Nations League: A Comprehensive Guide
What is the Nations League?
The UEFA Nations League is an international association football competition contested by the men's national football teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA.
History
The competition was created in 2018 to replace international friendly matches during the international match calendar. The inaugural tournament was held in 2018-19 and was won by Portugal.
The Nations League is designed to provide more competitive and meaningful matches for national teams and to help improve the overall quality of international football.
Format
The Nations League is divided into four divisions based on the UEFA coefficient of each team. Each division is further divided into groups of three or four teams.
Teams play each other home and away in a round-robin format. The winners of each group are promoted to the next higher division, while the bottom-placed teams are relegated to the next lower division.
League A
The top division of the Nations League is League A. It consists of the 12 highest-ranked teams in UEFA. The winner of League A is crowned the Nations League champion.
League B
The second division of the Nations League is League B. It consists of the next 12 highest-ranked teams in UEFA. The winner of League B is promoted to League A.
League C
The third division of the Nations League is League C. It consists of the next 15 highest-ranked teams in UEFA. The winner of League C is promoted to League B.
League D
The fourth and final division of the Nations League is League D. It consists of the 16 lowest-ranked teams in UEFA. The winner of League D is promoted to League C.
Final Four
The top four teams in League A qualify for the Nations League Finals. The Finals are a single-elimination tournament that is held every two years.
The winner of the Nations League Finals is crowned the Nations League champion.
Criticism
The Nations League has been criticized by some for being too complex and for creating too many meaningless matches.
However, the competition has also been praised for providing more competitive and meaningful matches for national teams and for helping to improve the overall quality of international football.
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