Mode, German opponents, favorites – and what all this has to do with the Olympic Games. Here you will find everything you need to know about footballNations League the women.
Why do women now also have a Nations League?
Just like with the men, UEFA hopes the new game format will help “more meaningful games” as well as one “greater sporting and commercial interest” in national team football. He be “Convinced that this format will help all European national associations and keep the dream of qualifying for a major international tournament alive”says UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin. Background: Just like with the men, teams can also qualify for the European and World Championships as well as the Olympic Games via the Nations League.
When do the games take place?
Three blocks of dates are scheduled for the group phase. The first two match days will be played from September 20th to 26th, matchdays three and four will follow from October 25th to 31st and matchdays five and six will follow from November 29th to December 5th. The finals as well as the promotion and relegation games are scheduled for February 21st to 28th, 2024.
Who is in it?
51 national teams are taking part. Of the UEFA members, the only ones missing are Gibraltar, San Marino and Liechtenstein, which do not yet have women’s teams. Russia is excluded because of the war of aggression against Ukraine.
What is the mode?
There are three leagues – A, B and C – each with four groups, with League C also having another group of three. The distribution is based on the UEFA coefficient ranking. The teams compete against each other in home and away games.
The group winners in League A qualify for the final round. As with the men, there will be two semi-finals, the third place game and the final.
The winners of Leagues B and C are promoted to the higher league, the fourth-placed group and the worst third-placed group in Leagues B are relegated to the lower league. In Playoffs In addition, the third-placed teams in League A play against the second-placed teams in Leagues B for four more places in League A, and the three best third-placed teams in Leagues B play against the three best second-placed teams in Leagues C for three more places in League B.
Who will the German team compete against?
The German national team plays in Group 3 of League A. The opponents are Denmark (September 22nd in Viborg/from 5:45 p.m live in the first and in Live stream on sportschau.de), Iceland (September 26th in Bochum) and Wales (October 27th in Sinsheim). The second leg in Iceland kicks off on October 31st, followed by Denmark on December 1st and Wales on December 5th.
How important is the Nations League for the German team?
Very important. These are the first international matches after the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, which ended completely unexpectedly for the German team in the preliminary round. The main thing at the start is to regain lost self-confidence. But even apart from that, the importance is high. “This new format allows us to regularly compete with the best. We will experience many duels on equal terms at an incredibly high level. These are extremely valuable for the further development of our team.”says Joti Chatzialexiou, national team sporting director.
Who trains the German team?
National coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg is ill and will be out of the first two games in Denmark and against Iceland. She is represented by her assistant coach Britta Carlson.
What does the German squad look like?
There were no personal consequences from the World Cup defeat. Missing are Melanie Leupolz (resignation), Svenja Huth (birth of son) and Sara Däbritz (bereavement). Giulia Gwinn and Linda Dallmann, who were missing from the World Cup, are back in the squad. Sarai Linder and Janina Minge are also there again.
What else is the Nations League about?
It’s about a ticket for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. The two finalists qualify directly for the women’s Olympic football tournament. If the host France, which has already automatically qualified, is one of the finalists, the third-placed team will get the place. The second edition of the Nations League next season will be about qualifying for the 2025 European Championships in Switzerland.
What about the Spanish team?
The world champions have been on strike in the past few days. They believe that the resignation of association president Luis Rubiales, who kissed world champion Jennifer Hermoso on the mouth without being asked, and the separation from coach Jorge Vilda are insufficient. Among other things, they are now demanding the dismissal of Rubiales’ successor Pedro Rochas. Numerous footballers have apparently ended their international match strike. 15 players from the world champion team were nominated on Monday by the new national coach Montse Tomé for the Nations League games on Friday in Sweden and on Tuesday at home against Switzerland.
Who are the favorites?
That’s hard to say for a tournament that lasts around five months in total. The top favorite for the title is world champion Spain, if they compete, and runner-up world champion England. Germany wants to rehabilitate itself after the botched World Cup. The favorites also include Sweden, France and the Netherlands.