UEFA Nations League Roundup
The international weekend had many exhilarating matches, particularly in the UEFA Nations League and now we know that the four teams that will participate in the inaugural UEFA Nations League Finals are Portugal, Netherlands, Switzerland, and England! It’s fair to say that not a single soul in the universe would have predicted that line-up. Portugal will host the mini-tournament next June, and we will witness the first team to be crowned UEFA Nations League champions. Could football be coming home?
UEFA Nations League A
Prior to this international week, many had anticipated that France, Spain, Belgium, and Portugal were going to make the finals tournament, but surprise after surprise, shock after shock, we were taking through so many scenarios, with so many different emotions along the way. Here is how it went down;
Group 1 Qualifiers: Netherlands
Netherlands were the underdogs in a group that included the last two winners of the FIFA World Cup. However, going into the last two matches, the destiny was still in their own hands, and just had the small task of beating France on Friday night, and avoiding defeat to fierce rivals Germany on Monday. Unbelievably – they had achieved it. On matchday 5, the Dutch won 2-0 against the World Champions, inflicting their first defeat in 15 matches for the French. Goals from Georginio Wijnaldum and Memphis Depay were enough to see off France, as the Netherlands completely outclassed their opponents, to everyone’s astonishment, perhaps even manager Ronald Koeman. This victory relegated Germany to the second league, and the Netherlands just had to avoid defeat in Germany on matchday 6 to reach the UEFA Nations League Finals. After going 2-0 down, it seemed that the Netherlands had choked, but two goals in the last 5 minutes got the unlikeliest of draws and sent the Netherlands through against all the odds. Scenes of bedlam. Au Revoir to the French, and a miserable end to a miserable year for Germany.
Group 2 Qualifiers: Switzerland
Iceland were the whipping boys of the group, losing their first three games had already relegated them, so their match day 5 visit to Belgium was looking to be a likely loss – and it was. The win for Belgium meant that they just needed a draw in Switzerland, or a loss of 3-2, 4-3, 5-4 to progress on matchday six. That would be easy enough for the team ranked number one in the world, right? Wrong again. It arguably the biggest shock of the weekend, scratch that, potentially the year in international football, as at first we saw Switzerland go two goals down to Belgium inside 20 minutes. So, in needing of that 4-2 scoreline to progress, Switzerland managed to come back and win 5-2. Benfica striker Haris Seferovic scored a hat-trick as Switzerland simply blew away the best in the world, and confirmed their spot at the Nations Finals. Who said international football was dull!?
Group 3 Qualifiers: Portugal
This was the only group that went exactly to plan. Before the groups started in September, many would have picked any of the teams to progress, but Portugal had won their first two games, at home to Italy, and away to Poland to put them in the driver’s seat. Italy and Poland taking points from each other only helped Portugal’s situation, so their target was very clear – don’t lose to Italy in matchday 5. Whilst the hots had passion and conviction, it was matched by a resolute and tactical performance for the visitors. Portugal came to Milan for the point, and that was exactly what they had attained. Even without the help of their talisman Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal advances to the Finals, and have the added bonus of being able to host the finals tournament next summer. In the final match of the group, Portugal and Poland drew 1-1, in a rather meaningless game as their fate was already decided. Italy was in 2nd, and Poland came last, and therefore relegated to League B.
Group 4 Qualifiers: England
After two matches, Spain had won at Wembley against England and thrashed Croatia 6-0, so it was fair to say that Spain could already plan their trip to the UEFA Nations League finals. However, a defeat to England on match day 4 meant they still had some work to do in order to achieve that. Croatia had no goals and one point, going into their final two matches, but it was in their hands – win both games and they will progress. Matchday 5, Croatia vs Spain, produced a phenomenal second half, with Croatia leading, then being pegged back, before reinstating their lead, and once again Spain leveled at 2-2. In the final moment of the match, 22-year-old Tin Jedvaj scored his second goal of the game to win the match 3-2. It all comes down to Wembley.
England win and they progress, Croatia win and they would progress. Spain would be looking on, begging for the two teams to cancel each other out, which would mean they would progress. Still with me? In another topsy-turvy match, Croatia had survived not going behind in the first half, and then took the lead in minute 59, taking them to the finals as things stood. England was being relegated, and once again Croatia would be breaking the hearts of English fans this year. However, the England team showed plenty of spirit, scoring two goals in the last 15 minutes to send them through to the Finals. Harry Kane’s goal brought delirium to Wembley, confirming England’s spot in the UEFA Nations League Finals, relegating Croatia in the process. Speechless.
In the other three divisions in the UEFA Nations League, teams were playing for promotion and relegation. Teams that get promoted, also have the added benefit of reaching the Euro 2020 playoffs as a safety net, if they fail to qualify for the tournament directly.
In League B, Sweden has to win back to back games against Turkey and Russia to secure promotion on match day’s 5 and 6. Denmark also achieved promotion by beating Wales in Cardiff, completing the double over them, as Wales have to settle for 2nd place, with Republic of Ireland being relegated from that group with no wins and 1 goal.
Other teams that achieved promotion were Bosnia-Herzegovina and Ukraine to League A. The four relegated teams were Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Turkey and Slovakia.
In League C, Scotland had a fantastic weekend, knowing that they needed to at least four points from their final two matches in order to progress. They managed to beat Albania 4-0 away, before beating Israel 3-2 at home on Tuesday night. Scotland now know they have a Euro 2020 playoff spot, and were promoted to League B. Elsewhere, Serbia edged out rivals Montenegro to advance, and Norway and Finland were also promoted. The four teams that were relegated to the bottom division, were Lithuania, Slovenia, Estonia, and Cyprus.
Finally, Georgia, Belarus, Macedonia, Kosovo all won their respective groups in League D and therefore guaranteed a playoff position for Euro 2020 as well as promotion. Therefore, this means that one of those teams are guaranteed a place in Euro 2020. The idea of UEFA Nations League confused a lot of people, including myself, but there is no doubt it has been a success so far, and we look forward to UEFA Nations League Finals next year, in Portugal.
