2018-19 UEFA Nations League
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | September – November 2018 (pool stage) 5–9 June 2019 (final four competition) |
| Teams | 55 (from 1 confederation) |
The 2018–19 UEFA Nations League will be the inaugural season of the UEFA Nations League, a planned international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA. The competition, which will be held from September to November 2018 (pool stage) and June 2019 (final four competition), will also serve as part of the qualification process for UEFA Euro 2020, awarding berths in the play-offs which will decide four of the twenty-four final tournament slots.
The format and schedule of the UEFA Nations League was formally approved by the UEFA Executive Committee on 4 December 2014. According to the approved format, the 55 UEFA national teams will be divided into four divisions (called "Leagues"): 12 teams in League A, 12 teams in League B, 15 teams in League C, and 16 teams in League D. For the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League, teams will be divided according to their UEFA national team coefficients after the conclusion of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, with the highest-ranked teams playing in League A, etc.
Each division will be divided into four pools of three or four teams, so each team will play four or six matches within their pool (using the home-and-away round-robin format), on double matchdays in September, October and November 2018.
In the top division League A, teams will compete to become the UEFA Nations League champions. The four pool winners of League A will qualify for the "final four competition", which includes four matches played in knockout format (two semi-finals decided by draw, the third-placed match and the final) in June 2019 at a host country (two venues) to be selected among the four qualified teams, with the winner of the final crowned as the Nations League champions.
Teams will also compete for promotion and relegation to a higher or lower division. In each division, the four pool winners (except League A) will be promoted, while the last-placed teams of each pool (except League D) will be relegated.
The 2018–19 UEFA Nations League will be linked with UEFA Euro qualifying, providing teams another chance to qualify for UEFA Euro 2020. The main qualifying process will now begin in March 2019 instead of immediately in September 2018 following the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and will end in November 2019.
...
Wikipedia