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Nations League: New European tournament to be confirmed

Last updated on .From the section Footballcomments351

England's Jack Wilshere battles for possession with Mario Gotze of Germany at Wembley in November 2013

A "League of Nations" that would be a third major tournament for European countries after the World Cup and European Championship is expected to be given the go-ahead by Uefa on Thursday.

Games would be played in odd-numbered years on dates reserved for friendlies, starting after the 2018 World Cup.

No exact details have been confirmed, but there would be up to four divisions with promotion and relegation, plus a 'final four' competition in the summer.

England would likely be in a top tier.

The 54 member associations of European football's governing body will vote on the proposal at its annual congress in Kazakhstan.

Uefa general secretary Gianni Infantino has confirmed an agreement to set up the new tournament should be reached on Thursday.

He said: "What has triggered what is being called the Nations League is the international calendar and the dates for friendly matches.

"We have been looking at optimising the structure of the calendar without bringing in any more dates.

"There are teams everyone wants to play against and other teams who struggle to get the opponents they'd ideally like. For all national associations, the fact is that national team matches are key for their development."

On rankings, England would be in the top division alongside the likes of Spain, Germany and Italy. Each division would then be divided into groups with the winners qualifying for a semi-final and final, played at neutral venues.

Winners of the lower divisions could be granted entry to the European Championship.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - ranked 31, 34 and 39 respectively by Uefaexternal-link - could find themselves playing each other in the third of four divisions using the current national team coefficient.

While matches will be played on dates reserved for friendlies, there will still be flexibility for smaller countries to arrange high-profile fixtures with bigger European teams and for nations to play friendlies against national sides from outside Europe.

The Football Association is in favour of the plan, with chairman Greg Dyke saying earlier this month: "The hard thing is the detail but I think a Nations League where we played the top nations would be very attractive."

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351 comments

  • Comment posted by You Want Some, at 14:22 26 Mar 2014

    59. karl
    Why just for the European countries. It would be great to have Brazil and Argentina in the mix as well. Plus countries from Africa, Asia and N America
    ---

    I like your thinking! Then we could play it on a different continent each time. Maybe start with small groups and progress to knock-out style. Then award a large gold cup for the winners.

    What should we call this cup of world teams?

  • Comment posted by tony, at 13:46 26 Mar 2014

    To be played in Qatar during the summer

  • Comment posted by User0302385138, at 13:29 26 Mar 2014

    No a bad idea...it's just that the last body to bear the name "League of Nations" didn't come to an honourable end!

  • Comment posted by User0279836802, at 14:42 26 Mar 2014

    They should have additional rules to encourage youth development built into this.

    Perhaps each first XI has to have 3 players under the age of 21. Maybe 23.

  • Comment posted by User0433359498, at 13:21 26 Mar 2014

    if done right this would be fantastic- about time the dull process of international friendlies was given a re-vamp!

  • Comment posted by Charlie, at 13:25 26 Mar 2014

    While it may provide exciting blockbuster fixtures for the top division, I believe the greatest beneficiary of these changes will be the minnows.

    Playing games against similar opposition can only improve them (as opposed to getting spanked 10-0 time and again by countries 30 times the size)

    Seems good to try and add relevance to the outdated friendly model, too!

  • Comment posted by stringerbell, at 14:06 26 Mar 2014

    Brilliant, just put a few quid on Engaland getting relegated...

  • Comment posted by leo, at 15:44 26 Mar 2014

    @123. Hugo

    ."Welsh and Scottish players aren't currently as good as English. That's a fact, they wouldn't get into a combined team".

    Yeah, that Gareth Bale bloke's rubbish eh?

  • Comment posted by RMPTaff, at 16:41 26 Mar 2014

    Haven't we already got enough Diving Championships to be going on with?

  • Comment posted by rx2315, at 17:23 26 Mar 2014

    I guess this has nothing to do with the TV money for these fixtures piling in to UEFA, where the current worthless friendlies generate very little cash.

  • Comment posted by spinusthetruth, at 14:41 26 Mar 2014

    I can get to Wembley in just over an hour but I very rarely bother with friendlies any more. They are nothing more than a downgraded practice game with players from the top clubs withdrawn if they happen to sneeze.

    If this idea makes for more competetive matches, then good luck to UEFA, who are not renowned for making good decisions.

  • Comment posted by runningman, at 13:43 26 Mar 2014

    What a great idea, better than most of the waste of time friendlies. I think, particularly England, are a collection of talented players who have no clue how to play together so plently of competive games may go some way to help this?

  • Comment posted by explorer, at 13:36 26 Mar 2014

    Will there be a petition for Cleverley not to be in squad for this as well?

  • Comment posted by ajaxtreesdown11, at 17:34 26 Mar 2014

    Just seems like another money spinner for the big wigs at FIFA/UEFA.

    There should be absolute guarantees as to how much of the billions generated will be seen at grassroots.

    Personally, I would love to see a "home nations" competition, again with the proceeds going to grassroots

  • Comment posted by User0608182722, at 16:53 26 Mar 2014

    Big Boys get in the top league and only have to play against each other - no fraternising with the Plebs - and increase their already greater revenue even further.

    The rest have to do with low attendance games, low revenue and an ever increasing gap to those above.

    Sound like what has happened with the, so called, revolution that is the Champions League.

    Rich get richer!
    Poor get stuffed!

  • Comment posted by User0640004587, at 21:42 26 Mar 2014

    312.Sebastian-Fettles-Teacher
    21 Minutes ago
    #311: We got that already: Champions League. Simples. The one that the English teams lose in. And still delude themselves that the English league is the best. Every time
    ----
    Spot on......

    except 1999....

    and 2005....

    and 2008.....

    and 2012.

  • Comment posted by Sons Of Albion, at 17:02 26 Mar 2014

    Raving mad. Players are 'tired' now,so much so that they are rested for established cup competitions in huge numbers thus slowly killing off those competitions and the answer is.....more football? Worse,more utterly meaningless football?

  • Comment posted by User0374653698, at 18:12 26 Mar 2014

    If uefa insist on a third tournament, it must be reserved for smaller nations, Luxembourg, Estonia, san marino to name but a few. As a previous poster mentioned the group stages are very predictable not unless a big nation has a poor period. Teams like the above mentioned have failed to improve playing the larger nations SO let them have some taste of tournament football.

  • Comment posted by down_the_rabbit_hole, at 13:39 26 Mar 2014

    Sounds like a good way to refresh the staleness of international football outside of tournament competition. The only concern is time: in an already busy football a schedule were do the excess of extra games from a "league" fit in? Will this lead to more injuries/fatigue?? Time will tell but, with the right planning, something that is well worth pursuing.

  • Comment posted by jack, at 16:43 26 Mar 2014

    An interesting name choice. The last time Europe had a 'League of Nations' things didn't go well. Maybe the Germans will dominate this as well.
    Nevertheless this is pointless - we already have the Euros and the World Cup.

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