In a league of its own for utter confusion
REPORTS BY LOSING to Ireland and failing to reach the World Cup play-offs, Wales have greatly increased their chances of being involved in Euro 2020.
England, meanwhile, could face a three-way battle with Germany and Holland to avoid one of the biggest names in European football finding themselves in UEFA’s newlynamed League B.
Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of the Nations League. It has promotion, relegation, back-door routes into major finals and – as part of the qualifying process for all future World Cups and European Championships – it’s here to stay.
Following the final round of World Cup qualifying games this week, the four different “leagues” of European clubs were confirmed yesterday.
England are in League A with the 12 top nations in the UEFA rankings. A win for Wales against the Republic on Monday would have been enough to put them in the top tier – but missing out may not be a bad thing in the longer term.
The reason lies in UEFA’s baffling backdoor entry route which grants teams of all abilities a place at future major tournaments.
After a normal qualifying process for Euro 2020 decides the first 20 participants, UEFA will use the Nations League tables to determine the last four teams to join them – one from each league.
Play-offs in four separate one-off minitournaments will find the four final participants. So, by being in League B, Wales not only have a greater chance of finishing high up the table, but would also face a lower-calibre opponent in the play-offs.
Euro 2020 will be contested over 13 host Groups of three (four in Leagues C and D) will play each other home and away. Top team in each mini-group promoted; bottom team relegated. cities as part of Michel Platini’s grand plan for a celebration of 60 years of the European Championship. It will also be the first major finals to set out deliberately to feature what UEFA describes as “middleranking and smaller nations”. For example, with League D guaranteed a representative, Azerbaijan, Macedonia, Belarus and Latvia are the favourites to battle it out over a series of oneoff contests to qualify for the finals. The top sides in Europe also have a new biennial international honour to compete for – the UEFA Nations League trophy; a three-match mini-tournament hosted at a single venue in June in the years between major finals. With relegation and promotion at the end of each cycle, it means that some of the teams historically usually at the pinnacle will now be just a couple of below-par performances away from finding themselves stuck in the second tier for at least two years, with an impact on their seeding for the World Cup and European Championship. UEFA claim the new system creates “more meaningful and competitive matches for teams” than the current trend of filling international dates with friendlies. The disadvantage? You need a degree in rocket science to understand it all. 10 groups of five or six, two qualify from each. Top four teams from League A will be placed in five-team Euro 2020 play-off semi-finals, freeing up June double-header for semi-finals and Top four teams in each League who have not already qualified play off for one extra place per League. One-off games, not two legs.