UEFA Nations League Explained

The inaugural UEFA Nations League is under way this autumn, with matches set to take place in September, October and November.

A total of 55 teams will participate in the brand new venture and the make-up of the first edition is known, with all the fixtures set.

There are a spate of interesting match-ups to look forward to but the tournament still prompts a sense of bewilderment among casual observers.

However, with under six months to go, there is plenty of time to become familiarised with UEFA's attempted 'rejuvenation' of the international game.

Goal takes a look the Nations League, how it works and brings you all the fixtures and results.

The Nations League is a bold attempt by UEFA to revamp international football in Europe.

According to the official UEFA website , the establishment of the competition "stems from the desire... to improve the quality and standing of national team football" with the federation and its associations seeking a move away from meaningless friendly games.

It will see UEFA's 55 member associations split into four leagues (A-D), each consisting of four groups.

The 2018-19 Nations League kicks off in September 2018 , with the first two rounds of group games scheduled to take place during that month. The remaining games will be played in October and November.

After the group games are complete, the finals will be held in June 2019.

How does the UEFA Nations League work?

As a new concept the Nations League has understandably left many fans, footballers and even officials themselves somewhat bewildered. But it will eventually become a natural and widely understood part of the European football calendar.

At the top end - in League A - the winners of each of the four groups progress to the finals, where they will fight it out to become Nations League champions.

The competition will also incorporate promotion and relegation, so teams can ascend or descend the ranks depending on their performances.

Four teams - those that finish bottom in their groups - will be relegated from Leagues A to B, B to C and C to D.

Conversely, four teams - those that finish top of their groups - will be promoted from Leagues D to C, C to B and B to A.

Helpfully, UEFA has produced a graphic, which you can see below, that illustrates exactly how promotion and relegation work in the competition.

League A features the top 12 ranked teams in Europe and they are divided into four groups of three. Among them are Germany, Portugal, Spain, England and France.

League B is made up by the teams ranked from 13 to 24 and, like League A, they are divided into four groups of three. Some of the teams involved at this tier include Wales, Ukraine and Russia.

Unlike the top two tiers, League C features the next best 15 teams, with one group of three and three groups of four. Scotland, Greece and Serbia are among the teams involved.

League D is populated by the 16 lowest ranked teams and they are divided into four groups of four. The likes of Armenia, San Marino and the Faroe Islands are competing at this level.

As mentioned, when matchday six has concluded, the Nations League then moves into the finals stage, which takes place in the summer of 2019.

Four teams - the winners of Groups 1-4 in League A - compete in two semi-finals (on June 5 and 6) with a third-place play-off and final following (on June 9).

This section of the tournament will be held in a single country, but the host nation has not yet been chosen. However, UEFA has confirmed that Italy, Poland and Portugal have expressed interest.

Every team that competes in the Nations League will receive solidarity payments from UEFA and bonus payments will be made to teams based on their performances.

A total of €76.25m will be distributed among the nations and the higher the league

The teams that qualify for the Nations League final will also be rewarded for their performance at that stage.

The winner will receive a bonus of €4.5m, with the runner-up getting €3.5m. Third place will be paid €2.5m and the fourth-placed team will get €1.5m

As such, the maximum overall a team from League A can get is €7.5m; €2m for a team from League B; €1.5m for a team from League C; and €1m for a team from League D.

As referred to above, the Nations League will also be linked with the European Championship, beginning with Euro 2020 .

First of all, the overall ranking of the teams in the Nations League will be used to determined the seeding for the Euro 2020 qualification groups, the draw for which will be held in Dublin in December 2018 following the conclusion of the group games, which, as noted, finish in November.

Secondly, the Nations League will also potentially offer a route into the European Championship for teams that fail to reach the tournament through the qualification process.

Each League from A to D has four play-off positions which will be given to the group winners as first priority. However if a group winner has already qualified its place in the play-off will go to the next best ranked team of the league and so on.

There will be four different play-off paths, meaning a total of 16 teams, and these will generally mirror the initial four leagues in terms of make-up. That means there will be opportunities for lower ranked teams to reach the European Championship finals.

Round Date
Matchday 1 September 6-8, 2018
Matchday 2 September 9-11, 2018
Matchday 3 October 11-13, 2018
Matchday 4 October 14-16, 2018
Matchday 5 October 15-17, 2018
Matchday 6 November 15-17, 2018
Semi-finals June 5-6, 2019
Third-place play-off June 9, 2019
Final June 9, 2019

so you mean if we beat Croatia, then draw Iceland and Argentina we qualify?


this tournament is useless and irrelevant.

Who else doesn't understand the explanation above?