The Nations League enters its last two group matchdays – the most important questions and answers about the third edition of the tournament.
When, where and with which teams will the UEFA Nations League finals take place?
The winners of the four groups in League A play the final tournament from June 14th to 18th. The participants in the final and the match for third place will be determined in two semi-finals.
The host country will be the country with the winner of Group 4. It is therefore possible that Germany, in the event of a group victory in a final tournament in the Netherlands, will play against Denmark, Spain and the Netherlands, for example.
| Group 1 | group 2 | group 3 | group 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Denmark | Spain | Hungary | Netherlands |
| Croatia | Portugal | Germany | Belgium |
| Austria | Czech Republic | Italy | Poland |
| France | Switzerland | England | Wales |
What else can the German team achieve?
Germany is behind Hungary in Group 3 and could reach the final tournament on its own with two wins in the remaining games against Hungary on Friday (09/23/2022) and in England (09/26/2022).
England’s Jew Bellingham (r.) Ilkay Gündogan in the Nations League
What does all this have to do with qualifying for the European Championship?
The seeding list for qualifying for the EM 2024 in Germany is based on the overall ranking of the Nations League. Germany is automatically qualified as the host of the tournament and does not have to pay attention to this issue – this does not apply to others.
Teams like France and England have in the Nations League performed so poorly so far that they are currently behind the top ten in the ranking list and would therefore only be in pot 2 for the draw for the qualifying groups as things stand – and accordingly might have to fear tougher opponents. All League B group winners automatically avoid slipping into pot 3.
In addition, teams can secure a place in the playoffs secure the European Championship qualification. From the ten groups of the European Championship qualification, 20 teams qualify for the final round in Germany. Three more reach the tournament via the playoffs, in which twelve teams take part. These twelve teams are basically the twelve group winners from the groups of the leagues A, B and C of the Nations League be 2022/23. There is also a move-up procedure, since many group winners will have already qualified directly.
| round | Events |
|---|---|
| Matchday 1 and 2 | 2nd-8th June 2022 |
| Matchday 3 and 4 | 8th-14th June 2022 |
| Matchday 5 and 6 | 22-27 Sep 2022 |
| Final round of the four group winners | 14-18 June 2023 |
Who has won the tournament so far?
The current 2022/23 season is the third edition of the tournament. Portugal were the first winners in 2018/19, when they beat the Netherlands 1-0 in the final in Porto.
France were the winners in 2020/21, beating Spain 2-1 in Milan.
Antoine Griezmann with the 2021 Nations League Trophy
Nations League – what’s that supposed to mean?
The Nations League is a competition for all of UEFA’s 55 associations – minus Russia, whose teams have been suspended over the war of aggression against Ukraine. Goal of the competition: more excitement, fewer friendlies.
“UEFA and its associations wanted more sporting meaning in national team football”UEFA itself describes the competition. “Although associations, coaches, players and fans are increasingly of the opinion that friendlies do not offer appropriate competition for national teams.” More important games at a competitive level, plus the final tournament, which is attractive to many.
the Nations League but not everyone thinks it’s great. When two weeks with four Nations League match days were scheduled in the summer of 2022 due to the need to catch up on football dates due to the interruption at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, there was a lot of criticism. “The Nations League is unimportant in my eyes”said the Belgium international Kevin De Bruyne. “These are just hyped friendlies, I’m not looking forward to them.”
What role does money play?
As always in football: a big one. In the 2020/21 financial year, UEFA recorded revenues of €5.7 billion – a record in the organisation’s history. 647 million of them brought the Nations League together with the European Championship qualifiers and friendlies. In this area there was because of the introduction of the Nations League a huge increase.
And most of that money ends up with the national associations. The DFB reported around 60 million euros in 2019 and around 49 million euros in 2020 as income from the senior national team – a considerable proportion of which comes from the Nations League.