UEFA Nations League

[Giggles]

If anyone cares. Draw tomorrow for the slightly less meaningless competition replacing meaningless friendlies.

https://www.uefa.com/uefanationsleague/news/newsid=2079553.html#/

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

Teams will be split into four groups of three, with the group winners then contesting the UEFA Nations League Finals (semi-finals, third-place match and final) in June 2019 to become the UEFA Nations League winners. One host country will be appointed in December 2018 from among the finalist teams.


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

Teams will be split into four groups of three.
Due to a decision of the UEFA Executive Committee, Russia and Ukraine cannot be draw in the same group.


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

Teams will be split into one group of three (containing teams from Pots 1, 2 and 3 only) and three groups of four.
Due to winter venue restrictions, a group can contain a maximum of two of these teams: Norway, Finland, 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

Teams will be split into four groups of four.
Due to a decision of the UEFA Executive Committee, Armenia and Azerbaijan cannot be draw in the same group.
Due to excessive travel restrictions, any group can contain a maximum of one of these pairs: Andorra & Kazakhstan, Faroe Islands & Kazakhstan, Gibraltar & Kazakhstan, Gibraltar & Azerbaijan

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Germany, England, Poland please.

[ItalAussie]

Due to a decision of the UEFA Executive Committee, Russia and Ukraine cannot be draw in the same group.
Appeasers.


Due to excessive travel restrictions, any group can contain a maximum of one of these pairs: Andorra & Kazakhstan, Faroe Islands & Kazakhstan, Gibraltar & Kazakhstan, Gibraltar & Azerbaijan
I do not understand these rules at all. Is it a distance thing? But then why Andorra?

[Baz]

So long as [Liverpool player] doesn’t get injured, I’m all for this.

[Pen]

Why couldn't we shit our way to group D. Our national team can't do anything right :moop:

[Pleb]

League A is a barrel of laughs.

[Giggles]

As expected, O'Neill has signed his contract in time for the draw :(

[wullie]

It's hard to sit still with all the excitement surrounding the Intertoto Cup for national teams.

[phonics]

Is this replacing Euro qualifiers? Or just the friendlies?

[wullie]

The proper qualifiers start next year, this decides the seedings and then the four teams in the eventual playoff will be the best side in each Nations League division who don't qualify automatically. It's a safety net for the big cheeses more or less.

[SvN]

I'm not entirely sure. It's linked somehow, but it's not clear to me whether it replaces it completely or not.

[-james-]

The key bit is that each league is guaranteed a spot at the finals. Take a look at league D and try not to lol.

As Pen alluded to, there's a massive incentive for teams that probanly aren't going to qualify to sabotage their ranking and drop down a league.

[-james-]

Look at the teams in group c ffs. If they know they aren't winning it, they're surely best off just throwing their last few games to get put in with the Liechtensteins next time.

[SvN]

It's going to be Barbados v Grenada all over again.

[Pleb]

Germany, France and Holland :drool:

England's group :face:

[Jimmy Floyd]

Look at the teams in group c ffs. If they know they aren't winning it, they're surely best off just throwing their last few games to get put in with the Liechtensteins next time.

I struggle to see the benefits of promotion for any team in any of the groups. All teams should be aiming to lose.

[wullie]

The key bit is that each league is guaranteed a spot at the finals.

I think each division is guaranteed a playoff spot at the end but not a place in the finals themselves? It's a right load of shit.

[SvN]

Wait, that's it? 3 teams in a league? How exciting. :face:

[-james-]

I think each division is guaranteed a playoff spot at the end but not a place in the finals themselves? It's a right load of shit.

The play off are contested between the winners of the four groups in each division, I think.

Some kind of intertoto affair with the best placed not already qualified group A teams coming in at the last stage would make far more sense .

[SvN]

Just reading through the format of this. Could it be any worse? It's like they held a nationwide competition exclusively at special schools to suggest the rules.

[wullie]

The winners get first dibs but if they then qualify the normal way, the playoff spot for each division goes to the next best team who hasn't qualified.

EDIT: Forget what I said, looking at this I think you're right, the playoffs determine one team from each league goes through

https://img.uefa.com//MultimediaFiles/Photo/uefaorg/Congress/02/40/65/56//2406556_w1.jpg

This has to be a spiteful act by UEFA to shut up people complaining about friendlies.

[Browning]

The winners get first dibs but if they then qualify the normal way, the playoff spot for each division goes to the next best team who hasn't qualified.

It’s 4 play off spots per league and the winner of said play offs qualifies, so one team from the bottom league will be there.

Also if there’s less than 4 teams in a league that fail to qualify normally they nick teams from the league below so we could see more than one of them make it.

[phonics]

You know you've absolutely nailed the brief when people see the rules in an infographic and still can't understand them.

[Browning]

Does this replace the existing play offs? Otherwise you could have a team playing the regular play offs (and lose), the nation league semis AND the nation league play offs. It’s unlikely but far from impossible.

Edit- guess the graphic answered that and it does. Still a bit much to have to go through the nation league play offs while also competing for the prestigious trophy.

[Jimmy Floyd]

It's pure and unadulterated:

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xpqa1KqTsdM/hqdefault.jpg

[Giggles]

So one division 4 team gets in the same as division 1? Shit :D

[Browning]

Actually looking at it there isn’t a scenario where two teams from League D make it, well, not a likely one anyway.

If we assume that the 12 teams from League A all qualify as do 8 from league B you have a scenario where the “league A” play offs are contested by the only remaining league B sides, meaning 8 teams from league C contest the play offs for B and C. Maybe that’s the league to be in.

[-james-]

The implementation looks awful at this stage, but I think overall it can only be a good thing. I don't really think there's a valid argument against it.

[Giggles]

The implementation looks awful at this stage, but I think overall it can only be a good thing. I don't really think there's a valid argument against it.

A winner of league D making it ahead of another team in A for a start. That's ridiculous.

I know it's become fashionable in sport but rewarding ineptitude needs to stop.

[Giggles]

He really hates Tony :D


956202077159538689

[-james-]

A winner of league D making it ahead of another team in A for a start. That's ridiculous.

I know it's become fashionable in sport but rewarding ineptitude needs to stop.
You'll probably find that every league A team qualifies anyway, but I agree that league D getting a spot is ludicrous. You'd hope it'll only be for the first edition, but probably not.

[Disco]

It looks set up precisely to ensure that group A teams make it to every tournament, that's the shitty part. Beyond that does it really make much difference if Latvia rather than Albania get to the Euros to finish bottom of their group?

[Giggles]

It looks set up precisely to ensure that group A teams make it to every tournament, that's the shitty part. Beyond that does it really make much difference if Latvia rather than Albania get to the Euros to finish bottom of their group?

It's does if you're Albania and Latvia do.

[Giggles]

If anyone was in the dark about the format then at least you probably knew more than Danny Mills.

https://www.balls.ie/amp/football/danny-mills-nations-league-381907

[Disco]

It's does if you're Albania and Latvia do.

You could say that about the current system, some sides get harder draws than others. Cynically trying to ensure the sides with better tv markets always make it is the shittier move.

[John Arne]

If anyone was in the dark about the format then at least you probably knew more than Danny Mills.

https://www.balls.ie/amp/football/danny-mills-nations-league-381907

I mean, that's just incompetence. You have a job to talk about football... about the Nations League, and you do fuck all research.

Embarrassing.