Malta gets Azerbaijan, Faroe Islands and Kosovo in new UEFA Nations League competition
The Malta national football team will be competing in Group 3 of League D of the newly-launched UEFA Nations League competition.
At the draws which took place in Lausanne, yesterday, Malta, placed in Pot 3 picked up the likes of Azerbaijan, the Faroe Island and Kosovo and will compete in Group 3 of League D.
Malta will form part in League D of the competition - which will see these four teams playing each other on a home and away basis on six match days, all double-headers, between September and November 2018.
Alternatively the winners of the four respective groups in League D will move on further to the play-offs which will take place in March 2020 and the overall eventual winner will be rewarded with a berth place in the forthcoming UEFA Euro 2020 competition.
Soon after the draws, Malta coach Tom Saintfiet said the outcome of the draw left him with mixed feelings.
“Mixed feelings to be honest,” Saintfiet told www.mfa.com.mt.
“On one hand, I’m very happy to be playing Faroe Islands because in the past, I coached and played in the country but one the other hand, it’s quite a difficult group we have.
“There were maybe two nations in the whole set-up who could be considered weaker than us, San Marino and Gibraltar, but now we have Kosovo who are 178th in the world, Azerbaijan 118th and Faroe Islands 97.
“We have no weak opponents. It will be a tough task... even if for the outside world, some nations like Faroe Islands seem like small countries, they are tough and it will be a hard battle to gain points.
“We have to start this competition trying to win at home, at least one or two games, and then we will see how far we can go.”
Malta kick-off their match account with an away fixture to the Faroe Islands on September 7 of this year. Three days later Malta welcome the visit of Azerbaijan, regarded favourites to top the group.
Malta was represented at the draws by Malta FA President Norman Darmanin Demajo, Dr. Angelo Chetcuti, General Secretary, national coach Tom Saintfiet, team manager Ivan Vella, and Director of Communications Kevin Azzopardi.
Branded as the rejuvenation of national team football by UEFA – hence the UEFA Nations League – stems from the desire of UEFA and its 55 member associations to improve the quality and standing of national team football.
UEFA and its associations wanted more sporting meaning in national team football, with associations, coaches, players and supporters increasingly of the opinion that friendly matches are not providing adequate competition for national teams.
How will the Nations League work?
The competition will be played in Autumn 2018 with two double-headers matchdays, in each of September, October and November.
The qualifying programme for Euro 2020 will then be played throughout 2019.
Nations League key dates
Matchday 1 6–8 September 2018
18.00 Azerbaijan vs Kosovo 20.45 Faroe Islands vs Malta
9–11 September 2018
20.45 Malta vs Azerbaijan 20.45 Kosovo vs Faroe Islands
11–13 October 2018
20.45 Kosovo vs Malta 20.45 Faroe Islands vs Azerbaijan
14–16 October 2018
18.00 Azerbaijan vs Malta 18.00 Faroe Islands vs Kosovo
15–17 November 2018 18.00 Malta vs Kosovo 18.00 Azerbaijan vs Faroe Islands
18–20 November 2018
18.00 Malta vs Kosovo 18.00 Azerbaijan vs Faroe Islands
Early December 2018
Finals (including semi-finals and third-placed game)
5–9 June 2019
UEFA EURO 2020 play-off draw 22 November 2019
26–31 March 2020
The draw ceremony for the inaugural UEFA National League was presented by Pedro Pinto, UEFA's Managing Director of Communication, and carried out by Giorgio Marchetti, UEFA's Deputy General Secretary.
They were assisted in the draws by former football glories Deco (Portugal), Vladimir Smicer (Czech Republic), Jari Litmanen (Finland) and Aleksandr Hleb (Belarus).
UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin got proceedings under way with the official unveiling of the UEFA Nations League Trophy.