It’s that time again when we are reluctantly plunged into the international break with the banality of the UEFA Nations League, far from the football we really want to be getting on with.
If the UEFA League had a personality, it would have all the charisma of a whipped apple. It’s a glorified friendly parading as a competitive international tournament.
It’s so irrelevant and confusing, with its league tables and relegation battles, I never realised until today that England finished third in the UEFA Nations League in 2018.
Furthermore, despite the similarities with other historic tournaments – Spain and France winning stuff; Holland doing their runners-up thing; England men not winning a final this century – it just seems all wrong and the best players underperform and don’t seem to care either.
I mean, in the 2018-19 UEFA Nations League, the top scorer, Haris Seferovic, was Swiss. In what kind of sick international tournament does a Swiss player become the highest goalscorer? The second and third-highest scorers were Bosnian and Czech. I rest my case.
The UEFA Nations League is no longer pointless.
Well, apparently, I’m wrong. All these recent victories, Morgan Gibbs-White’s inclusion into the squad, and England’s promotion into League A is not, as Jürgen Klopp put it, ‘pointless’.
Lee Carsley hands over a winning team to Thomas Tuchel who will take over on January 1st, next year, with plenty of time to prepare for the World Cup qualifiers.
England are World Cup-ready and will be drawn into one of 12 groups. Following England’s 5-0 victory over 10-man Ireland, England will now benefit from going into a group of five teams, rather than a four-team group.
The draw will take place on Friday 13th December when, for me, the real work starts and the results actually matter.
Despite the fact that the UEFA Nations League affects both the World Cup and Euro qualifications, I still can’t be enthusiastic about the games. It’s not like being 1-0 down to Cameroon in a knockout round of the World Cup.
Multiple Hosts.
Another format that seems to change is the number of countries in which a World Cup is played. It used to be that the holders and one home nation would qualify – because it was held in one country. But, now, all that has been blown right out of the water.
Starting June 11th, 2026, the World Cup finals will be held in three countries, meaning that the football powerhouses of the U.S.A., Canada, and Mexico will all automatically qualify for football’s biggest tournament.
Fortunately, the tournament will expand from 32 teams to a massive 48, making the fact that three lower-ranked nations have received automatic qualification completely irrelevant.
Yes, there will be another 13 teams that are as equally as poor as the home nations, leading to the possibility of even more shock results prior to the same disappointment for England fans at a major tournament.
The UEFA Nations League gives us so much to sing about.
What will seem odd this time around is that the popular song, “Two World Wars and One World Cup….”. Despite being sung by England fans at every World Cup since the 1950s it will appear very negative towards England’s manager.
Perhaps this new German appointment will mean that England will finally get to wear an Adidas kit and possibly have a tricolour design like the Italy away shirt – awesome!
There is just so much going on now in the England camp. It’s a paradox to me. There is a new German manager, England are winning consistently, there are new formats at a tournament with multiple hosts, and there is a Forest player in the squad. I don’t know whether to celebrate the UEFA Nations League or continue to verbally denounce it.
What do you think? Is the UEFA Nations League pointless?
