At the moment the national teams are currently battling it out on the football pitch to win the new Nations League trophy. And with the extra bonus of four places in the Euro tournament in two years’ time up for grabs, the anticipation to succeed in Nations League is high.

As this is a very new tournament we wanted to put this post together to cover all of the need to know information about the ongoing games. From how the season is scheduled to who are the strongest teams so far, read below to find out all the latest info.

What is the Nation’s League?

The Nations League was first set-up in 2018 as an alternative way for national teams to acquire a place in the Euros, and replaced the current friendly matches for competition matches. This series of matches will take place every two years on the run-up to the next European league tournament.

How the Nations League works is that all 55 national teams will be split into 4 leagues depending on their skill levels and successes. By having these matches tiered this way, it will make the games much fairer between the teams as they will be against similar performing clubs. Therefore, this eliminates any mishap with higher ranking teams pitted against lower ones.

Then within these leagues they are split again into groups of 3 and 4. From here each country plays at home and away with their assigned competition. These matches have been scheduled to take place in September, October and November 2018.

When the winners of each group have been decided, the top teams in B, C and D will be promoted and the lowest in A, B and C will be demoted. From here the clubs will play again until June 2019 where the top 4 teams from league A will fight for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th place.

Impact on Euro 2020

In addition to establishing the top 4 teams in the Nations League, this tournament also gives the opportunity of 4 countries to win a place in Euro 2020. This will be decided by the top 16 teams from each group within league A, B, C and D will face off to whittle it down to the winners of each league. From here these four final winners will receive the chance to gain a place in Euro 2020 if they have not yet qualified.

Team Performances so Far

Reviewing the matches that have already occurred during September, there is most certainly one stand out team at the moment. During their game against Croatia on the 11th, Spain won 6-0, which is the highest score we have seen yet in the tournament. The second highest score in a match is 3 which were seen by Belgium, Luxembourg and Turkey.

Fixtures for 18/19

Although the games are well under-way we will take a brief look below at the current dates where each team will be playing next month and onwards. Exploring how the schedule has been decided the Nations League will take place across the second weekend in September, October and November. Below we have list of future matches scheduled for each country:

League A Group 1

  • France – 16/10/18, 16/11/18
  • Germany 13/10/18, 16/10/18, 19/11/18
  • Netherlands – 13/10/18, 16/11/18, 19/11/18

League A Group 2

  • Belgium – 12/10/18, 15/11/18, 18/11/18
  • Iceland – 15/10/18, 15/11/18
  • Switzerland – 12/10/18, 15/10/18, 18/11/18

League A Group 3

  • Italy – 14/10/18, 17/11/18
  • Poland – 11/10/18, 14/10/18, 20/11/18,
  • Portugal – 11/10/18, 17/11/18, 20/11/18,

League A Group 4

  • Croatia – 12/10/18, 15/11/18, 18/11/18
  • England – 12/10/18, 15/10/18, 18/11/18
  • Spain – 15/10/18, 15/11/18

League B Group 1

  • Czech Republic – 13/10/18,  15/10/18, 19/11/18
  • Slovakia 13/10/18, 16/11/18, 19/11/18
  • Ukraine – 16/10/18, 16/11/18,

League B Group 2

  • Russia – 11/10/18, 14/10/18, 20/11/18
  • Sweden – 11/10/18, 17/11/18, 20/11/18
  • Turkey – 14/10/18, 17/11/18

League B Group 3

  • Austria – 11/10/18, 15/11/18, 18/11/18
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina – 15/10/18, 15/11/18
  • Northern Ireland – 12/10/18, 15/10/18, 18/11/18

League B Group 4

  • Denmark – 13/10/18, 16/11/18, 19/11/18
  • Republic of Ireland – 13/10/18, 16/10/18, 19/11/18
  • Wales – 16/10/18, 16/11/18

League C Group 1

  • Albania – 14/10/18, 17/11/18
  • Israel – 11/10/18, 14/10/18, 20/11/18
  • Scotland – 11/10/18, 17/11/18, 20/11/18

League C Group 2

  • Estonia – 12/10/18, 15/10/18, 15/11/18, 18/11/18
  • Finland – 12/10/18, 15/10/18, 15/11/18, 18/11/18
  • Greece – 12/10/18, 15/10/18, 15/11/18, 18/11/18
  • Hungary – 12/10/18, 15/10/18, 15/11/18, 18/11/18

League C Group 3

  • Bulgaria – 13/10/18, 16/10/18, 16/11/18, 19/11/18
  • Cyprus – 13/10/18, 16/10/18, 16/11/18, 19/11/18
  • Norway – 13/10/18, 16/10/18, 16/11/18, 19/11/18
  • Slovenia – 13/10/18, 16/10/18, 16/11/18, 19/11/18

League C Group 4

  • Lithuania – 11/10/18, 14/10/18, 17/11/18, 20/11/18
  • Montenegro – 11/10/18, 14/10/18, 17/11/18, 20/11/18
  • Romania – 11/10/18, 14/10/18, 17/11/18, 20/11/18
  • Serbia – 11/10/18, 14/10/18, 17/11/18, 20/11/18

League D Group 1

  • Andorra – 13/10/18, 16/10/18, 15/11/18, 19/11/18
  • Georgia – 13/10/18, 16/10/18, 15/11/18, 19/11/18
  • Kazakhstan – 13/10/18, 16/10/18, 15/11/18, 19/11/18
  • Latvia – 13/10/18, 16/10/18, 15/11/18, 19/11/18

League D Group 2

  • Belarus – 12/10/18, 15/10/18, 15/11/18, 18/11/18
  • Luxembourg – 12/10/18, 15/10/18, 15/11/18, 18/11/18
  • Moldova – 12/10/18, 15/10/18, 15/11/18, 18/11/18
  • San Marino – 12/10/18, 15/10/18, 15/11/18, 18/11/18

League D Group 3

  • Azerbaijan – 11/10/18, 14/10/18, 17/11/18, 20/11/18
  • Faroe Islands – 11/10/18, 14/10/18, 17/11/18, 20/11/18
  • Kosovo – 11/10/18, 14/10/18, 17/11/18, 20/11/18
  • Malta – 11/10/18, 14/10/18, 17/11/18, 20/11/18

League D Group 4

  • Armenia – 13/10/18, 16/10/18, 16/11/18,19/11/18
  • FYR Macedonia – 13/10/18, 16/10/18, 16/11/18, 19/11/18
  • Gibraltar – 13/10/18, 16/10/18, 16/11/18, 19/11/18
  • Liechtenstein – 13/10/18, 16/10/18, 16/11/18, 19/11/18

Do you Think the Introduction of a New Tournament Was a Good Idea?

Above we have explored what the new Nations League is all about, and with all of this information in mind, what are your thoughts on this? Do you think that this was time well spent instead of the previous scheduled friendlies during this time period? Who in your opinion should win this league and also which four teams do you reckon will qualify for Euro 2020? Let us know over on our social media pages!

Show your support for your number one national team now by donning their latest jersey as they take to the field once more this year as a united group. Why not look at purchasing the World Cup 2018 winners’ - France football shirt, or even the prior Euro winners’ - Portugal home jersey from us here at Soccer Box and join in the soccer fun today!

This article was written exclusively for Soccer Box by Loren Astbury