Nations League 2020-2021

[Donathan]

Now that we’re up to league B, assuming the next edition of the UNL is not a separate qualifying stream for Qatar 2022, I reckon we should just sack this off and get relegated on purpose to give ourselves a decent shot at the next again Euros.

[Coooombe]

That would be pointless. There will likely be a World Cup qualifier spot available for league B teams, and even if we finish mid table in B we're still guaranteed a playoff spot for the Euros next time.

[BillyAnchor]

i'm glad someone seems to understand the point of it. I'd say fuctifano if there wasnt a copyright on it.

[Donathan]

3 minutes ago, Coooombe said:

That would be pointless. There will likely be a World Cup qualifier spot available for league B teams, and even if we finish mid table in B we're still guaranteed a playoff spot for the Euros next time.

 

I highly doubt FIFA are going to allow this, especially with only 13 spots available for UEFA team. Really there are multiple problems with this idea:

 

- The Euro 2020 playoffs aren't until March 2020, I doubt FIFA would allow world cup qualifying to go on as late as the March before the tournament, even with the next one being in the winter.

- With only ten matchdays to fit in all the qualifiers as well as the UNL group stage, 10 groups will be needed to avoid having a group of 7. This rules out the possibility of doing 9 groups with only the winners getting to Qatar, and then one spot for each UNL league.

- The structure of 10 groups with qualifiers being held in MAR-JUN-SEP-OCT-NOV of odd numbered calendar years is here to stay.

 

For future competitions the qualifying places will be assigned as follows:

 

Euros: 10 winners + best X runners up + 4 from UNL playoffs (X = 10 - number of automatic host places given out)

 

World cup 2022: 10 winners + best 3 runners up (No playoffs)

 

Future world cups: 10 winners + best 6 runners up (No playoffs)

[GordonS]

13 minutes ago, Donathan said:

 

Now that we’re up to league B, assuming the next edition of the UNL is not a separate qualifying stream for Qatar 2022, I reckon we should just sack this off and get relegated on purpose to give ourselves a decent shot at the next again Euros.

 

On the other hand, if they use the same system for seeding for the qualifiers for Qatar 2022, avoiding relegation means a very strong chance of being in Pot 2 for those World Cup qualifiers.

But that's all miles off yet.

By the time we next play in the Nations League - including those play-offs - we might need visas to visit a lot of the countries in it.

[Donathan]

2 minutes ago, GordonS said:

On the other hand, if they use the same system for seeding for the qualifiers for Qatar 2022, avoiding relegation means a very strong chance of being in Pot 2 for those World Cup qualifiers.

But that's all miles off yet.

By the time we next play in the Nations League - including those play-offs - we might need visas to visit a lot of the countries in it.

 

I'm as anti-Brexit as most reasonably politically engaged non-racists, but I can't see EU countries making it any harder than filling out a trivial form for UK citizens to go on holiday there. A lot of these countries build their industries around tourism and the Brits are some of the biggest travellers in Europe.

[Craig McCulloch Burley]

Qualifying Draw Sunday 2nd December 

• UNL Pot: Switzerland, Portugal, Netherlands, England
• Pot 1: Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Poland
• Pot 2: Germany, Iceland, Bosnia, Ukraine, Denmark, Sweden, Russia, Austria, Wales, Czech Rep
• Pot 3: Slovakia, Turkey, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Norway, Serbia, Finland, Bulgaria, Israel
• Pot 4: Hungary, Romania, Greece, Albania, Montenegro, Cyprus, Estonia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Georgia
• Pot 5: Macedonia, Kosovo, Belarus, Luxembourg, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Gibraltar, Faroe Islands
• Pot 6: Latvia, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Malta, San Marino

 

[Coooombe]

6 minutes ago, Donathan said:

 

I highly doubt FIFA are going to allow this, especially with only 13 spots available for UEFA team. Really there are multiple problems with this idea:

 

- The Euro 2020 playoffs aren't until March 2020, I doubt FIFA would allow world cup qualifying to go on as late as the March before the tournament, even with the next one being in the winter.

- With only ten matchdays to fit in all the qualifiers as well as the UNL group stage, 10 groups will be needed to avoid having a group of 7. This rules out the possibility of doing 9 groups with only the winners getting to Qatar, and then one spot for each UNL league.

- The structure of 10 groups with qualifiers being held in MAR-JUN-SEP-OCT-NOV of odd numbered calendar years is here to stay.

 

For future competitions the qualifying places will be assigned as follows:

 

Euros: 10 winners + best X runners up + 4 from UNL playoffs (X = 10 - number of automatic host places given out)

 

World cup 2022: 10 winners + best 3 runners up (No playoffs)

 

Future world cups: 10 winners + best 6 runners up (No playoffs)

I'm not clued up on the dates so I'll take your word on those points - but I'm sure that UEFA have said that at least some of the qualifying places will go to the Nations League for the World Cup. I can't find any references for this though after a quick Google so it's possible that I've completely imagined it.

There definitely won't be as many places available as there are for the Euros, but if they're having the tournament every 2 years it would seem quite silly for there only to be 'prizes' for it every 4.

[GordonS]

4 minutes ago, Donathan said:

 

I'm as anti-Brexit as most reasonably politically engaged non-racists, but I can't see EU countries making it any harder than filling out a trivial form for UK citizens to go on holiday there. A lot of these countries build their industries around tourism and the Brits are some of the biggest travellers in Europe.

I know, I'm being a bit facetious for the lolz. I think I'm on a Nations League high.

[accies1874]

Qualifying Draw Sunday 2nd December 

• UNL Pot: Switzerland, Portugal, Netherlands, England
• Pot 1: Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Poland
• Pot 2: Germany, Iceland, Bosnia, Ukraine, Denmark, Sweden, Russia, Austria, Wales, Czech Rep
• Pot 3: Slovakia, Turkey, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Norway, Serbia, Finland, Bulgaria, Israel
• Pot 4: Hungary, Romania, Greece, Albania, Montenegro, Cyprus, Estonia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Georgia
• Pot 5: Macedonia, Kosovo, Belarus, Luxembourg, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Gibraltar, Faroe Islands
• Pot 6: Latvia, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Malta, San Marino

 

Ideal scenario?

Poland, Czech Republic*, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Andorra.

*Struggled to pick a team from this pot.

[craigkillie]

 
I highly doubt FIFA are going to allow this, especially with only 13 spots available for UEFA team. Really there are multiple problems with this idea:
 
- The Euro 2020 playoffs aren't until March 2020, I doubt FIFA would allow world cup qualifying to go on as late as the March before the tournament, even with the next one being in the winter.
- With only ten matchdays to fit in all the qualifiers as well as the UNL group stage, 10 groups will be needed to avoid having a group of 7. This rules out the possibility of doing 9 groups with only the winners getting to Qatar, and then one spot for each UNL league.
- The structure of 10 groups with qualifiers being held in MAR-JUN-SEP-OCT-NOV of odd numbered calendar years is here to stay.
 
For future competitions the qualifying places will be assigned as follows:
 
Euros: 10 winners + best X runners up + 4 from UNL playoffs (X = 10 - number of automatic host places given out)
 
World cup 2022: 10 winners + best 3 runners up (No playoffs)
 
Future world cups: 10 winners + best 6 runners up (No playoffs)

I'm not sure how it will be structured, but I think it's highly unlikely that UEFA will opt for a World Cup qualification system with a best runner-up system and no play-offs. It puts too much into the luck of the draw.

They may not be Nations League play-offs, but I'd expect some sort of play-off for runners-up (or smaller groups with only the winners going through).

[Donathan]

I'm not sure how it will be structured, but I think it's highly unlikely that UEFA will opt for a World Cup qualification system with a best runner-up system and no play-offs. It puts too much into the luck of the draw.

They may not be Nations League play-offs, but I'd expect some sort of play-off for runners-up (or smaller groups with only the winners going through).

There is literally not enough time in the calendar for World Cup playoffs, assuming World Cup qualifiers need to be done by the end of 2021.

Given that you need 6 match days for the next UNL, and another 10 for the World Cup qualifiers, all you have is SEP-OCT-NOV-MAR-JUN-SEP-OCT-NOV. That’s literally enough dates to play the two group rounds and that’s it.

If fifa will allow them to host playoffs in March 2022 (possibly more likely given late World Cup) then a playoff is possible but I’m not sure it would be if the World Cup was in the summer

[HibeeJibee]

My previous guess was 11 groups of 5 with the winners qualifying, and if there were Nations League playoffs at all it'd be 1 for Division A and 1 for Division B.

However just a simple 13 groups of 4/5 wouldn't surprise, or say 7 groups of 5 (winners qualify) and 5 groups of 4 (winners qualify + best 4 runners-up = 2-stage playoff).


Whether there will even be a Nations League after 2020 looks debateable anyway. There can't be one in autumn 2022 due to the oddly scheduled World Cup in Qatar being in December and they'll likely sacrifice international dates en masse across the course of the year to minimise adjustments to club football.

FIFA are also sniffing around talking about absorbing the continental tournaments into a "World League".

Hardly worth 'contriving' relegation in those circumstances.

[paddymcp]

35 minutes ago, Craig McCulloch Burley said:

Qualifying Draw Sunday 2nd December 

• UNL Pot: Switzerland, Portugal, Netherlands, England
• Pot 1: Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Poland
• Pot 2: Germany, Iceland, Bosnia, Ukraine, Denmark, Sweden, Russia, Austria, Wales, Czech Rep
• Pot 3: Slovakia, Turkey, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Norway, Serbia, Finland, Bulgaria, Israel
• Pot 4: Hungary, Romania, Greece, Albania, Montenegro, Cyprus, Estonia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Georgia
• Pot 5: Macedonia, Kosovo, Belarus, Luxembourg, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Gibraltar, Faroe Islands
• Pot 6: Latvia, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Malta, San Marino

 

Easiest: Poland, Wales, Albania, Gibraltar , San Marino.

Hardest: Spain, Germany, Romania, Kosovo, Latvia.

Most fun : England, Wales, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Latvia. 

[King Kebab]

Easiest: Poland, Wales, Albania, Gibraltar , San Marino.
Hardest: Spain, Germany, Romania, Kosovo, Latvia.
Most fun : England, Wales, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Latvia. 

You have Wales in two of those groups and personally I would want to avoid them until we had a team that you could confidently put out and actually paste them!!!
Still have memories of the last few meetings and none of them are good!!!
As happy as we are becoming with our burgeoning midfield talent, none of them could go toe to toe with Ramsey - YET!!!
And the thought of Callum Paterson facing up to Bale would give me the absolute fear!!!

[Pie Of The Month]

5 minutes ago, paddymcp said:

Easiest: Poland, Wales, Albania, Gibraltar , San Marino.

Hardest: Spain, Germany, Romania, Kosovo, Latvia.

Most fun : England, Wales, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Latvia. 

Your hardest group would be impossible as there's a maximum of 2 hosts per group so we could only get 1 of Spain, Germany and Romania.

[BFTD]

It's strange how the reporting of tonight's game seemed to place promotion to League B as the most important result of beating Israel. That's easy to view as a negative side effect; inconsequential, at best. Not much worth celebrating.

I swear the press still haven't quite grasped that we're three games against mediocre opposition away from qualification from the actual European Championships that all the big boys play at.

[Kejan]

8 minutes ago, BigFatTabbyDave said:

It's strange how the reporting of tonight's game seemed to place promotion to League B as the most important result of beating Israel. That's easy to view as a negative side effect; inconsequential, at best. Not much worth celebrating.

I swear the press still haven't quite grasped that we're three games against mediocre opposition away from qualification from the actual European Championships that all the big boys play at.

Two! And one of those games will be at Hampden!

[craigkillie]

Almost all of the reporting that I saw before, during and after the game focused on the play-offs.

[BFTD]

12 minutes ago, Kejan said:

Two! And one of those games will be at Hampden!

Christ knows why I keep convincing myself that the semi-finals are over two legs