Holders...
France won the
last edition of
the UEFA Nations
League in 2021he pandemic fall-out
and the disruption
caused by the winter
World Cup might have
given a haphazard
feel to this year’s
Nations League schedule, but players,
managers and fans are coming around
to the value of the tournament ahead
of its third edition.
The opening stage of the 2022-23
Nations League is scheduled for a busy
first fortnight inJune at a time when,
normally, excitement would be building
ahead of the World Cup kick-off. In that
context the Nations League may appear
something of a damp squib. But it
provides important team-building
opportunities for both World Cup
finalists and Qatar absentees2022-23 campaign begins with a bumper summer schedule
Europe
KEIR RADNEDGEplanning and plotting ahead of the
Euro 2024 qualifiers.
All but one of European federation’s
55 members will be competing in14
groups – including Wales, Ukraine and
Scotland, despite their simultaneous
tangles over Europe’s last World Cup
slot in Qatar. Their schedules have had
to be adjusted after the footballing
fall-out from Russia’s military
invasion of Ukraine.
Almost all the teams will play six
matches apiece, four inJune and then
two in the closing week of September.
Promotion and relegation between the
groups is factored in to the competitive
equation, but only the League A
nations can compete for access to
the four-team finals inJune next year.
The venue is still to be confirmed,UEFA Nations League
with Belgium, Poland, Netherlands
and Wales – the four nations from
Group A4 – declaring an interest in
hosting. Unless any rival bids come
in by the October 5 deadline, the
nation that wins the group will
most likely be the venue.
No one can view a return to
the drawing board via the Nations
League as more important than Italy.
TheAzzurricrashed from the sublime
to the ridiculous on failing to qualify for
the World Cup finals only nine months
after edging England on penalties in
the Euro 2020 final at Wembley.
Italy were so clearly the most
outstanding outfit in the Euro finals that
their humiliation by North Macedonia
in the World Cup play-off semi-final
was all the more embarrassing.T
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