Page 99 - Soccer360 Issue 107

DID YOU KNOW?
Founded in part to eliminate meaningless international fixtures, the UEFA Nations League is both a continental competition in its own right
as well as a qualification route for other tournaments. The competition has existed conceptually since 2018, and there have been three different men’s Nations League winners so far: France, Portugal, and Spain.
FORMAT:
The structure of the tournament is designed to promote competitive balance and provide teams with opportunities for promotion and relegation. The national teams are categorized into four leagues based on their overall ranking from the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League season. Leagues A, B, and C each feature 16 teams, divided into four groups of four. Meanwhile, League D has 6 teams, split into two groups of three. Each team in Leagues A, B, and C plays six matches within their group in a home-and-away round-robin format, while League D teams play four matches.
A revised format was confirmed by the UEFA in January 2023. In the top tier, League A, group winners and runners-up will proceed to a new quarter-final round. These ties will be played over two legs, with group winners facing runners-up from different groups, and the second leg hosted by the group winners. The four victorious quarter-finalists will advance to the Nations League Finals, which maintains its traditional knockout format, including semi-finals, a third-place play-off, and a final. The UEFA Executive
SOCCER360 97
ABOVE:
Italy’s Riccardo Calafiori and Mateo Retegui will look to better the Bronze medal finish for Italy in the last year’s Nation league tournament
ABOVE RIGHT:
Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal won the first ever Nations League in 2019
RIGHT:
Mbappe led France to a Nations League win in only the 2nd ever edition of the Nations League