The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition in which senior men's national teams from UEFA member associations compete.
Following the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the first competition began in September 2018. League A's four group winners qualify for the finals, which will be held in Portugal in June 2019. The UEFA Euro 2020 finals will feature four nations, one from each League.
The competition essentially replaces the FIFA International Match Calendar's prior international friendly matchups with more competitive encounters.
Apart from the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championship, Norwegian Football Association President Yngve Hallén announced in October 2013 that talks had taken place to develop a third full national-team international tournament for UEFA members.
The UEFA Nations League concept would have all 55 of UEFA's member associations' national teams separated into a series of groups based on a rating derived from recent results, with players promoted and demoted to other groups based on their performance within the group.
The planned event would take place on FIFA International Match Calendar dates that were previously reserved for international friendlies, and it would have no bearing on the FIFA World Cup or the UEFA European Championship.
Format of the original
The 54 national teams of UEFA were grouped into four divisions (referred to as "Leagues"):
League A has 12 teams, League B has 12 teams, League C has 14 teams, and League D has 16 teams. Each league was divided into four groups (each with three or four teams), with teams playing each other both at home and away.
Beginning in 2020–21, there will be a change.
UEFA agreed to change the format of the Nations League starting in the 2020–21 season once the first season was completed. Leagues A, B, and C each had 16 teams, while League D had seven teams.
After the 2018–19 season, the transition to the new structure was made by a series of one-time modifications, including the suspension of the 2018–19 season.
From 2024 to 2025, CONMEBOL teams may be added.
In an interview with the Polish website meczyki.pl, UEFA vice-president Zbigniew Boniek stated that from the 2024–25 edition of the competition, all ten teams from CONMEBOL, South America's football association, will participate in the championship.
The plans, which would respond to FIFA's biannual World Cup plans, would include a joint UEFA/CONMEBOL office in London to strengthen relations between the two confederations, as well as the six highest-ranked South American teams – presumably Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Peru, and Uruguay – joining League A and the remaining four – presumably Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, and Venezuela – joining League B.
Finals, relegation, and promotion.
The winners of the four groups in League A advance to the Nations League Finals, which feature two semi-finals, one third-and-fourth-place decider, and one final to determine the UEFA Nations League champion.
Teams can also be promoted or demoted to different leagues. Each group winner in Leagues B, C, and D is automatically promoted to the next higher level for the next tournament beginning in 2020–21. In Leagues A and B, the team that finishes last in its group is immediately relegated to the next lower league; because League C has four groups but League D only has two, the two League C teams that are to be relegated are the two League C teams that are to be relegated.
The event was created by UEFA in order to eliminate international friendlies, which is a goal held by many football teams and fans, as the regular football season is disrupted by non-competitive international matches as part of the FIFA International Match Calendar.
In February 2012, UEFA and the European Club Association (ECA) agreed to cut the international friendly schedule from 12 to 9 matches per year, with the August round of international friendlies in the UEFA confederation being phased out starting in 2015.
Many football analysts have praised and condemned the desire to eliminate friendly in favour of a more competitive tournament.
Most supporters, if not all, are aware that most friendly matches fail to produce competitive and meaningful football.
Trophy
Anthem.
With the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir singing in Latin, the official song of the UEFA Nations League was recorded. It's a hybrid of classical and electronic music that's used to welcome players into the field of play, in television sequences, and for ceremonial purposes. Giorgio Tuinfort and Franck van der Heijden are the composers.
Seasons
The UEFA Nations League is usually contested between September and November of an even-numbered year (league phase) and June of the following year (cup phase).
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