2018–19 UEFA Nations League

[Stuttgart88]

Oh oh Martin Samuel agrees with me!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...-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-n...15914-Dec2014/

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/execu...d=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-n...15914-Dec2014/

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-...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/2014/0...gue-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?