What is the UEFA Nations League?
The newest tournament created by UEFA, this latest competition will involve all 55 UEFA nations - including minnows like the Faroe Islands. The purpose of it? Basically to get rid of "meaningless" international friendlies and streamline the qualification process for the EURO tournaments, while offering smaller teams a real shot at securing a berth.
The tournament will be divided into two phases: the pool stage and the Nations League finals stage. The former will be contested every September through November of an even-numbered year, with the first one starting from this fall. The latter will start in June of an odd-numbered year, with the first one starting in June 2019. This means that a new champion will be crowned biannually.
There are four leagues: League A, B, C, and D, which are based on the strength of how a national team has fared at international competitions and their overall ranking by FIFA. In the maiden edition, not surprisingly, teams like France, Germany, Spain, England, and Portugal are all in League A. Thanks to their solid showings at recent tournaments, Croatia and Iceland also made it to League A. Poland's inclusion here may have raised some eyebrows perhaps, but they did do well at EURO 2016 and were in the Top 10 as per FIFA's rankings at the time of the 2018/19 UEFA Nations League draw.
League B of the first ever UNL include other sides like Russia, Wales, Austria, and Turkey - teams hoping to break into the upper tier should they do well in their group. Meanwhile, Leagues C and D are comprised of smaller sides who nonetheless could use this competition as a back-door route to sneak into the EURO 2020 tournament, theoretically. All group matches are played on a home-and-away basis.
How is the winner of the UEFA Nations League decided?
Is there a relegation-promotion system?
YES. Each team plays each other twice, and the worst-performing team in each group is relegated to the next lower league. The best-performers, of course, are rewarded with a bump up to the league above them.
Does the UEFA Nations League have anything to do with the UEFA Euro?
YES. Although it is a separate competition and the winner of this will enjoy a totally separate title (namely, the UEFA Nations League trophy) independent of the 2020 EURO tournament, it is still connected to the EURO competition. Call it "the second chance"!
Keep in mind, there are 24 spots available for EURO 2020. And given that it will not be hosted in any one specific country unlike in prior editions, there is no automatic berth given to anyone. Twenty of those spots will be earned through UEFA Euro qualifying rounds, which will start in March 2019 and end in March 2020.
That said, keep in mind also that there are 16 groups in the UEFA Nations League and that the 16 group winners (or those with the best finish if a group winner has already qualified for the UEFA Euro through the Euro qualifiers) get to progress into their respective league's playoffs to determine the four nations to grab the last four UEFA Euro spots.
The playoffs in each division is scheduled to take place in March 2020. It is shaped upon a semi-finals and final format to decide the UEFA Euro qualifying playoffs winner of each league. In other words, the last four UEFA Euro tickets will be taken, in March 2020, by one team from League A, one from League B, one from League C, and one from League D. This format was created to offer Europe's lowest ranked nations an equal chance as that of giants to participate in the European Championship.
When does the 2018/2019 UEFA Nations League start?
The UEFA Nations League will run from September 6, 2018 through November 20th of the same year. Once the league phase is completed, the Nations League finals stage -- comprising only League A group winners -- will take place starting on June 5th and will end on June 9th, 2019.
Here are the specific dates of each phase:
Sep. 6-8, 2018: Matchday 1
Sep. 9-11, 2018: Matchday 2
Oct. 11-13, 2018: Matchday 3
Oct. 14-16, 2018: Matchday 4
Nov. 15-17, 2018: Matchday 5
Nov. 16-18, 2018: Matchday 6
Jun. 5-6, 2019: Nations League Finals' semi-Finals (League A)
Jun. 9, 2019: Nations League Finals' Third place Play-off and Final (League A)
The latter stages, which begin in 2019 are where things get very interesting. Why? Well, because with the EURO 2020 qualifying campaign beginning in March of that year, there will be some slight overlap between the UEFA Nations League and the UEFA Euro qualifiers. In fact, in June, fans will be bombarded with plenty of footballing action as the UEFA Nations League wraps up and the European Championship qualifiers heat up. Curiously, the UEFA Nations League's League A semi-finals take place on June 5th and June 6th whilst matchday three of the EURO 2020 qualifiers will take place on June 7th and June 8th followed by the UEFA Nations League's League A third-placed final and ultimate final on June 9th.
That's a busy and hectic period, indeed.
Which teams are playing the UEFA Nations League?
There are a total of 55 teams playing in the UEFA Nations League and this is how they've been divided into four leagues made of four groups each:
League A and League B have three teams in each of their four groups. In other words, League A counts UEFA's 12 highest-ranked nations. League B also counts 12 other contestants.
In League C, three of the four groups have four teams each while the first of those groups counts only three participants. League C therefore counts 15 contenders.
And finally, in League D, all four groups are made of four teams each totalling 16 participants and completing the list 55 UEFA nations.
UEFA Nations League - League A teams:
Reminder: all four group winners in League A will compete for the ultimate UEFA Nations League trophy while all four bottom sides will be relegated to League B.
League A - Group 1
- Germany
- France
- Netherlands
League A - Group 2
- Belgium
- Switzerland
- Iceland
League A - Group 3
- Portugal
- Italy
- Poland
League A - Group 4
- Spain
- England
- Croatia
UEFA Nations League - League B teams:
Here are the teams in League B which feature stars like Gareth Bale and Austria's David Alaba.
Reminder: all four League B group winners will be promoted to League A and all four bottom sides will be relegated to League C.
Group 1: Slovakia, Czech Republic, Ukraine
Group 2: Turkey, Sweden, Russia
Group 3: Austria, Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Group 4: Wales, Denmark, Republic of Ireland
UEFA Nations League - League C teams:
Reminder: all four League C group winners will be promoted to League B and all four bottom sides will be demoted to League D.
Group 1: Israel, Scotland, Albania
Group 2: Greece, Hungary, Finland, Estonia
Group 3: Norway, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Cyprus
Group 4: Lithuania, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia
UEFA Nations League - League D teams:
Reminder: all four League D group winners will be promoted to League C.
Group 1: Andorra, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Latvia
Group 2: Belarus, Luxembourg, Moldova, San Marino
Group 3: Faroe Islands, Malta, Azerbaijan, Kosovo
Group 4: Liechtenstein, Gibraltar, Armenia, Macedonia
Who are the current champions?
As this is the inaugural edition of this tournament, there are no current champions of the UEFA Nations League.
What are the channels broadcasting the UEFA Nations League (TV, online streaming, and on-demand)?
USA (ENGLISH)
TV: ESPN
Online streaming: ESPN+, Watch ESPN
On-demand: Watch ESPN
USA (For Spanish speakers)
TV: Univision Deportes Network
Online streaming: Univision Deportes En Vivo, Univision NOW
On-demand: Univision Deportes En Vivo
UK
TV: SKY UK
Online streaming: Sky Go, Sky Go Extra, Now TV
On-demand: Sky Go
Germany
TV: ARD, ZDF, RTL
Online streaming: ARD Live, ZDF Sport Live
France
TV: L'Equipe, TF1
Online streaming: L'Equipe, TF1 Live
On-demand: L'Equipe
Portugal
TV: RTP, Sport TV Portugal
Online streaming: RTP Play, Sport TV LIVE
On-demand: RTP Play, Sport TV LIVE
Spain
TV: RTVE, Media Espana
Online streaming: RTVE.es
On-demand: RTVE.es
Canada
Not confirmed yet