2018–19 UEFA Nations League: Difference between revisions

The format and schedule of the UEFA Nations League was formally approved by the UEFA Executive Committee on 4 December 2014.<ref name="format1">{{cite web |url=https://www.uefa.com/news/newsid=2191264.html |title=UEFA Nations League format and schedule approved |publisher=UEFA.com |date=4 December 2014}}</ref><ref name="format2">{{cite web|date=4 December 2014|title=UEFA Nations League format confirmed|url=https://www.uefa.com/uefanationsleague/news/0253-0d81ea357a91-d294c1ca65c7-1000--uefa-nations-league-format-confirmed/|publisher=UEFA}}</ref> According to the approved format,<ref name="astana"/><ref name="guide">{{cite web |url=https://www.uefa.com/community/news/newsid=2079553.html |title=UEFA Nations League: all you need to know |publisher=UEFA.com |date=21 September 2016 |access-date=13 November 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190828030435/https://www.uefa.com/community/news/newsid=2079553.html |archive-date=28 August 2019}}</ref><ref name="graphic">{{cite web |url=https://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/competitions/General/02/08/20/36/2082036_DOWNLOAD.pdf |title=UEFA Nations League/UEFA EURO 2020 qualifying |publisher=UEFA.com |format=PDF}}</ref> the 55 UEFA national teams were divided into four divisions (called "leagues"):<ref name="guide"/> 12 teams in League A, 12 teams in League B, 15 teams in League C, and 16 teams in League D.<ref name="guide"/> For the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League, teams were divided according to their [[UEFA national team coefficient]]s after the conclusion of the [[2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)|2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers]] (play-off results were not included), with the highest-ranked teams playing in League A, etc.<ref name="regulations">{{cite web |urldate=https://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/Regulations/uefaorg/Regulations/02/50/54/37/2505437_DOWNLOAD.pdf28 September 2017 |title=Regulations of the UEFA Nations League 2018/19 |url=https://www.unl-voetbal.nl/reglement-2018-2019.pdf |access-date=3 October 2017 |website=UEFA.com |publisher=Union of European Football Associations |date=28 September 2017 |access-date=3 October 2017 |format=PDF}}</ref>

In the top division, League A, teams competed to become the UEFA Nations League champions. The four group winners of League A qualified for the Nations League Finals in June 2019, which was played in a knockout format, consisting of the semi-finals, third place play-off, and final. The semi-final pairings, along with the administrative home teams for the third place play-off and final, were determined by means of an open draw on 3 December 2018.<ref name="UNLF draw">{{cite web |url=https://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/uefaorg/General/02/57/32/06/2573206_DOWNLOAD.pdf |title=UEFA Nations League Finals: Draw Procedure |website=UEFA.com |publisher=Union of European Football Associations |format=PDF |date=27 September 2018 |access-date=27 September 2018}}</ref> Host country Portugal was selected among the four qualified teams on 3 December 2018 by the UEFA Executive Committee,<ref>{{cite web|date=9 December 2016|title=Lyon to host 2018 UEFA Europa League final|url=https://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/mediaservices/news/0234-0f8e35587c90-754ad72cf131-1000--lyon-to-host-2018-uefa-europa-league-final/?referrer=%2finsideuefa%2fnews%2fnewsid%3d2430054|publisher=UEFA}}</ref><ref name="hosts">{{cite web |date=17 November 2018 |title=Portugal confirmed as Nations League Finals hosts |url=https://www.uefa.com/uefanationsleague/news/0253-0d8200f22e52-053d234ec760-1000--portugal-confirmed-as-nations-league-finals-hosts/ |website=UEFA.com}}</ref> with the winners of the final crowned as the Nations League champions.

Teams also competed for [[promotion and relegation]] to a higher or lower league. In each league, the four group winners (except League A) were promoted, while the last-placed teams of each group (except League D) were initially to be relegated; the exception was in League C, where due to different -sized groups, the three fourth-placed teams and the lowest-ranking third-placed team were initially to be relegated. However, due to a revamp of the format for the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League, no teams were eventually relegated, and some second-placed and third-placed teams were also promoted.

In order to rank teams in leagues composed of different -sized groups, the following procedure is applied:<ref name="regulations"/>

# The results against fourth-placed teams were not taken into account for the purposes of comparing teams placed first, second, and third in their respective groups.

The main qualifying process began in March 2019 instead of immediately in September 2018 following the [[2018 FIFA World Cup]], and ended in November 2019. The format remained largely the same, although only 20 of the 24 spots for the finals tournament were decided from the main qualifying process, leaving four spots still to be decided. The 55 teams were drawn into 10 groups after the completion of the UEFA Nations League (five groups of five teams and five groups of six teams, with the four UEFA Nations League Finals participants guaranteed to be drawn into groups of five teams), with the top two teams in each group qualifying.<ref name="format1"/><ref name="format2"/> The draw seeding was based on the overall rankings of the Nations League.<ref name="regulations"/> The qualifiers were played on double matchdays in March, June, September, October, and November 2019.<ref name="guide"/>

Following the qualifying group stage, the [[UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying play-offs|qualifying play-offs]] took place in October and November 2020. Unlike previous editions, the participants of the play-offs were not decided based on results from the qualifying group stage. Instead, 16 teams were selected based on their performance in the Nations League. These teams were divided into four paths, each containing four teams, with one team from each path qualifying for the final tournament. Each league had its own play-off path if at least four teams were available. The Nations League group winners automatically qualified for the play-off path of their league. If a group winner had already qualified through the conventional qualifying group stage, they were replaced by the next best-ranked team in the same league. However, if there were not enough teams in the same league, then the spot would go to the next -best team in the overall ranking. However, group winners could not face teams from a higher league.<ref name="Euro regulations">{{cite web |url=https://documents.uefa.com/v/u/WVKcnryVkASzztwJjPBcIw |title=Regulations of the UEFA European Football Championship 2018–20 |website=UEFA.com |publisher=Union of European Football Associations |date=9 March 2018 |access-date=11 May 2021 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511180320/https://documents.uefa.com/internal/api/webapp/documents/WVKcnryVkASzztwJjPBcIw/content |archive-date=11 May 2021}}</ref>

Each play-off path featured two single-leg semi-finals, and one single-leg final. The best-ranked team hosted the fourth-ranked team, and the second-ranked team hosted the third-ranked team. The host of the final was decided by a draw, with semi-final winner 1 or 2 hosting the final. The four play-off path winners joined the 20 teams which had already qualified for UEFA Euro 2020.<ref name="format1"/><ref name="format2"/>

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For political reasons, Armenia and Azerbaijan (due to the [[Nagorno-Karabakh conflict]]), as well as Russia and Ukraine (due to the [[Russo-Ukrainian War|Russian military intervention in Ukraine]]), could not be drawn in the same group. Due to winter venue restrictions, a group could contain a maximum of two of the following teams: Norway, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania. Due to excessive travel restrictions, anyonly groupone couldof containAndorra, aFaroe maximumIslands, ofor oneGibraltar ofcould thebe followingdrawn pairs: Andorra andwith Kazakhstan, Faroewhile IslandsGibraltar andcould Kazakhstan,not Gibraltarbe andwith Kazakhstan,Azerbaijan Gibraltarif andthey Azerbaijanhad Kazakhstan.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/uefaorg/General/02/52/51/09/2525109_DOWNLOAD.pdf |title=UEFA Nations League 2018/19 – League Phase Draw Procedure |website=UEFA.com |publisher=Union of European Football Associations |format=PDF |date=7 December 2017 |access-date=8 December 2017}}</ref>

{{Main|2019 UEFA Nations League Finalfinal}}

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