Uefa Plans To Unveil New Nations League Competition By 2018

Uefa has announced that its new Nations League national team competition will be introduced in 2018, while European football’s governing body has awarded its Women’s Euro 2017 tournament to the Netherlands.

The Nations League received the unanimous backing of all 54 Uefa member associations at a meeting in March and its inaugural edition will be played from September to November 2018.

Uefa said in a statement: “The key driver of the Nations League is sporting integrity, as member associations, coaches, players and supporters increasingly feel friendly internationals are not providing adequate sporting competition.

“In addition, the competition will help Uefa realise its stated goal of improving the quality and standing of national team football while maintaining the balance between club and international football. “The competition will establish the Nations League champions every odd year while also allowing all nations to play competitively at their level.”

The competition is designed to enhance the attractiveness of national team friendlies and will replace a number of windows set aside for such games.

The four group winners of Nations League A will play in a ‘Final Four’ knock-out format in June 2019 to determine the Nations League champions. The semi-finals fixtures will be decided by draw and the venue will be appointed by the Uefa Executive Committee.

Play-offs will be included to qualify four teams for Euro 2020, which is to be staged in 13 countries across Europe with the final at London’s Wembley stadium. Each league within the Nations League will be entitled to four play-off spots.