Everything you need to know about UEFA's Nations League UEFA Nations League Kicks off this week, final in June UEFA's Nations League kicks off with European football's best international sides going head-to-head. Here are the schedules for the first two matchdays. Complete calendar for first day of matches League A, Group 1: Germany-France (Thursday, September 6, 8:45 PM.) League B, Group 1: Czech Republic-Ukraine (Thursday, September 6, 8:45 PM.) League B, Group 4: Wales-Republic of Ireland (Thursday, September 6, 8:45 PM.) League C, Group 3: Slovenia-Bulgaria (Thursday, September 6, 8:45 PM.) League C, Group 3: Norway-Cyprus (Thursday, September 6, 8:45 PM.) League D, Group 1: Kazakhstan-Georgia (Thursday, September 6, 4:00 PM.) League D, Group 4: Armenia-Liechtenstein (Thursday, September 6, 6:00 PM) League D, Group 1: Latvia-Andorra (Thursday, September 6, 8:45 PM.) League D, Group 4: Gibraltar-Macedonia (Thursday, September 6, 8:45 PM.) League A, Group 3: Italy-Poland (Friday 7 September, 8:45 PM.) League B, Group 2: Turkey-Russia (Friday September 7, 8:45 PM.) League C, Group 1: Albania-Israel (Friday September 7, 8:45 PM.) League C, Group 4: Lithuania-Serbia (Friday September 7, 8:45 PM.) League C, Group 4: Romania-Montenegro (Friday September 7, 8:45 PM.) League D, Group 3: Azerbaijan-Kosovo (Friday, September 7, 6:00 PM.) League D, Group 3: Faroe Islands-Malta (Friday September 7, 8:45 PM.) League A, Group 2: Switzerland-Iceland (Saturday, September 8, 6:00 PM.) League A, Group 4: England-Spain (Saturday September 8, 8:45 PM.) League B. Group 3: Northern Ireland-Bosnia and Herzegovina (Saturday, September 8, 3:00 PM.) League C, Group 2: Finland-Hungary (Saturday, September 8, 6:00 PM.) League C, Group 2: Estonia-Greece (Saturday, September 8, 8:45 PM.) League D, Group 2: Belarus-San Marino (Saturday, September 8, 6:00 PM.) League D, Group 2: Luxembourg-Moldova (Saturday, September 8, 8:45 PM.) Complete calendar for second day of matches League A, Group 1: France-Holland (Sunday 9 September, 8:45 PM.) League B, Group 1: Ukraine-Slovakia (Sunday 9 September, 3:00 PM.) League B, Group 4: Denmark-Wales (Sunday 9 September, 6:00 PM.) League C, Group 3: Bulgaria-Norway (Sunday 9 September, 6:00 PM.) League C, Group 3: Cyprus-Slovenia (Sunday 9 September, 8:45 PM.) League D, Group 1: Georgia-Latvia (Sunday 9 September, 6:00 PM.) League D, Group 4: Macedonia-Armenia (Sunday 9 September, 6:00 PM.) League D, Group 4: Liechtenstein-Gibraltar (Sunday 9 September, 8:45 PM.) League A, Group 3: Portugal-Italy (Monday September 10, 8:45 PM.) League B, Group 2: Sweden-Turkey (Monday, September 10, 8:45 PM.) League C, Group 1: Scotland-Albania to (Monday, September 10, 8:45 PM.) League C, Group 4: Serbia-Romania (Monday, September 10, 8:45 PM.) League C, Group 4: Montenegro-Lithuania (Monday, September 10, 8:45 PM.) League D, Group 1: Andorra-Kazakhstan (Monday September 10, 8:45 PM.) League D, Group 3: Malta-Azerbaijan (Monday, September 10, 8:45 PM.) League D, Group 3: Kosovo-Faroe Islands (Monday, September 10, 8:45 PM.) League A, Group 2: Iceland-Belgium (Tuesday, September 11, 8:45 PM.) League A, Group 4: Spain-Croatia (Tuesday, September 11, 8:45 PM.) League B, Group 3: Bosnia and Herzegovina-Austria (Tuesday, September 11, 8:45 PM.) League C, Group 2: Finland-Estonia (Tuesday, September 11, 8:45 PM.) League C, Group 2: Hungary-Greece (Tuesday, September 11, 8:45 PM.) League D, Group 2: Moldova-Belarus (Tuesday, September 11, 8:45 PM.) League D, Group 2: San Marino-Luxembourg (Tuesday, September 11, 8:45 PM.) What exactly is this tournament? Who will take part? What is at stake? When will it be contested? Here are the answers to a series of questions posed by the new competition. How does it work? The Nations League will see UEFA's 55 member nations take part. The teams are divided into four leagues (A, B, C and D) depending on their coefficient. Each league, in turn, will be divided into groups. Each of the teams will play each other home and away in September, October and November and those top of groups B, C and D will gain promotion, while those bottom of A, B and C will be relegated. The next season is 2020/21. The winners of each group in League A will qualify for the UEFA Nations League finals next June, with the knockout phase to be hosted by one of its participating nations and the draw will be held in December. When are the matches played? It gets underway this week and will end in June 2019 with the final. The first two rounds will be played this month, between September 6 and 11, and then between October 11 and 16, while the last of the group games will be between November 15 and 20. The finals will be played from June 5 to 9, with the four qualifying nations. Why was the competition created? Ex-UEFA president Michel Platini came up with it and managed to get it over the line before being forced to leave after a corruption scandal. "The friendly matches no longer interest anyone, neither fans or journalists or players," he said. UEFA's goal with the Nations League is to keep public interest beyond the European Championship. How is the European Championship impacted? Qualification remains more or less the same, that is until the play-off round, where the winners of each of the 16 groups will compete for the four places at the tournament. If the winner of a given group has already qualified, their place in the play-off will go to the next best ranked team in their league. If, for example, all of the teams from League A have qualified, the place will be assigned to the best ranked remaining team from League B. Which countries are in which leagues and groups? LEAGUE A (12 teams, four groups of three) Group 1: Germany, France, Holland Group 2: Belgium, Switzerland, Iceland Group 3: Portugal, Italy, Poland Group 4: Spain, England, Croatia LEAGUE B (12 teams, four groups of three) Group 1: Slovakia, Ukraine, Czech Republic Group 2: Russia, Sweden, Turkey Group 3: Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Northern Ireland Group 4: Wales, Ireland, Denmark LEAGUE C (15 teams, three groups of four and one of three) 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 (16 teams, four groups of four) Group 1: Georgia, Latvia, Kazakhstan, Andorra Group 2: Belarus, Luxembourg, Moldova, San Marino<doc-sep>A new world International football UEFA's Nations League begins The first international break of the 2018/19 campaign will serve to examine the 'new world' of football, after the triumph of France at Russia 2018. On Thursday, the last two world champions (Germany and France) will open UEFA's Nations League. This new tournament divides the 55 UEFA Federations into four divisions - according to coefficient - and has a great incentive: It will decide four of the 24 teams that qualify for the 2020 European Championship. Icons that say goodbye A new era begins... and another one ends. Stars of the stature of Pique, Iniesta and Silva (Spain), Buffon (Italy), Mascherano and Biglia (Argentina), Ozil and Mario Gomez (Germany) and Mandzukic (Croatia) have said goodbye to international football. The withdrawal of Ozil, because of perceived racism, took on special relevance. "I'm German when we win, but I'm an immigrant if we lose," the Arsenal man said. "I will not play with the national team as long as I have this feeling of racism." Rafa Marquez (Mexico) leaves five World Cups behind him and El-Hadary (Egypt) leaves after becoming the oldest player (45 years and 161 days) in a World Cup. 'Clean' on the benches The 32-year-old Melbourne Victory player, Keisuke Honda, was introduced as Cambodia's new coach and will debut against Malaysia on Monday. "I always say the same thing to myself when I face a new challenge: do not be afraid of failing," he said. Brazil: Tite 'cuts' Gabriel Jesus, Marcelo, Paulinho... The 2018 World Cup saw lots of movement on the benches. Nine coaches have lost / left office: Hierro (Spain), Cuper (Egypt), Hallgrimsson (Iceland), Maaloul (Tunisia), Nawalka (Poland), Van Maarwijk (Australia), Nishino (Japan), Sampaoli (Argentina) and Pekerman (Colombia). Two others have changed country: Bolillo (Panama) will lead Ecuador and Osorio (Mexico) has a contract with Paraguay. Argentina: With Scaloni and Aimar... but without Messi In addition, the continuity of Tabarez (Uruguay) after 12 consecutive years, is up for debate. This round of fixtures will also see the first official match for Luis Enrique (Spain), Roberto Mancini (Italy), Ronald Koeman (Netherlands) and Javier Aguirre (Egypt). Coito (Uruguay), Reyes (Colombia) and the triumvirate of Scaloni-Aimar-Samuel (Argentina) will also premiere. Italy: A Balotelli eight grams lighter Homage to the champions The first post-World Cup break is full of changes and novelties in (almost) all the teams... except for France. Deschamps has called up the 23 world champions apart from the injured Mandanda and Lloris. Germany: Low postpones the revolution after the fiasco "It's logical after our victory," he said. Rami has announced his international retirement. "I was a bit euphoric when he said it," Deschamps confessed. England haven't made any great changes either. Portugal: 'Boys' without Cristiano Only 13 of the 23 players who were in Russia in 2018 remain on Brazil's list for friendlies against the US and El Salvador. "Next year we have the Copa America and the priority in these first matches is to give opportunities to new people," said Tite to justify the absences of Ederson, Marcelo, Miranda, Paulinho, Fernandinho and Gabriel Jesus. This means likely match time for Alex Sandro, Fabinho and debutants Arthur, Andreas Pereira, Lucas Paqueta and Richarlison, signed by Everton in exchange for 56 million euros. The team will also boast heavyweights such as Neymar, Casemiro, Coutinho... Holland: Koeman bets on the 'Kluivert five' Main novelty: Arthur. The Barcelona midfielder, who had only played with the U17 and the U20 teams, makes the jump to the senior side. The 'backbone' of Argentina that won gold in the 2008 Olympic Games (Messi, Aguero, Di Maria, Masche, Banega...) aren't in the first call up of the interim triumvirate formed by Leo Scaloni, Aimar and Walter Samuel. Neither is Higuain, but Messi's potential loss is the most worrying. "He'll not be on this list and we'll see if he returns later." A big surprise is the presence of Franco 'Mudo' Vazquez, who played two friendlies with Italy, for the games against Guatemala and Colombia. Icardi and Lautaro Martinez return and Gio Simeone, 'Pity' Martinez, Exequiel Palacios and Ascacibar are brought in. Main novelty: Gio Simeone. Cholo's son debuts with the senior team after the 12 goals he got with Genoa in 2016/17 and the 14 goals he achieved with Fiorentina in 2017/18. Balotelli, who scored in Mancini's friendly debut against Saudi Arabia, will lead Italy's attack in the Nations League against Poland and Portugal. "He's pretty good, he's lost 8-9 grams," the coach quipped. The list of the 'Azzurri' stands out for it's youth: Pellegri (injured), Zaniolo, Chiesa and Barella. Benassi, Lazzari, Biraghi and Cragno also debut. Main novelty: Benassi. The arrival of Gerson and Edmilson has boosted this interior that, with three goals in two games is, together with Piatek, the surprise package of Serie A. "We need changes, big changes," Low said after defending champions Germany were knocked out in the group stage of the World Cup. A 'mini revolution' has happened for the matches against France and Peru. There are six casualties but only two are really significant (Ozil, retired, and Khedira). Neuer, Boateng, Hummels, Muller and Reus are all kept in and Sane returns to join the group with Tah, Kehrer, Schulz, Havertz and Petersen. Main novelty: Kai Havertz. At 19 he is already a veteran. The earliest debutant in the history of Bayer Leverkusen is also the youngest player to reach 50 matches in the Bundesliga. Cristiano Ronaldo asked permission to not play against Croatia and Italy and Fernando Santos gave it to him. Seven other European champions are out: Anthony Lopes, Bruno Alves, Jose Fonte, Moutinho, Joao Mario, Adrien Silva and Quaresma. Renato Sanches and Pizzi return after a year away, as do Ruben Neves and Cancelo, who missed the World Cup. Gedson Fernandes, Sergio Oliveira, Ramos and Pedro Mendes debut and there's an opportunity also for Rony Lopes. Main novelty: Gedson Fernandes. He's had a dream month; debuted with Benfica, debuted as a scorer, was 'baptised' in the Champions League, renewed with a clause of 100m euros and has now been called up by Portugal.<doc-sep>UEFA Nations League: Who do England play? When are the fixtures? How does it work? When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they'll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time. The UEFA Nations League is a four-tiered league system introduced to add more structure to the international football calendar. UEFA, the governing body for European football, vows it will “improve the quality and standing of national team football”. The format consists of four leagues, with League A containing the best-ranked nations; League D the lowest-ranked nations. Within each league are four groups of three or four teams. Each of UEFA’s 55 member associations were drawn into their league as per their UEFA coefficient ranking on 11 October 2017.<doc-sep>Usually, the first few international breaks after the World Cup are dull, boring affairs. Teams often either bring back the exact groups you watched for a month over the summer, or entirely new squads that look like they’ve never played before in their lives. And the friendlies, oh woe to us, the meaningless international friendlies — at least, that’s what UEFA thinks football supporters think like, anyway. In an effort to cut down on the number of friendlies European teams play outside of the World Cup and Euro windows, UEFA instituted a brand new competition beginning this year — the UEFA Nations League. It hasn’t really garnered a ton of attention, but Jordan Pickford, Seamus Coleman, Gylfi Sigurdsson, and Cenk Tosun will all be participating in it this week, so it’s worth taking a quick look at exactly what it’s all about. The Nations League is divided into 4 leagues, each of which are divided into 4 groups of 3-4 teams. The leagues in the Nations League are basically an international competition equivalent to the tiered system seen in club football across the world. League A — the top league — consists of the top 12 teams in Europe according to the UEFA national team coefficient (don’t bother looking it up, I promise it’s more math than you want to deal with). So league A consists of nations like Germany, Portugal, and France. Both England and Iceland reside in League A — England is in a group with Spain and Croatia; Iceland with Belgium and Switzerland. League B consists of the next 12 best teams in Europe, including countries like Wales, Russia, and Sweden. Seamus Coleman’s Ireland and Cenk Tosun’s Turkey are both in League B. Turkey will face Russia and Sweden, while Ireland is in a group with Wales and Denmark. Leagues C and D are constructed similarly, but no Evertonians are set to feature in either league, so that’s all we’ll say about them — for now. The process for the group stage is quite straightforward — maybe the only straightforward thing about this convoluted mess. Each team plays the other teams in its group home and away, meaning four group stage games in Leagues A and B, six in Leagues C and D, which have more teams. All of these matches will take place in the upcoming three international breaks. The final period of Nations League group stage matches occurs November 18-20, 2018. What happens at the end of the group stage is dependent upon which league is in focus. In Leagues B, C, and D, each group winner is promoted to the next highest league for the next iteration of the Nations League (which occurs between Euro 2020 and World Cup 2022). In Leagues A, B, and C, the last-place team in each group is relegated into the next lowest league for the next iteration of the Nations League. In League A, each group winner goes onto play in a playoff for the Nations League title in June 2019. The group winners will be paired off to face each other in the semifinals, then the winners will play in a final, while the losers play in a third-place match. In terms of the basic format of the competition...that’s pretty much it. There’s a huge caveat missing from this explainer — four teams will qualify for Euro 2020 on the basis of their Nations League performance. But the rules surrounding that process are so convoluted that I’m dedicating another entire post to just those rules. I encourage you to check it out, because that’s really where the most interesting (and idiotic) rules are. But for now, let’s briefly look at what the competition itself will mean for the Everton players involved. Pickford and Sigurdsson are the only two Everton players in League A — and to be frank, both might be favorites to be relegated to League B at the end of the competition. Pickford and England face perennial powerhouse Spain and World Cup runners-up Croatia, while Sigurdsson faces Belgium and Switzerland. I certainly don’t think you’d call either of them group favorites, at the very least. In League B, the participating Evertonians might have a little bit more luck. Cenk Tosun and Turkey will face Russia and Sweden — two teams coming off strong World Cup performances, but with legitimate questions about how sustainable that growth will be. Ireland’s group contains two legitimate superstar opponents, who are backed by teams composed of questionable talent. Coleman’s comrades will face off against Christian Eriksen’s Denmark and Gareth Bale’s Wales. Ireland and Turkey are likely to be more interested in the Nations League than England and Iceland, as they are more likely to need the Nations League’s path to qualification for Euro. If you’re interested in how a team can qualify for Euro 2020 via the Nations League, check out this related post.<doc-sep>
This international league-based tournament is going to take some getting used to The UEFA Nations League has begun and England are into the semi-final. However, Europe’s new international football competition confused many when first introduced. Scroll down to see an explanation of how it all works. 7 The UEFA Nations League format makes sense… once you get the hang of it What is the UEFA Nations League? The UEFA Nations League is UEFA’s new international league-based tournament designed to keep European teams busy with competitive matches, rather than having so many friendlies. It takes place once every two years and begins after a major summer tournament (in this case the 2018 World Cup). 7 The UEFA Nations League official logo How does the UEFA Nations League work? The UEFA Nations League consists of four leagues (A, B, C & D). The 55 participating countries are separated into the four leagues based on their UEFA coefficient ranking (which is based on their recent performances in international football). Each league is then separated into four small groups (the draw for this took place in January). 7 The UEFA Nations League groups Each group contains either three or four teams who must play each other home and away between September-November 2018. In League D’s groups, the winner of each group is promoted to League C. In League C’s groups, the winner of each group is promoted to League B, while the bottom-placed team from each group is relegated to League D. In League B’s groups, the winner of each group is promoted to League A, while the bottom-placed team from each group is relegated to League C. In League A’s groups, the winner of each group earns a place in the ‘UEFA Nations League Finals,’ while the bottom placed team from each group is relegated to League B. 7 How the UEFA Nations League finalists are decided, as well as promotion and relegation Seven months after the UEFA Nations League groups finish (in November 2018) the ‘UEFA Nations League Finals’ will take place (in June 2019). The ‘UEFA Nations League Finals’ is a very simple tournament consisting of the four teams who won their League A groups. There will be two semi-finals and a final to determine the UEFA Nations League champions. 7 The UEFA Nations League trophy Does the UEFA Nations League affect Euro 2020 qualifying? Yes, it does. Euro 2020 qualifying will begin as normal with a group stage starting in March 2019. There will be ten groups and the top two teams from each group will qualify to take the first 20 spots at Euro 2020. The four remaining spots will no longer be decided by traditional play-offs. Instead the four highest ranked teams from each UEFA Nations League league who have not yet qualified for Euro 2020 will face each other in mini play-off tournaments, each one with a Euro 2020 spot at stake. 7 How the UEFA Nations League affects Euro 2020 qualifying Who will England play in the UEFA Nations League? England have been drawn to face Spain and Croatia in their UEFA Nations League group. What are England’s fixtures in the UEFA Nations League? September 8: England v Spain October 12: Croatia v England October 15: Spain v England November 18: England v Croatia