An expanded UEFA League of Nations is upon us as the first international break of the Premier League season heats up.
The fourth edition of this competition adds an extra knockout round and maintains the risk of promotion and relegation in its mini-leagues – a fate England I know too well afterwards fall in League B after a series of poor results in 2022.
Designed to eliminate unnecessary international friendlies in favour of pitting nations of equal standing against each other in a competitive environment, the Nations League has proven to be a springboard to success for previous winners. PortugalFrance and Spain.
England’s best finish remains third place under Gareth Southgate in the inaugural 2018/19 edition. This time around, Lee CarsleyThe men’s national team will aim for promotion to the elite.
Groups
This season’s draw, made in February, has produced some interesting matches. Four leagues were created based on each nation’s results in the last Nations League, and four pots were then established within each league based on the same criteria.
One team from each pot was then drawn into each group within their league to make the final draw:
League A
Group A1: CroatiaPortugal, Poland, Scotland
Group A2: Italy, BelgiumFrance, Israel
Group A3: The NetherlandsHungary, GermanyBosnia and Herzegovina
Group A4: Spain, Denmark, Swiss, Serbia
League B
Group B1: Czech Republic, Ukraine, Albania, Georgia
Group B2: EnglandFinland, Republic of Ireland, Greece
Group B3: Austria, NorwaySlovenia, Kazakhstan
Group B4: WalesIceland, Montenegro, Türkiye
League C
Group C1: SuedeAzerbaijan, Slovakia, Estonia
Group C2: Romania, Kosovo, Cyprus, Lithuania*
Group C3: Luxembourg, Bulgaria, Northern IrelandBelarus
Group C4: Armenia, Faroe Islands, North Macedonia, Latvia
League D
Group D1: Gibraltar, San Marino, Liechtenstein
Group D2: Moldova, Malta, Andorra
What’s new for 2024/25?
Each team will continue to play the other teams in their group home and away, but qualification for the final is now slightly different. A new knockout round has been added for March 2025 in an attempt to create a greater sense of continuity between the end of the group and the start of the playoffs.
The gap between the two stages, which previously ran from November to June, was deemed too long and not a good way to create buzz for a competition that already has many skeptics.
Here’s how the new system will work:
The winners of League A and the second-placed teams will play each other in a home and away quarter-final. The winning teams will take the four places in the final, while the fourth-placed teams in Leagues A and B will be relegated. Teams in League C will have to work a little harder to stay up, with the bottom two teams being relegated to League D.
In contrast, the four winners of Leagues B and C will be automatically promoted, with the two winners of League D also being promoted. Future promotions will be decided through two-legged play-offs between the third-placed teams in League A and the runners-up in League B, as well as the third-placed teams in League B and the runners-up in League C.
Are you still confused? There’s even more.
The two best fourth-placed teams from League C will meet the two second-placed teams from League D to decide who will participate in the next competition in the higher division.
When will the matches take place?
The additional knockout phase will only impact a small number of nations, and much of the schedule will play out as we have seen before.
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Day 1: September 5-7, 2024
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Day 2: September 8-10, 2024
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Day 3: October 10-12, 2024
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Day 4: October 13-15, 2024
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Day 5: November 14-16, 2024
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Day 6: November 17-19, 2024
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Play-off draw for the round of 16: November 2024
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Knockout Play-offs: March 20-25, 2025
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League A Quarter-finals: March 20-25, 2025
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Final tournament: June 4-8, 2025
Who are the favorites?
Unsurprisingly, Spain are the hot favourites to defend their title. They have already reached two of their three finals and beat Croatia on penalties to win their first Nations League trophy last year.
It’s fair to say that Luis de la Fuente’s side have improved immensely since then. Spain were sparkling on the road to victory at Euro 2024, with the emergence Lamine Yamal And Nico Williams forcing teams to close in on themselves for fear of being torn apart on the wings.
France are perhaps the team that can push Spain the furthest. We have never really seen the best of Spain. The Blues at Euro 2024, with Kylian MbappéThe team’s broken nose, hidden behind a mask, remains a lasting image of their tournament. France showed excellent defensive qualities in Germany. William Saliba And Jules Kounde stepped up their efforts, although they remained straightforward in attack.
Julian Nagelsmann may feel the Germans missed a great opportunity at their own tournament. He is now overseeing a new era without Toni Kroos, Ilkay Gündogan, Thomas Müller And Manuel Neuerfour pillars of the nation’s success for many years.
This year’s Nations League appears to be coming too early to challenge for the title, with Germany more likely to find themselves alongside Portugal, Italy and the Netherlands, two League A contenders who are slightly on the outside looking in.
