http://foot.ie/images/smilies/smile.gif

http://foot.ie/threads/188522-Nations-League?highlight=nations+league

http://foot.ie/threads/196422-UEFA-Nations-League-2018-19?highlight=nations+league
Thanks

Threads bumped and merged.

[BonnieShels]

Given we're gonna be in groups of 3 will there be home and away fixtures?

Would love to get the IFA team and Denmark.

[DeLorean]

Given we're gonna be in groups of 3 will there be home and away fixtures?

It says six matchdays, so I presume in a group of three that means you'll be active on four of those matchdays, playing your opponents home & away and having two free matchdays when they play each other. In the group(s) of four, the teams will just play every matchday you would think.

[BonnieShels]

It says six matchdays, so I presume in a group of three that means you'll be active on four of those matchdays, playing your opponents home & away and having two free matchdays when they play each other. In the group(s) of four, the teams will just play every matchday you would think.

Yeah, I went through it there afterwards. That's my reading too. :)

[DeLorean]

So these are the pots:


NATIONS LEAGUE SEEDINGS

League A
Pot 1: Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Spain
Pot 2: France, England, Switzerland, Italy
Pot 3: Poland, Iceland, Croatia, Netherlands

League B
Pot 1: Austria, Wales, Russia, Slovakia
Pot 2: Sweden, Ukraine, Republic of Ireland, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Pot 3: Northern Ireland, Denmark, Czech Republic, Turkey.

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

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

I take it this means we'll be in with one of Austria, Wales, Russia & Slovakia and one of NI, Czech Rep, Denmark & Turkey?

Probably prefer to avoid Russia & Denmark I think.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Russia's lost quasi-competitive games in the Confed Cup didn't make them look any great shakes really, but any of the Pot 1 teams should realistically account for us if they play to their best.