Line-up for 2020/21 UEFA Nations League announced

UEFA announced the line-up of the 2020/21 UEFA Nations League which will take place next fall after the conclusion of UEFA Euro 2020. AGONAsport takes a closer look.

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Last year, the UEFA Nations League entered the life of European football and for many, the competition was a huge success. At a first glance, the new competition was looked at as “glorified frienldies,” however with a trophy (won by Portugal) and four tickets to UEFA Euro 2020 at stake, nations quickly understood its importance. 

For the Greek national team, however, their first Nations League experience was one to forget. The Ethniki competed in Group 2 of League C along with Finland, Hungary, and Estonia, only to claim third place with nine points from six matches. Greece finished behind Finland and Hungary and ahead of minnows Estonia. Greece’s third-place finish in the group meant that the Ethniki secured their position in League C for the second edition of the competition, but threw out any hopes of earning a ticket to the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying playoffs. 

With Greece currently sitting fifth in their respective Euro 2020 qualifying group with just five points from six matches, the Ethniki will likely miss out on a third consecutive major tournament. 

During the week, UEFA announced the line-up for the second edition of the UEFA Nations League along with a few changes to the competition. The Nations League will continue to consist of four leagues, however, the first three leagues (A-C) will each contain 16 teams while League D will only consist of seven teams. Previously, Leagues A and B had 12 teams, League C had 15 teams, and League D had 16 teams. With this change, UEFA hopes that more derbies will take place between Europe’s footballing powerhouse nations. This change will also increase the number of overall games from 138 to 162.

Teams will be placed in each league based on their final Nations League ranking from the 2018/19 edition (full ranking can be found here). Greece, who claimed 33rd place in the last Nations League, will compete in League C once again. 

It has been rumored that the Nations League will play a small role in the European qualifiers for the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Qatar, however, no details were released regarding this matter. The draw for the new Nations League will take place on March 3, 2020.

Below is the full UEFA Nations League Line-up

LEAGUE A (16 teams)

Teams: Portugal, Netherlands, England, Switzerland, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ukraine, Sweden, Croatia, Poland, Germany, Iceland, Denmark.

The 16 teams will be split up into four groups of four teams. The top team from each group will advance to the UEFA Nations League Finals and compete for the 2021 Nations League title. The bottom four teams from each group will be relegated to League B for the third edition of the competition.

LEAGUE B (16 teams)

Teams: Russia, Austria, Wales, Czech Republic, Scotland, Norway, Serbia, Finland, Slovakia, Turkey, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Bulgaria, Israel, Hungary, and Romania.

The 16 teams will be split up into four groups of four teams. The top team from each group will be promoted to League A while the bottom four teams from each group will be relegated to League C for the third edition of the competition.

LEAGUE C (16 teams)

Teams: Greece, Albania, Montenegro, Georgia, Skopje, Kosovo, Belarus, Cyprus, Estonia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Moldova.

The 16 teams will be split up into four groups of four teams. The top team from each group will be promoted to League B for the third edition of the competition while the bottom four teams will be drawn into two pairs and compete in two-legged relegation playoffs. The two winning nations from the playoffs will remain in League C while the two losing nations will be relegated to League D.

LEAGUE D (7 teams)

 Teams: Gibraltar, Faroe Islands, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Andorra, San Marino

The seven teams will be split into two groups, one of four teams and one with three teams. The top team from each group will be promoted to League C for the third edition of the competition.

Calendar for 2020/21 Nations League 

3-Mar-20: UEFA Nations League draw (Amsterdam)

3-5-Sep-20: Matchday 1

6-8-Sep-20: Matchday 2

8-10-Sep-20: Matchday 3

11-13-Oct-20: Matchday 4

12-14-Nov-20: Matchday 5

15-17-Nov-20: Matchday 6

2-6-Jun-21: Nations League Finals

by Sarantos Kaperonis

Image Source: vbetnews.com

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